Memorial Day poem - Walt Whitman's "Dirge for Two Veterans"

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Dirge for Two Veterans

The last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finished Sabbath,
On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.

Lo, the moon ascending,
Up from the east the silvery round moon,
Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
Immense and silent moon. 

I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-keyed bugles,
All the channels of the city streets they’re flooding,
As with voices and with tears.

I hear the great drums pounding
And the small drums steady whirring,
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.

For the son is brought with the father,
(In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
Two veterans son and father dropped together,
And the double grave awaits them.)

Now nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive,
And the daylight o’er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.

In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumined,
(‘Tis some mother’s large transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)

O strong dead-march you please me!
O moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.

The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music,
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Warrior SOS e-book on Kindle

Warrior SOS, the book, will be available through Amazon ebooks on May 24th.   Read about the amazing stories of veterans, as well as advocates and family members. Thanks to all those who've participated.

Update: Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

    America’s servicemen and women are our utmost national treasure, and Warrior SOS allows a glimpse into their lives.  Each story gives compelling insight to what warriors can face in battle and what they can experience after coming home.  The words found in this book show that freedom comes at a cost . . . an ultimate cost of human sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears.

-- US Congressman Adam Kinzinger

1 in 5 veterans of Afghanistan and/or Iraq have PTSD

The following information was found on a government fact sheet list for employers (emphasis added).

http://www.americasheroesatwork.gov/forEmployers/factsheets/dispellMyth/

...data compiled by the Rand Corporation suggest that approximately one in five service members who return from deployment operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have symptoms of PTSD or depression.

While many suffering from PTSD and other psychological conditions may benefit from treatment and support, only about half seek it. For many, a common barrier to seeking care is the stigma associated with their psychological symptoms or condition-that is, the bias, embarrassment, shame or fear of negative reaction from others.

Employers are in a powerful position to help debunk such misperceptions. After arming themselves with the facts, they can use their knowledge to educate others and to support the social inclusion and acceptance of people with PTSD...

Learn more at the link above regarding some of the myths of Post Traumatic Stress.

Check out Warrior SOS, the book on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Random thoughts on PTSD, media, and American media culture's fixation on violence

Combat veterans with PTSD have various reactions. Some symptoms can be more severe in some people or at some times than others. 

Police officers can also suffer from these various traumatic experiences.  I was fortunate enough to give two presentations on Reintegrating the Returning Warrior to law enforcement professionals and warrior advocates at this year's ILEETA conference. Everything from emotional numbing to aggression and from sleeping problems to apathy shows the sign of PTSD at work, whether the officer has been deployed in a military combat situation or not. 

Whether you're a family member of a warrior or a warrior yourself, these two truths are paramount. Knowledge is power, and when it comes to post traumatic stress, ignorance isn't bliss. 

Learn about it. Talk about it. Get help for it. Too many marriages are troubled and too many lives are in jeopardy because of the stigma surrounding combat PTSD. Too many people just don't understand and have blaring misconceptions about combat PTSD. Sadly, even a few mental health professionals misconstrue the facts regarding what a soldier will or will not do after returning from war. 

If we honor our soldiers and pray for our troops today, while they're in uniform, why do we attempt to throw them to the proverbial wolves once they return home and receive an honorable discharge? If we give our young men weapons of destruction, teach them to destroy lives, send them off to war and then fail to reintegrate them into society of non-warriors, does the fault lie with them? I think not. 

We owe it to our warrior class to let them know we appreciate every horrible and terrible thing they've encountered. We may not want to know what they've done, what they think, what they're capable of or what they've witnessed. We may not want them to think or behave a certain way, but just as any of us, our experiences shape who we are, how we think and how we act. We need to let warriors know what they experience is part of what every warrior throughout the ages experiences, in one way or another. It's the bane of war, combat and up-close confrontations. As a society and a people, we should never glory in war, killing or brutality. Yet we do.

The irony of our society is that millions of American citizens possess an anxious zeal for watching TV shows and Hollywood movies about gun-wielding cops and rugged military personnel, and millions more love to play violent video games, all glorifying and revering the warrior archetype, but the perception is severely skewed. This alarming misconception of what a warrior is and what a warrior does and how he/she feels has a grave impact to our culture. 

First, it puts into the minds of those who view or play such violent actions that violence is good. This could not be further from the truth. This also has a tendency to create in the minds of those who view such sordid scenes or play these first-person style violent games the idea that killing is pleasing to the senses. This can truly warp the senses. While most of us can differentiate between what is right, honorable and good, and what is evil, twisted and wrong, constant repetition from negative images and impressions, nevertheless, neutralizes us morally; it turns off the perception valve of humanity. A leak in the moral code of human dangerousness can open up flood gates to both the civil-minded as well as the mentally deranged or those who already possess a propensity for great criminal violence. In short, these are moral poisons that are slowly given in doses, eventually injuring our spiritually sensitive natures. The latter is especially true considering the growing tide of media that spawns amoral behavior as totally acceptable and justifiable. Examples could be given, but I will refrain and let you consider that for yourselves.

