Tag Archives: iraq

Our veterans are coming home

Our veterans* are coming home. We are called to help them heal.Welcome Them Home, Help Them Heal

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not yet over, but our veterans are coming home.

  • Some have completed their military duty.
  • More will return to Iraq or Afghanistan for another tour.
  • 4,865 have died as of March 2009 and will not return home alive.
  • 32,000 have sustained war injuries, and 20,000 are
  • returning with Purple Hearts.
  •  500,000 carry within them deep, invisible, emotional wounds—unknowable to others, often unknown even to themselves.
  • Many have lived through life-altering spiritual trauma and will find the quest for peace and reconciliation more difficult than fighting the war.
  • Too many will commit suicide in the coming years—
  • probably more than the numbers killed in battle.
  •  All—yes ALL—returning service members will experience the challenge of re-entry as they leave the war zone behind and begin to put their lives back together.

*In this book we use veterans, service members, and soldiers as generic terms. We refer to specific branches (marines, reservists, etc.) only in relation to specific studies. To reflect the growing prominence of women in the military we have tried to strike a balance on the use of gendered pronouns.

When they come home, excitement is in the air! . . . at first.

Anyone who has seen a typical welcome home event understands the public expressions of joy and relief felt by family members. Young children sit on relatives’ shoulders to catch a first glimpse of their father or mother. Parents breathe a palpable sigh of relief when they see their son or daughter march onto the tarmac, armory, or gym floor. Prayers have been answered, and everyone anticipates that life together can begin once again. Over a few months and with hard work, many veterans and their family members do find a new “normal.”

Behind the jubilant homecoming celebrations, however, many returning veterans hide invisible wounds.

Upon returning home, many veterans face the biggest challenge of their lifetime and begin fighting a personal, hidden war in earnest. Often well concealed at first, for many the signs and symptoms of post-war trauma and stress—depression, anxiety, domestic problems, substance abuse, isolation, suicide, and homelessness— eventually appear. According to the U.S. Defense Department, of the 96,000 National Guard members and reservists who have completed health reassessments since October 2006, half have reported health problems unrelated to combat wounds.

Providing attentive care in the first few months after a veteran returns home is important for several reasons. First, early detection usually results in more effective treatment and better outcomes. Second, early treatment can prevent a cascade of interrelated problems stemming from unaddressed physical, emotional, and spiritual post-war trauma and distress. Loved ones, friends, and close work associates are often the first to notice emerging problems and also become the key people through whom difficulties are initially addressed.

America faces a crisis of care.

Service members and their families face deep spiritual crises not generally in public view. Sufficient resources have not been committed to help returning veterans recover from the traumas of war. To be sure, many good programs are already in place and actively serving returning veterans. Existing governmental programs, however, are stressed to the limit. Adequate numbers of programs, policies, and personnel are not available to meet current needs—and the largest surge of returning veterans has not yet peaked. America, having put forth its best to fight these wars, must now match that effort in helping our sons and daughters heal.

Welcome Them Home, Help Them Heal, pp. 7-8

Ben Franklin Award Winner!

Welcome Them Home coverWelcome Them Home Help Them Heal Wins Prestigious Ben Franklin Award
By:  John Sippola, Chaplain, LTC, ret.

Welcome Them Home Help Them Heal: Pastoral Care and Ministry with Service Members Returning from War by John Sippola, Chaplain, LTC, ret., MDiv, Amy Blumenshine, MSW, MA, Donald A Tubesing, PhD, MDiv, and Valerie Yancey, PhD, RN has been named a winner in the 22nd annual Benjamin Franklin Awards ™ from IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association in recognition of excellence in independent publishing.

IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association, recently honored the best books in 50 categories at the Benjamin Franklin Awards™ in New York City on May 24, 2010, prior to the BookExpo America tradeshow. Welcome Them Home Help Them Heal won first place in the Religion category. Judged by a panel of book industry experts including buyers at wholesale and retail levels, librarians, book critics, design experts, and independent publishing consultants, these books have been scrutinized by individuals involved in the very markets in which the books are competing.

Welcome Them Home was written to equip the growing number of pastors, parish nurses, counselors, and caregivers in churches across the country to support and advocate for veterans and their loved ones. It expands the reader’s knowledge of how to provide physical, mental, and spiritual care for veterans and sparks a spirit of willingness and hope. A practical guide for ministering to veterans offering an understanding of the nature of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, the challenges soldiers face when returning home, and the physical, psychological, and spiritual wounds of war. It defines the role of the church, discussing the basic principles for outreach, guidelines for creating a welcoming and safe environment, and presenting ideas for activating the healing rituals of the church year. It provides a wealth of resources: agencies that serve veterans, tips for making effective referrals, quick screening tools for PTSD, depression, and traumatic brain injury, and a comprehensive Wounds of War assessment. The Ben Franklin Award recognized that Welcome Them Home Help Them Heal was the most successful book in achieving its purpose and meeting its audience’s needs.

Named in honor of America’s cherished publisher and printer, the Benjamin Franklin Award recognizes excellence in independent publishing. Books are grouped by genre and are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field. A panel of 150 judges from throughout the publishing industry weighed and evaluated close to 1,300 submissions in 50 categories to create the list of more than 150 finalists for the 2009 publishing year. Publishers large and small competed for the coveted Benjamin Franklin Awards.

IBPA, with more than 3,200 members, is the largest trade association representing independent publishers. Founded in 1983, its mission is to advance the professional interests of independent publishers

For more information, contact Carlene Sippola (800-247-6789) at Whole Person Associates. For a complete listing of finalists and to view the award winners in each of the 50 categories, check out the IBPA website at www.IBPA-online.org.

Welcome Them Home Help Them Heal:
Pastoral Care and Ministry with Service Members Returning from War

Written by: John Sippola, Chaplain, LTC, ret., MDiv; Amy Blumenshine, MSW, MA; Donald A Tubesing, PhD, MDiv; Valerie Yancey, PhD, RN
No. of pages: 112
Softcover:  Price $12.00
ISBN: 978-1-57025-246-4
Publication date: 2009

Click Here for more information.