Veterans Justice Outreach Program
Tax deductible
Veterans with PTSD haven’t really returned. Our programs help them get all the way back home. This funding request helps the Veterans Justice Outreach Program by supplying vets and courts with a book that describes what really happens to veterans when they go to war and when they come back.
The book, Faces of Combat, tells many stories of veterans who went to war and didn’t make it all the way back home again. For the author, Eric Newhouse, here’s the story that started it all:
If many of the Faces of Combat look tormented, it’s because they came home laden with guilt and shame. Montanans recognized that for the first time after March 4, 2007, when one combat vet put a .22 against his head, muffled it with a comforter, and ended his life as quietly as a book drops. He had PTSD and didn’t get the help he needed.
His name was Chris Dana. He joined the National Guard shortly after graduating from high school in Helena, Montana. Chris went to Iraq with the 163rd Infantry Battalion, in what was the largest deployment of Montana soldiers since World War II. They were in the midst of some of the toughest fighting there was, but afterward, Chris couldn’t talk about it.
“He’d tell us he’d been through a lot, then he’d drop it,” recalls his stepmom Linda. “But then his eyes would just get vacant, and he wasn’t there any more.”
From the first day of his return, Chris was clearly struggling, clearly trying to put the best face on his problems so as not to worry his family. But he didn’t make it. He couldn’t handle the training once he was back in the States. Part of him died fighting in Iraq; the rest followed a few days after the Guard threw him out for having a bad attitude and failing to follow orders. He killed himself before he made it all the way back home.
Every day 22 veterans kill themselves. We can’t help Chris, but we can change things for the hundreds of thousands of other veterans who have PTSD. It’s one of the reasons we created Pine Winds Connections, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We want the men and women who served in battle to fully rejoin their friends, families, and communities again. We want them to get all the way back home.
The devastation caused by PTSD in the men and women returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars may be unimaginable for those who haven’t been in battle. Yet it is only too real for those who have fought. In the book, Faces of Combat, veterans discuss their uncontrollable rage, alcoholism, nightmares, flashbacks, divorce, joblessness, homelessness, and even their battlefield reactions to civilian provocations that land too many of them in jail.
Losses in battle can only be understood by someone who has been there.
Having a book that shows our warriors that they are not alone helps them. So we offered them Faces of Combat. With help from the publisher, we have given over 600 books to veterans and veteran organizations like the Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Centers where veterans receive medical and psychological treatment. That has been a resounding success.
Along with the donations we created the website FacesofCombat.us that currently offers over 400 free resources. Our Faces of Combat Facebook page is filled with news updates. We constantly network with other organizations, both civilian and veteran, so that we can better serve this nation’s veterans and their families. That effort continues.
In this Go Fund Me campaign we are asking you to help us with a more ambitious project. Many veterans try for years to hold their demons at bay through a combination of drugs and alcohol. Many end up in trouble with the law due to this self-medication or other issues related to their PTSD. We don’t want to throw away the key on these veterans. We want to offer them a chance to heal.
One version of the veterans courts that look for better solutions for veterans than jail.
There is a federal initiative called the Veterans Justice Outreach Program that gives veterans who are in trouble with the law a chance, when it is appropriate, to receive treatment instead of jail time. We believe the courts that participate in this program will be more effective if they better understand what is going on with the veterans they serve.
To help their understanding we want to provide free copies of Faces of Combat to all of the approximately 160 Veteran Justice Outreach Specialists in the country. These are the people who work with veterans and courts to find the best solutions. The goal is to provide each veteran who comes through the program with a copy of the book and information about our website. We hope that each of these veterans reads the book, sees themselves in it, and gets the help they need before it’s too late. The specialists will also give the book to people in the courts so the courts will have a greater understanding of the veterans they serve.
Initially, we hope to send 30 books to each specialist. It takes $195 to ship a box of 30 books to one specialist or $6.50 to ship one of the books in the box. Whether you donate money for one book or several boxes, you will be helping our veterans get all the way back home.
Because Pine Winds Connections is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, your donation is tax deductible. Pine Winds Connections was created to promote positive, healthy connections that contribute to a more beautiful, united planet. You can see more of what we do at http://pinewindsconnections.org .
For more about Faces of Combat you can visit our website at http://FacesofCombat.us or see us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/facesofcombat/ . Be sure to check out the resources and other information we provide. And let us know about other resources we can add to our list.