Secondly, watching or participating in such violence in the media distorts reality by showing that the hero will never get severely injured as one would in reality.  These media mediums further show, erroneously of course, that the pains caused by violence, war and loss of friends, including any physical, emotional or spiritual soul wound, can all be over when the show ends or when the video game is turned off. Of course, in reality it isn't that easy. 

Moreover, by watching these extremely myopic views of such tragedies, it gives viewers a perception that to cry or to be humane somehow isn't heroic. In other words, these films and other inventions show a false image of what a real man is. These instruments of deception jeopardize the very nature of human emotional stability by falsely depicting what a hero or heroine should or should not do, or how a man or a woman should or should not behave. In turn, this establishes an identity crisis within the real warrior -- the one who experiences the real pains and sorrows of war. 

Years of idealizing and idolizing the warrior archetype, even if unconsciously, by constant views of what someone should be, could tear a man or a woman to pieces emotionally when experiencing the real thing. Young men may have fixed in their minds what war is to be, but the expectation of what war is, who he really is, and how he reacts to combat can be damaging to the core. 

Perhaps he may, even tacitly, hope to behave like Hollywood's war heroes and not be affected for more than the length of a feature film. After a few months in the war zone, he realizes that's not possible. Perhaps he may impress societies' expectations upon him. After all, a combat soldier is revered by all of society and only the purely vocal pacifists oppose the honor of the military uniform, but those are few and they are largely shunned and ostracized. No, society has a fixed idea of calling our military men heroes, honoring them with parades and ribbons. Interestingly, the war veteran may very well not feel like a hero at all, instead there can be feelings of great guilt, remorse and sorrow. Plaudits of praise might only aggravate any feelings of shame or meaninglessness after the war experience. These praises, of course, are not meant to be offensive; and the citizen who has never served may not know what else to say or do. Recognition for war veterans can, however, be deeply rewarding when done in certain ways, the which will not be defined at this point.

Of course, these war pains of identity wounds have been a part of societies far before any media inventions like the TV, so this no specific diagnosis to this complex issue of identity wounds, but media certainly plays an incremental role in the shaping of our identities. This phenomenon may be best compared to the youthful boy who is told that boy's shouldn't cry; that he must wipe away his tears, dust off his boots and drive on. When that boy becomes a man, now he may feel that real men shouldn't cry and if he cries because of deep, troubling emotional pain, that he's somehow not measuring up. Tears can be therapeutic though, and real men do cry. Real men cry tears that no Hollywood actor could ever reproduce. No show could ever capture the real pain of real soldiers. 

Alas, it's been said that only warriors can help warriors. One reason is because they "get it". Those who've experienced traumas can offer help unlike those who just don't understand. Traumas that are not combat related are terrible, and there are those who can lend a listening ear, but they still may never truly understand. On the flip side, there are some warriors who experience things that other warriors will never know or comprehend. Nevertheless, their trauma is at least still in the same genre, so to speak. 

I believe that all members of the warrior class have experienced troubles for which emotional assistance is warranted. This applies to law enforcement personnel, who've been on the job for a few years, veterans of war, as well as some in the private security profession. Not everyone has problems, but more often than not, these warriors do face personal demons. They either try to avoid or ignore their problems (typically with alcohol), or they think everyone else has a problem but them. Symptoms of PTSD is the nature of the beast -- it's the bane that comes in the wake of warring experiences. And, unfortunately, society at large will simply never understand. On one hand, that's a really good thing; on the other hand, it's too bad the only thing they think they know about war and warriors is from what they see on TV or in the movies. 

To read the real stories of real warriors, check out the forthcoming book named after this blog: Warrior SOS -- Interviews, Insights & Inspiration, due out in ebook, available through Amazon, real soon. Watch for it.

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Tell My Sons - Lt. Col. Mark Weber

During Lt. Col. Mark Weber’s medical screening to deploy to Afghanistan, the 38-year-old father of three was told he had stage IV intestinal cancer. He wrote a blog, outlining his struggles, www.TellMySons.com, and eventually wrote a book along those same lines. I was recently able to read excerpts from that book, Tell My Sons, the same name of the blog. Wow. These are the words that tug on the heartstrings. 

One story he mentioned was of his son who tried out for and was granted an opportunity to sing a solo during a high school concern. The song was a ballad about an American Civil War soldier, telling an unknown messenger to tell his father he had become a man and that he should not cry for him. The son, “Tell My Father,” goes in part like this:

“Tell my father that his son didn’t run...or surrender. That I bore his name with pride ... as I tried ... to remember ... you are judged by what you do, while passing through. 

“Tell him we will meet again ... where the angels learn to fly. Tell him we will meet as men, for with honor ... did I die.” 

Reading Mark Weber’s remarkable love for his sons and his emotional maturity and goodness really made my day. 

It also reminded me of my own late brother-in-law, John Cloninger, a military officer and combat veteran who also was diagnosed with stage IV cancer, which eventually took his life. He was the reason I started Warrior SOS. I think of his very young six fatherless kids, my little sister who’s now a widow, and the legacy of love he left for his children. In a similar way, perhaps, of Mark Weber’s story, I have also created this blog (Warrior SOS) and have a book that will be published very soon with the same title: Warrior SOS -- Interviews, Insights and Inspiration. The book is currently being edited and will be out soon. I hope hundreds, if not thousands of people will read it. 

