Song of the day:
Today I’m thankful for long weekends. We have today off in honor of Veterans Day, which means this post’s actual title is: Today I’m thankful for veterans.
My grandfathers were veterans of WWII, as I’m sure are/were the grandfathers of many who read this blog. Many of you have mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, cousins and friends who are/were veterans. One of my second cousins served for many years, and I’ve known numerous others who have served as well. I’m thankful my dad didn’t have to serve, as it’s a difficult and thankless job, and had he served it would have been in Vietnam, which was its own separate set of horrors. But I am exceedingly thankful for any person who has served or currently serves their country. Many were drafted, but many more volunteered. I can’t imagine what it takes for a person to willingly sign up for something that will almost certainly lead to war. They deserve so much more than one day to be celebrated.
We don’t treat our veterans as well as we should in this country, often denying them the physical and mental health care they so desperately need after dealing with the traumas of war. There are far too many suffering. As of January 2022 there were over 33,000 homeless veterans. Approximately 1/3 of those are in California. At least 45% of veterans suffer from mental illness, and 70% suffer from alcohol or other substance abuse. There aren’t enough services, not enough funding, not enough housing, just simply not enough. But there are ways we can help. Even if you can’t do these things personally, there may be ways to donate. From the article 5 Ways to Help Veterans:
Help veterans get medical care and other resources.
Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is a nonprofit that drives veterans to medical appointments, assist them in filing benefit claims (e.g., VA health benefits or Medicare health insurance) with the government and helps vets with medical, employment and other general needs. The DAV needs volunteers to:
Drive veterans to appointments at Veterans Affairs hospitals around the country.
Volunteer at VA hospitals.
Assist veterans in your community with needs such as grocery shopping, running errands or helping with yard work.
If you’d like to help a veteran, learn more about opportunities to volunteer at DAV.
Build a home for a veteran.
A couple of different organizations build new homes or adapt existing homes for veterans with severe injuries. If you’re a contractor or tradesman, Building Homes for Heroes and Homes for Our Troops can both use your skills to help build homes for injured vets. If you don’t have building expertise, you can still get involved by donating funds, goods and services or land.
Provide a service dog for a vet.
Service dogs can help vets who have PTSD, brain injuries, vision impairments and physical injuries. Many communities have organizations that provide service dogs to vets. Some organizations such as the Puppy Jake Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa, use volunteers to raise puppies as service dogs. Other organizations such as Puppies Behind Bars in New York City work with prison inmates to raise dogs for vets.
If you’re interested in volunteering or donating for a similar organization in your area, search online for “service dogs for veterans” in your community.
Help veterans who are homeless.
Stand Down programs for veterans who are homeless are local one- to three-day events that provide a single spot for vets to receive food, shelter, health screenings and other needs. To volunteer for a Stand Down event near you, check with the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
Help active troops talk to loved ones.
USO Operation Phone Home allows troops to connect with loved ones through free phone calls and high-speed internet access available at USO service centers. For service members in remote areas who can’t access a service center, the USO offers free prepaid international calling cards. The USO has many volunteer opportunities.
I’m going to look into some of these opportunities, and I hope you do the same.
To wrap this up…I’m thankful for the service, for the sacrifice, and the willingness to put one’s self in harms way. And a little bit for the three-day weekend.
Video of the day:
This was made a few years ago, but it’s still good. Enjoy.