Thank you for giving our veterans your support.
The book, Faces of Combat, tells many stories of veterans who went to war and didn’t make it all the way back home again. For the author, Eric Newhouse, here’s the story that started it all:
If many of the Faces of Combat look tormented, it’s because they came home laden with guilt and shame. Montanans recognized that for the first time after March 4, 2007, when one combat vet put a .22 against his head, muffled it with a comforter, and ended his life as quietly as a book drops. He had PTSD and didn’t get the help he needed.
His name was Chris Dana. He joined the National Guard shortly after graduating from high school in Helena, Montana. Chris went to Iraq with the 163rd Infantry Battalion, in what was the largest deployment of Montana soldiers since World War II. They were in the midst of some of the toughest fighting there was, but afterward, Chris couldn’t talk about it.
“He’d tell us he’d been through a lot, then he’d drop it,” recalls his stepmom Linda. “But then his eyes would just get vacant, and he wasn’t there any more.”
From the first day of his return, Chris was clearly struggling, clearly trying to put the best face on his problems so as not to worry his family. But he didn’t make it. He couldn’t handle the training once he was back in the States. Part of him died fighting in Iraq; the rest followed a few days after the Guard threw him out for having a bad attitude and failing to follow orders. He killed himself before he made it all the way back home.
Every day 22 veterans kill themselves. We can’t help Chris, but we can change things for the hundreds of thousands of other veterans who have PTSD. It’s one of the reasons we created Pine Winds Connections, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We want the men and women who served in battle to fully rejoin their friends, families, and communities again. We want them to get all the way back home.
The devastation caused by PTSD in the men and women returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars may be unimaginable for those who haven’t been in battle. Yet it is only too real for those who have fought. In the book, Faces of Combat, veterans discuss their uncontrollable rage, alcoholism, nightmares, flashbacks, divorce, joblessness, homelessness, and even their battlefield reactions to civilian provocations that land too many of them in jail.
Losses in battle can only be understood by someone who has been there.Having a book that shows our warriors that they are not alone helps them. So we offered them Faces of Combat. With help from the publisher, we have given over 600 books to veterans and veteran organizations like the Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Centers where veterans receive medical and psychological treatment. That has been a resounding success.
Along with the donations we created the website FacesofCombat.us that currently offers over 400 free resources. Our Faces of Combat Facebook page is filled with news updates. We constantly network with other organizations, both civilian and veteran, so that we can better serve this nation’s veterans and their families. That effort continues.
In this Go Fund Me campaign we are asking you to help us with a more ambitious project. Many veterans try for years to hold their demons at bay through a combination of drugs and alcohol. Many end up in trouble with the law due to this self-medication or other issues related to their PTSD. We don’t want to throw away the key on these veterans. We want to offer them a chance to heal.
One version of the veterans courts that look for better solutions for veterans than jail.There is a federal initiative called the Veterans Justice Outreach Program that gives veterans who are in trouble with the law a chance, when it is appropriate, to receive treatment instead of jail time. We believe the courts that participate in this program will be more effective if they better understand what is going on with the veterans they serve.
To help their understanding we want to provide free copies of Faces of Combat to all of the approximately 160 Veteran Justice Outreach Specialists in the country. These are the people who work with veterans and courts to find the best solutions. The goal is to provide each veteran who comes through the program with a copy of the book and information about our website. We hope that each of these veterans reads the book, sees themselves in it, and gets the help they need before it’s too late. The specialists will also give the book to people in the courts so the courts will have a greater understanding of the veterans they serve.
Initially, we hope to send 30 books to each specialist. It takes $195 to ship a box of 30 books to one specialist or $6.50 to ship one of the books in the box. Whether you donate money for one book or several boxes, you will be helping our veterans get all the way back home.
Because Pine Winds Connections is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, your donation is tax deductible. Pine Winds Connections was created to promote positive, healthy connections that contribute to a more beautiful, united planet. You can see more of what we do at http://pinewindsconnections.org .
For more about Faces of Combat you can visit our website at http://FacesofCombat.us or see us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/facesofcombat/ . Be sure to check out the resources and other information we provide. And let us know about other resources we can add to our list.
Thank you for giving our veterans your support.
Organizer
Tom Blaschko
Organizer
Enumclaw, WA
Pine Winds Connections
Beneficiary