The great thing about Warrior SOS, the book, is all of the amazing warriors and people who were interviewed for the book. They told their stories and opened up in ways that aren’t easy to do. The book also includes the words of John Cloninger and is dedicated to his memory. Additionally, I included the faith, advice, counsel and love of his young widow. It’s simply amazing and I’m excited to get it published soon. 

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

NRA Life of Duty - Forward March: Two Brothers Journey of Hope and Restoration

Tom and Scot Spooner have devoted their lives to helping other warriors. I'm grateful that Tom first opened up about his PTSD and TBI here on Warrior SOS. http://www.warriorsos.blogspot.com/2011/11/interview-with-tom-spooner-invictus.html

Tom's interview and many more can be read in the forthcoming book titled, Warrior SOS, due out real soon.

Speaking with both Tom and Scot has been incredibly helpful to me. Their examples and courage of speaking up about their own experiences with PTSD have helped countless others.

 This NRA Life of Duty video made about their post deployment, post military lives is exceptional and well worth watching. This embedded YouTube link is a one minute advertisement of the film. The link here shows the full feature documentary: http://soldiersystems.net/2012/11/02/nra-life-of-duty-patriot-profiles-the-spooner-brothers

or

http://www.nralifeofduty.tv/#/patriotprofiles/video/753

Again, to watch the full length video, click on one of the links above. (Note: The Soldier Systems link shows a brief background about the Spooner brothers.)

 

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Breaking the Stigma -- Special Forces Operators talk about PTSD

If you or someone you love is experiencing the symptoms of post traumatic stress from combat experiences but have not gotten help, this video is a must-watch. Even if you or someone you know has gotten help, this video is well worth watching.

Tom and Scot Spooner and many other operators are seen in this video made by US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) Public Affairs Office (PAO).

Thanks to Ron Relf, a former Navy SEAL, who forwarded this video to me. Both Ron and Tom were interviewed here on the Warrior SOS blog. Their interviews and many others will be featured in my forthcoming book named after this blog: Warrior SOS -- Interviews, Insights and Inspiration. Watch for it.





To read amazing interviews with warriors, please check out Warrior SOS, the book on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

For the Fallen...They Shall Grow Not Old

Of late, I find poetry, especially war poetry, quite soothing to read. Here is "For the Fallen," one of the long enduring classics of war poetry, written by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) of England.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Amputations, Wounds and a Prisoner of War

Yesterday I spoke to a man about his experiences while in Korea. He was there the same time I was. While walking along the DMZ, he said, his buddy stepped on a land mine. He said something hit him in the back; it felt like a sledge hammer. It was his buddies’ leg. 

I recently had lunch with another man who tried, unsuccessfully to kick a grenade out of the area which an enemy soldier had thrown during Operation Just Cause in Panama. 

I received an email from another man who was a Marine guard at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon when it was hit with a truck bomb. His buddies died, and he eventually fainted from the loss of blood himself. 

And, last night after spending time with my family, I stayed up late reading the account of a POW from WWII sent by the editor of my forthcoming book, Warrior SOS. 

Update: Here's the book…

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Laughter, the Best Medicine

Recently, I heard from a good friend in the tactical law enforcement community, owner of TacView, a great tool for all SWAT teams, that another friend, Michael Finley, had throat cancer.  I just chatted with him a few months ago. Well, yesterday I sent him a note and told him I've been praying for him and that I added his name to a prayer roll at the temple. Temples are different than churches at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At any rate, he wrote back and thanked me, described a bit of his battle with cancer, and gave me a link to his blog. He said it's to keep family and friends updated, but after reading his blog titled "Easy Like Sunday Morning...", I just had to share.

For those who suffer tough times, attitude can make all the difference. Michael Finley has one of the best attitudes of any operator I've ever met. In fact, when I met him, he was the president of the Texas Tactical Police Officer Association (TTPOA) and a team leader on Dallas SWAT team. Often, when outsiders envision guys with such stature, they may immediately think of some giant, knuckle-dragging oaf who hates everyone and is mean. That Hollywood image is simply not the case. It's especially not true with  Finley. His giant smile and his contagious energy sets him apart as one of the most outstanding professionals I've ever met.

For some good laughs and SWAT stories, check out Michael Finley's blog. Hopefully he'll publish a book!

http://mfinleyblog.com/

Get well, brother. And, thanks for the laughs and great stories. Your optimistic attitude is infectious.


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Gun safety, realistic weapons training, and negligent discharges

When it comes to dye-marking cartridges or man marking rounds (e.g. Simunitions, Ultimate Training Munitions) and simulated training exercises, most often performed by police, military and private security professionals, it's extremely important to have assigned and marked weapons specifically for those drills or scenarios. Administrators, departments and trainers ought to realize the cost-benefit value of incorporating purchasing or adapting specifically-marked training guns that will only allow dye-marking cartridges and no live ammo. Remember, the worst thing that can go wrong and then have the courage, wisdom and foresight to authorize the budget or implement wise protocol from there.

