THE WISDOM OF WARRIORS PAST

Tears of a Warrior
www.tearsofawarrior.com

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Even in the most devastating and pain-filled moments, we have an opportunity to learn something about ourselves, our world, and the human spirit.

Attending the Purple Heart National Convention in Rogers, Arkansas provided an enormous volume of proof supporting this statement. The group was a moving, living sea of purple where great amounts of blood was given in service to our country. Veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and a few from the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan attended.

It is the Vietnam veteran, however, who have provided evidence of how to do things differently when welcoming a warrior home from combat. These vets had no “welcome home”. Their experience of returning from combat was often met with verbal and sometimes physical abuse. Crowds of protesters were waiting to hurl insults and thoughtlessly displayed signs/banners with obscene language and incredibly cruel remarks and pictures.

What Vietnam vets taught Americans through their touching stories were how badly they were injured - not just by the enemy in a foreign land, but by their own country men. The wound to the soldier was deeper, more personal. It bled into the heart and soul of the veteran and couldn’t heal. Healing requires exposure to the light, the outside air. The Vietnam vets were forced to suppress not only their sacrifice, but their woundedness.

With our present battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, veterans have rallied for a new mission, a promise that never again would our military personnel return home unwelcome. Today there are a multitude of individuals and organizations who support, care and offer hope to serving military members as well as their families. At the Purple Heart Convention we met a few. The “Soldier’s Angels” were there to ensure every military person serving in a combat zone receives care packages, cards, and letters from their fellow Americans. “Quilting for Valor” is another group who painstakingly create beautiful hand-crafted quilts to send to hospitals both in-country and overseas. These quilts cover and comfort the wounded warrior during his/her hospitalization.

And there were others with their own caring mission.

Vietnam veterans taught Americans how words can wound deeper than guns. How lack of support impairs the ability to move forward. And most of all, how to forgive - their country’s leaders, their country men/women, and sometimes even their own families - because they understand that forgiveness heals.

The significant lesson these past warriors, in their aging wisdom learned, then modeled, was the power of absolution, which granted freedom from their emotional woundedness. Then, through such forgiveness, they have and continue to work tirelessly with the American people and the military to meet the needs of the new combat wounded.

America’s new Purple Hearts hopefully feel only the love, support, and generosity of an America who will never again allow our sons and daughters to return home from combat unwelcome.

ANGELS OF STEEL

On May 15, the National Veterans Awareness Ride participants visited the VA Hospital in Cheyenne. The ride begins in California and culminates in Washington DC on Memorial Day in remembrance of all MIAs, POWs, and Veterans who have served their country. Tony & Jan Seahorn were honored as guest speakers. Following is a poem that Jan wrote and dedicated to the riders of the special occasion:



ANGELS OF STEEL



The angels cry when warriors die,

In distant lands where troubles lie.

Where sadness grows with each new day

and sorrow is not far away.



We fly on planes to reach this place

where death abides within its space.

There is no choice where I may fight

I only trust that it be right.



Each day I wake and say a prayer

to keep us safe and in God’s care.

Yet, knowing well some will not live

and others may not soon forgive.



The wop, wop, wop of copter blades

will drop their cargo, then they fade.

Into the distant sky they fly

with lifeless bags inside do lie.



Like steel angels from above

they bring supplies, our families’ love.

And carry wounded from the field

to places where they may be healed.



So many lost, did not return,

Their final end we’ve never learned.

For years we looked without success,

perhaps today they are at rest.



The scars remain within my soul

that haunts my mind and leaves a hole.

Where once the innocence of youth

was buried by the wrath of Zeus.



The bloody battles the heart must bear,

the mind cannot forget the terror.

But life goes on and must exist

for strength and honor to persist.



Across our country warriors ride

on bikes of steel with humbled pride,

To honor those who gave so much

and not forget the world they’ve touched.



The flag of glory they carry high

Through miles and miles of endless sky,

Reminding all of freedom’s costs,

this hallowed message must not be lost.



And angels cry when warriors die,

In distant lands where troubles lie.

They hold the hope that peace will be

through freedom and democracy.



Janet J. Seahorn, Ph.D

www.tearsofawarrior.com

Tears of a Warrior

"Tears of a Warrior" Offers Hope and Healing to Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(www.tearsofawarrior.com)
Returning war veterans may face a multitude of physical and mental challenges. Veterans' families are often unprepared to deal with a family member who may experience nightmares, feelings of detachment, irritability, trouble concentrating, and sleeplessness. These are some of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Experts estimate that between 25% and 30% of Vietnam veterans who fought in combat have symptoms of PTSD, and it's been recently estimated that 30% of combat soldiers returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing similar trauma.

"Tears of a Warrior: A Family's Story of Combat and Living with PTSD" is a patriotic book written about soldiers who are called to duty in service of their country. It is a story of courage, valor, and life-long sacrifice. Long after the cries of battle have ended, many warriors return home to face a multitude of physical and mental challenges. Author Tony Seahorn writes from his experience as a young army officer in Vietnam who served with the Black Lions of the First Infantry Division, which fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. He was wounded in action and continues to recover from the physical and emotional scars of combat.

Tony returned from the war decorated for heroism. Some of his most honored medals include two Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, an Air Medal for Valor in flight, the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross, and a Presidential Unit Citation.

Janet Seahorn, Tony's wife and co-author, writes from both the perspective of a wife who has lived for thirty years with a veteran with PTSD, and as a professional in human development and neuroscience. Dr. Seahorn's research has focused on the effects PTSD has on the brain, body, and spirit.

"Tears of a Warrior" was written to educate families and veterans about the symptoms of PTSD and to offer strategies for living with the disorder. The book includes over 50 photos integrated into the text which provide the reader with a visual picture of the sequence of events as the storyline moves from the realities of combat, to returning home, to the ultimate impact on family and friends. Families and society in general will better understand the long-term effects of combat. Veterans from all wars, regardless of service branch, will benefit by the authors' experiences and their message of hope.

"If we send them, then we must mend them."


www.tearsofawarrior.com

"The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten"

-Calvin Coolidge