Moreover, stopping training long-term after an event just hampers preparedness. As it is now with budgets, departments are already behind the curve when it comes to a duty to train, as outlined by case law and actual readiness for all contingencies. Too often we get lucky and live, and thus, erroneously believe we have good tactics or incorporate quality safety measures. In reality, that may well be a false protection, a false sense of security. Too often, like the civilian who pointed his pistol at me "accidently" at the gun range the other day, there are those "experienced" people fortunate enough not to have a negiligent discharge (ND) for "the last 20 years handling guns", but their lack of safety awareness with firearms has merely given way to luck. Hope is not a stragety or a tactic. When doing all the wrong things, it's just a matter of time before bad things happen. Regardless, when it comes to law enforcement training, the onus of officer safety and preparedness still remains on both the individual officer as well as the agency.

Lastly, two things to remember are these:

1) Before pulling the trigger, have positive identification of your target and what's surrounding it. Don't shoot sympathetically just because someone else is shooting. They may be in the wrong.

2) The definition of a safe direction is anywhere that if a round went off, it would not cause major property damage and no human injury.

Alas, I wrote this letter to a local Chief of Police recently. Readers may find it of interest.


Chief,

I recently received this link and thought it was well worth sharing. Examples of NDs like these should be mentioned before training, during training, at the range, at the academy, prior to shift, and so forth.

http://www.optacinternational.com/officersafety/pdfs/WhyAreWeKillingOurselves.pdf

I was a cop in Dallas at the time of the Arlington, TX police shooting incident, where a corporal shot another officer in an empty school during a Simunitions training exercise briefing. The officer forgot to go back to Sims FX rounds after lunch. I saw him speaking later on the news, and except for seeing grown men cry while I was in the war zone in Iraq, I've never seen a man weep so profoundly.

Hopefully this link is a helpful reminder to stay safe and remember to reinforce the four fundamental safety rules:

1) Treat all weapons as if loaded.
2) Never point at anything or anyone you're not willing to kill or destroy. (If you think it's unloaded or "safe", or even have the action opened or blocked, refer to rule #1.)
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot.
4) Be sure of your target, backstop and beyond.

As far as training goes, sniper/observers must keep their bolts out of battery when looking at any other officers through the glass and get a buddy check for no live ammo. That may not apply to your department specifically, but it's good to know.

Another essential absolute is to ensure that during training where guns -- even plastic, non-firing guns -- are pointed at other human beings (or even during unarmed defensive tactics), that everyone needs to get patted down. EVERYONE. It doesn't have to be ultra invasive, just hit the spots where officers might carry a concealed weapon. Check their guns and bodies for live rounds and loaded magazines. No one's perfect, we all forget. Overconfidence, boastful egos and the "It will never happen here" or "It will never happen to me"-syndrome, gets people killed.

I cannot tell you how many advanced military, SWAT and other tactical schools I've attended across the nation where the "big boy" rules applied, and where no one wanted to pat down other officers. That's an accident waiting to happen, especially when you're dealing with firearms directly; frankly, it's stupid and dangerous. Moreover, if anyone leaves and returns, including any late-comers, everyone needs to be checked again.

We can never be too safe. Perhaps you may recall my safety briefs prior to teaching you and your officers on the range or in the school. We've got to be safe and help each other be safe. Safety is a culture and a mindset, but too often we fail to recognize that "officer safety" also means safety when conducting training and handling our personal, off-duty and duty firearms.

Finally, I'm presenting at this year's ILEETA Conference on Reintigrating the Returning Warrior. There are too many cops and too many veterans who are suffering. Hopefully they'll be a good turn out and officers and administrators can come away with some strategies for winning the personal war with stress, PTSD and depression. If you can't make it, feel free to let others know about it, if you think it would benefit them personally or professionally.

Respectfully,

--
Jeffrey Denning

Tennyson's Sir Galahad

Sir Galahad
by Alfred Lord Tennyson


My good blade carves the casques of men,
   My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
   Because my heart is pure.
The shattering trumpet shrilleth high,
   The hard brands shiver on the steel,
The splinter'd spear-shafts crack and fly,
   The horse and rider reel:
They reel, they roll in clanging lists,
   And when the tide of combat stands,
Perfume and flowers fall in showers,
   That lightly rain from ladies' hands.

How sweet are looks that ladies bend
   On whom their favours fall!
For them I battle till the end,
   To save from shame and thrall:
But all my heart is drawn above,
   My knees are bow'd in crypt and shrine:
I never felt the kiss of love,
   Nor maiden's hand in mine.
More bounteous aspects on me beam,
   Me mightier transports move and thrill;
So keep I fair thro' faith and prayer
   A virgin heart in work and will.

When down the stormy crescent goes,
   A light before me swims,
Between dark stems the forest glows,
   I hear a noise of hymns:
Then by some secret shrine I ride;
   I hear a voice but none are there;
The stalls are void, the doors are wide,
   The tapers burning fair.
Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth,
   The silver vessels sparkle clean,
The shrill bell rings, the censer swings,
   And solemn chaunts resound between.

Sometime on lonely mountain-meres
   I find a magic bark;
I leap on board: no helmsman steers:
   I float till all is dark.
A gentle sound, an awful light!
   Three angels bear the holy Grail:
With folded feet, in stoles of white,
   On sleeping wings they sail.
Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!
   My spirit beats her mortal bars,
As down dark tides the glory slides,
   And star-like mingles with the stars.

When on my goodly charger borne
   Thro' dreaming towns I go,
The cock crows ere the Christmas morn,
   The streets are dumb with snow.
The tempest crackles on the leads,
   And, ringing, springs from brand and mail;
But o'er the dark a glory spreads,
   And gilds the driving hail.
I leave the plain, I climb the height;
   No branchy thicket shelter yields;
But blessed forms in whistling storms
   Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields.

A maiden knight--to me is given
   Such hope, I know not fear;
I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven
   That often meet me here.
I muse on joy that will not cease,
   Pure spaces clothed in living beams,
Pure lilies of eternal peace,
   Whose odours haunt my dreams;
And, stricken by an angel's hand,
   This mortal armour that I wear,
This weight and size, this heart and eyes,
   Are touch'd, are turn'd to finest air.

The clouds are broken in the sky,
   And thro' the mountain-walls
A rolling organ-harmony
   Swells up, and shakes and falls.
Then move the trees, the copses nod,
   Wings flutter, voices hover clear:
"O just and faithful knight of God!
   Ride on! the prize is near."
So pass I hostel, hall, and grange;
   By bridge and ford, by park and pale,
All-arm'd I ride, whate'er betide,
   Until I find the holy Grail.


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

My Flag -- the United States of America Flag

I awoke this morning, after dreaming, with a renewed vigor to protect the America I know and love -- to do all in my power to preserve the greatest symbol freedom in the world today, Old Glory.  I felt, as I nearly leaped from my bed, to contact my elected officials and with all the vigor I have to muster, encourage them to preserve, sustain and/or create any and all such laws that make dropping the flag, burning, trampling, spitting upon, or disrespecting, defiling, or defacing the national flag, in any way, illegal.  

We must treat the Stars and Stripes as the physical representation of all America holds dear.  The fabric of three colors -- red, white and blue -- beautifully sewn in a pattern rich in national historic meaning, is the symbol of a free people and a free nation.  That incredible flag which was still standing during the War of 1812, while Francis Scott Key was held a helpless prisoner on a British vessel during the attack at Fort McHenry, is the flag I hold most dear.  That same flag, given 37 more stars, is the flag of my home.  

We must treat the United States flag as the symbol of peace and power she truly is.  Americans must look to that beautiful, incredible and majestic piece of art as the sacred emblem of “the Republic for which it stands.”  

I have seen the flag -- my flag -- flown high over the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and U.S. embassies and consulates in foreign lands.  I have seen the fabric and material honored, presented and saluted by men and women in military uniform.  I have witnessed men literally weep while looking to her and the free nation she represents.  I have wept myself and have received chills over my entire frame while saluting and listening to our national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner.  I have silently watched as our flag has been draped over the coffins of American countrymen who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of all she stands for -- foremost being freedom, liberty and equality. 

May the blood of our forefathers, who created and erected the blessings we now enjoy because of their actions, and because of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, be revered, respected and honored forever.  May the faithful and courageous military men who hoisted the flag of our nation from Fort McHenry to Iwo Jima and beyond, be remembered for sacrificing for our great nation, represented foremost by our greatest symbol of freedom, the American flag.  May the war dead who die today and tomorrow be allowed an honorable burial without protesters who, in essence, are certainly disrespecting my flag, my nation, and my brothers and sisters in arms. 

I pray that our flag -- my flag and your flag -- will be the banner of freedom it truly represents, the beacon of hope for all mankind, the light and glory of “one nation under God.”  May this blessed symbol -- held high at ball parks, waved at parades, worn on every military uniform, and flown at half-mast during national catastrophes and loss of life -- become, and forever stay, the symbol of hope for a better way, the sacred evidence of self-government, the meaning of all things Americans cherish most, the incarnate Constitution of these United States of America.  

May each of us gain anew the appreciation for Old Glory.  May we each rally together, around and behind and beside this blessed symbol of freedom.  May we all look high to see this extraordinary piece of fabric forever waving in the breeze and cherish all she stands for.  May national patriotism shown to our flag be honored, respected, and sustained and enforced by law.  

Finally, may all those who value freedom and all those who have stood with arms to defend her rich blood-red stripes, her deep-blue sky and pure-white stars and stripes, forever thank God for all she stands for.  May this people -- the American people -- remember what Abraham Lincoln once so eloquently encouraged in his Gettysburg Address every time we look upon the folded or unfurled flag.  Let us “be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us ... that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The Hands -- a powerful poem by Richard Brewer

The following is a brief commentary and a poem written by warrior-advocate and Marine, Rich Brewer, founder of One Warrior Won. 

I wrote this shortly after putting the cold steel of my weapon in my mouth, then realizing “My Hands” were not done yet.  By the grace of God my journey continues, and with BBOWW, we will march forward and make sure so many others never get to the point so many of us already have!! 

The Hands

The hands that were once used as a pacifier for a new born child.

The hands that were used to reach out to hold my mothers legs.

The hands that were held by my parents to ensure I stayed close by.

The hands that awkwardly wrote that first love note in third grade.

The hands that were used as a teenager to prove my self worth.

The hands that reached out and held my first girlfriend.

The hands that struggled to breakaway from ordinary and reached for extra-ordinary.

These were the hands that rose and swore to defend this nation from the enemy; foreign and domestic.

These were the hands that nervously grasped the stair rails of a bus bound for Parris Island in the middle of the night.

These were the hands that were held tight to the seams of my “trousers” while being screamed at standing on yellow footprints.

These were the hands that climbed obstacles they never thought possible, that learned to defend for the righteous.

These were the hands that first felt the cold comfortable steel of my newly issued M16A1 rifle.

These were the hands that spent weeks feeling, touching, learning every part of the very weapon that was to keep me and others alive.

These were hands that proudly had the Eagle, Globe and Anchor pressed into its palm transforming from a mere mortal to a Marine.

These were the hands that committed to God, Country, and Corps.

These were the hands that embraced the brotherhood that has been bonded by blood, sweat and tears.

These were the hands that grasped the seat of the swaying Chinook at it took evasive action while delivering us to the hostile shores.

These were the hands that held firm, aimed true and gently squeezed the trigger to silence a different set of hands that will forever remain unknown.

These were the hands that steadied scared people as they were gently pushed to waiting choppers to carry them from the surreal reality of war to safety.

These were the hands that held the head of youth, shattered by a snipers bullet, providing comfort awaiting the last breathe.

These were the hands that held my own head down in holes never deep enough as the rounds pounded way to close.

These were the hands that waved good-bye to thousands of Marines as they sailed away from the hostile shore.

These were the hands that grasped tightly to the fourteen Marines left behind to guard the bees’ nest that had been vigorously stirred.

These were the hands that clasped tightly every night in prayer to preserve my life until I woke, and again in the morning to pray to survive the day.

These were the hands that waved frantically to my office colleagues to take cover as I grabbed my weapon and ran towards the noise. 

These were the hands that reached for that sliding glass door that allowed me to step onto the exposed balcony.

These were the hands that attempted to hold steady the weapon I knew so well, only to have it blown from my hands by the force of the bomb.

These were the hands that flew through the air for untold feet only to crash against the collapsing wall.

These were the hands that were buried and felt my own body to see if it was in one piece.

These were the hands that scratched, clawed, and dug my way out from what I believed to be a premature coffin, only to hear and see the hell unfolding around me and wanting to crawl back into my hole.

These were the hands that would hold the soon to be lifeless bodies of two close buddies trying to make their last moments less lonely.

These were the hands that would dig, uncover and carry untold numbers from the burning and destroyed building.

These were the hands that again took hold of my precious weapon and stood guard against a secondary attack.

These were the hands that held my body off the ground as I fell to my knees, not knowing why until it was realized the blood covering me was my own.

These were the hands that shakily signed me out of a field hospital to return to the pile of flesh infested rumble.

These were the hands that stood guard over the ground that only mere moments ago stood the American Embassy for four sleepless days.

These were the hands that wiped away dust from my eyes and wished for the tears that never came to flow.

These are the hands that now try to hold a fragile life and family together.

These are the hands now that try to hold a beast within at bay.

These are the hands today that hold a wonderful wife.

These are the hands that two young children rush to for safety and love.

These are the hands that have tried to teach young minds the perils and purpose of war.

These are the hands that have provided protection to communities from those who wish them harm.

These are the hands that have shied from friendship for fear of being exposed.

These are the hands that are never idle in fear of some distant unseen enemy.

These are the hands that for years never reached out, stoically staying by my side.

These are the hands that wrapped themselves around a bottle, the only medicine able to take the unseen but always present pain away.

These are the hands that hide the scars that so many do not wish to see, yet so many of us bear.

These are the hands that have reached out after 25 years for help, and were slapped by those professing to be helpers.

These are the hands that had to enter battle all over again simply to be recognized as worthy of treatment and care.

These are the hands that have been clasped together in prayer for someone to understand.

These are the hands that have been clenched in anger over those who have never served making us prove we indeed did serve.

These are the hands that have flailed about speaking jargon others seem to think is a foreign language.

These are the hands that have spent countless hours typing rebuttals to the appeals of my appeals.

These are the hands that have fantasized about being around the neck of so many who say they are there to help, but never do.

These are the hands that have been thrown in the air, and wishing to wash themselves of the entire process.

These are the hands that have written farewell notes to loved ones; too tired to go on.

These are the hands that have tried to write, hoping to get someone to see what I feel.

These are the hands that have grasped the cold comfortable steel of an old trusted friend in hopes of ending the pain and suffering.

These are the hands that held a family vacation itinerary in one hand, and the end in the other.

These are the hands that God made and Parris Island perfected.

These are the hands that have saved so many, and protected so much.

These are the hands that have lost battles, but will eventually win the War.

These are the hands that remain clasped in prayer every night, praying that justice will prevail for me, and all who suffer from the beast within.

These hands paid a dear price for this country.  Now it is time for this country to pay a little back. 

All gave some; Some gave all. What has the country given to them?

THIS poem and an interview with Richard Brewer, and many others will soon be featured in a forthcoming book about warriors with wounds and PTSD. Be sure to check out Warrior SOS for updates. 

To read amazing interviews, including an interview from Richard Brewer, check out Warrior SOS, the book available on Amazon.com  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Rescue US Marine (Military Intelligence) held in Iran

I couldn't sleep last night, knowing there was a U.S. Marine held captive with the sentence of death looming about him.

Wall Street Journal: Ex-Marine Reaches 500 Days of Imprisonment in Iran

Of course, there's no such thing as an "Ex"-Marine; they're just Marines.

Here's the letter I sent to my U.S. Representative and Senators:

Amir Hekmati is being held prisoner and under the death penalty in Iran. He is a former linguist from the US Marine Corps. He was born in the US. He is a veteran of the Iraqi war. 

I personally know one of his former Marine Corps friends very well. I've vetted them both. 

I am a veteran of Iraq and have a Top Secret government clearance. I cannot imagine how horrible it is to be in his shoes. I pray he is still alive. 

Please act immediately to see that he is safe. 

Urgently and Respectfully, 

Jeffrey Denning

For more information, check out these links:

http://freeamir.org

U.S. condemns reported Iran death sentence for former U.S. Marine

Family of detained Iranian-American “shocked” at spy charges

Amir Hekmati, a former marine and decorated war veteran, was born in Arizona and raised in Michigan. Within weeks of setting foot in Iran for the first time in August 2011 to visit his grandmother, he was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned.  Months later he appeared on Iranian TV, forced to confess he was a CIA operative. The U.S. State Department denies he was spying for the U.S. government and calls the case a gross miscarriage of justice. While Amir languishes in prison, his health deteriorating, and his father dying of cancer, his family pleads with the Iranian government to let him go free.

Source: CNN


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

War and the Work of Death

War and the Work of Death
by Jeffrey Denning

Warrior SOS

from my column at http://newscornerusa.com/jdenning.html (no longer operable)

The warrior is taught and trained and encouraged to destroy. His skill lies in battle. A physical battle between bodies and of souls--his own soul, his own life or the life of his comrade, and those enemies seeking his destruction. In seeking death, the warrior dies. 'Tis possible to die, but to go on living. Those select veterans and their family members understand what that means. They "get it." They understand the significance of it.

Or do they?

The warrior's greatest asset is to shut off a portion of his own yearning for life. This is the ultimate sacrifice. Dying is not what the warrior seeks, but to be skilled enough to kill, and to kill well. The most effective and efficient warriors will begin to not care for life. Not that they will murder intentionally, unjustly injure those who do not "deserve" it, but that they can dispose of the life and the body of the enemy, at least to some degree--to raise their rifle, to look him in the face and to watch the enemies' body go flaccid and limp. Such a mental image and such a physical act--including the training for such up-close and personal ending of life altercations--has its repercussions. Of course it does. It should.

The greatest fear may not be that life will end, but that he will end the life of another or that he will fail his team. In some aspects, and under some conditions, this transforms the warrior where he now considers himself less civil. Unworthy. Unable to cope with himself--whether he couldn't save a buddy or whether he took a life or many lives in war. Certainly more circumstances exist than these. Regardless, the warrior now views the world differently. He is a changed man. His life has already ended although he remains awake. Although alive, he may feel dead. He may feel life is over.

But this is not all. Much deeper is the departing life and energy he once knew.

The searing that comes under war can paralyze. Such a fear of being wounded or the fear of the unknown--what shall occur upon death of his own body--can cause acute physical stiffening. In such a mental position the warrior physically freezes. But training will force him to continue on, if not for someone beside him yelling at him to attack or retreat.

Naturally he may want to run. To flee. To get to safety. But the most effective warrior will cease to live. He will neither care for his own life nor the life of his enemy. He may only care for his comrade and brother-in-arms. He is professional. He is emotionally numb to some degree. That is survival.

Once such a warrior has ceased to live on the battlefield, his emotions become fluid to physical acts, his nerves become more relaxed. Instead of freezing, he can now muster the energy to kill. His reactions improve. His instincts develop.

In the state of his own lifelessness, beginning first in his mind, paradoxically he is now in greater control of life--at least while in the war zone. His skill melds with his mind, and vice versa. The chemistry and physiological nature of his mortal body now work in harmony with the mission he has. Target discretion improves; target acquisition improves; readiness and willingness improves, for he is willing to die but more willing to kill.

In short, he doesn't care much anymore. He ceases to care about his own physical injuries. He ceases to believe in the hope of his survival, although he holds on to the daydreams of yesteryear. He stares death in the face. And he feels that sooner or later he will depart. The fear and willingness to live dies before he dies. That makes an effective fighting warrior. But it has tremendous setbacks after the battle is over. The battle never leaves him entirely although he may leave the battle scene.

In a constant state of battle, his mind and psyche change. He is altered emotionally. He becomes conditioned to living war. That is where he lives. That is where he thrives. War becomes him and he becomes a part of war. He becomes effective at this work, although he may not believe it himself always. And for some reason his experiences in the foray will alter the course of his life forever.

His survival instinct grows. Or rather his instinct for physical war develops in a way that he becomes a hunter...and the hunted. It is not simple survival. It is man against man, warrior against enemy, man against the machines of death and carnage. This survival is the most complex of all, latent in some, swollen in the minds of those who understand and have lived the work of death.

The lack of reprieve, the semblance of normality, is bereft. Even a short R&R will not bring him home again. Physically he may be there. But he is not there. He may mask his own development from those who know him best. But it cannot hide forever. He cannot hide in war. And his war continues on within him. The course of his life is altered forever. He may find coping mechanisms; he may find emotions and changes will adapt over time to his peaceful living; but that which he experienced and that which his mind altered (chemically, emotionally and psychologically), have forever changed the course of his existence.

In war he is nice to have around, for it would not take long for those survival instincts and deft reactions to be stirred up again. But without a war to fight, he may be lost. He does not want to fight anymore; he tries to let it go. Or, he will volunteer to go back to the battle, in some way or in some form.

In seeking the work of death he has died himself. And unless he can find a meaning and reason and a purpose for living, he will go on living as though he is dead.

Be sure to check out Warrior SOS, the book.
on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

PTSD and the Soul

Indeed, psychotherapists are trained not to talk much about spirituality or morality in the first place, but these are precisely the dimensions we must address in order to evolve strategies for identity reconstruction and soul restoration. 

...Moral pain, with its incumbent harm to the soul, is a root cause of PTSD. If we do not address the moral issues we cannot alleviate it no matter how much therapy or how many medications we apply. 

-- Edward Tick, "War and the Soul: Healing our Nation's Veterans from PTSD.” 


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Links

http://www.mormon.org/me/2GXB/JeffreyDenning 

About me and my religion. There's a special experience I wrote about while in Iraq. 

http://jeffreydenning.blogspot.com/

My original blog, and the blog I kept while I was in Iraq. These are more religious and political in nature, unlike this Warrior SOS blog here.

http://www.guns.com/author/jd/

Articles and videos I've written for Guns.com. 

http://newscornerusa.com/jdenning.html

My weekly column about military, law enforcement and other issues -- whatever comes to mind. (Posted, but no longer active)

Check out Warrior SOS, the book on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Here are some colleagues' sites or training sites that I'd recommend: 

http://www.fast762.com

If you're in Texas, be sure to get training from this SOF operator. 

http://www.invictusagi.com

These SOF operators train in Kentucky, as well as in other locations.

http://www.standbythewounded.com

Click here for a great nonprofit organization that helps wounded SOF operators, founded by an operator who's "been there."

http://www.grahamcombat.com

My good friend and one of the most energetic and intelligent instructors I know, Matt Graham.


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Letter to my Legislative Rep -- Gun Control and Mental Illness

Dear Honorable ---, 

As a former local and federal law enforcement officer, as well as a military veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I strongly oppose any ban on high capacity magazines or so-called military or assault-style firearms.

As a combat veteran, there is no one who hates and opposes violence more than I do. But, I am also experienced enough in law enforcement to know that banning guns or high capacity magazines will not reduce crime or gun violence. Banning firearms or magazines usurps the freedoms and liberty of those who obey the law -- those who wish to protect themselves and their families. Criminals do not obey the law.

From shooting sports to hunting, and from firearms collection to self-defense, I urge you to please oppose any and all legislation designed to stop millions of law-abiding citizens from gun or magazine ownership.

The facts revolving around the terrible incidents at the most recent school shooting were incorrect. There was no so-called military assault-style weapon used in the school, and the gun in the trunk of the subject's vehicle was not in the AR family of rifles. To me, it appeared to be a shotgun.

There are so many more facts needing to be addressed, like the annual FBI uniform crime report, which shows that more people were bludgeoned to death by hammers and clubs than were killed by rifles; and that banning firearms does not make an area safer. For instance, Chicago has had more firearms violence than in many years past. On the corollary, Florida concealed carry permits are up and the violence is down. These are just two brief examples of reasons to allow law-abiding citizens to continue to own, purchase, use, sell or transfer firearms according to the laws currently in place.

Certainly many things ought to be done to help our society become less violent. Strengthening the most fundamental unit of society -- the family -- will help alleviate many social ills. Avoiding and prohibiting violence that our children are exposed to in the media and in video games will do much more to help control violence than any attempt to "control" guns. After all, whether using a claw hammer or an illegally purchased or stolen firearm, the criminal element will not be entirely stopped unless his mind and heart can be changed.

In sum, I plead with you to help design, support and sustain any legislation that supports and strengthens traditional family units while allowing law-abiding veterans like myself to keep and bear arms. Moreover, please be cautious about measures or legislation that may be introduced that may negatively impact veterans (or citizens) who suffer from PTSD from legally owning firearms. As a founder Warrior SOS, I have talked with many veterans about PTSD. Having PTSD is not like what Hollywood says it is. It may be classified as a "mental illness", but this certainly does not mean that veterans who suffer from this will go "crazy" and begin shooting up kindergarten classrooms, as horrible as that comparison sounds.

Thank you very much for your time.

Very Respectfully,

Jeffrey Denning