Vets4Vets: Impressions

Antiochian Village is a beautiful little resort located in the hills about an hour and a half to the east of Pittsburgh, outside the quaint little towns of Bolivar and Fort Ligonier.

Day 2 began a little too quickly as I didn’t do well sleeping last night. Not only did I forget to pack undershirts for this trip, but I forgot….my medications (let the motherly finger pointing begin). It was a touch and go night full of intermittent sleep and cold sweats for some reason. Perhaps, talking about some of the things I brought up and listening to other stories brought back some subconscious things.

Then, at about 4am, I got a call from the EOC that one of our Soldiers had been arrested for trying to sneak a girl onto post in the trunk of his car. I don’t understand that. He could have just brought her in normally in the passenger or back seat of the car. But, since he wanted to be a bonehead, he got himself arrested for something stupid and ignorant and I got a call at the wee hours of the morning.

I decided to try to sleep and skipped breakfast. Not a good idea since I was the only one that didn’t show up from the group. The rest of the group was worried about me and one of the participants that I’ve connected with stopped by to make sure I was okay. The fact is that I rarely eat breakfast even when I don’t have trouble sleeping.

The weekend was a resounding success in my mind. The retreat took place at a completely neutral location away from the hustle and bustle of normal life and allowed us to focus on each other. The building was located in the hills of a heavily wooded area and miles from the nearest highway. It included a small koi pond with some of the largest fish I’ve seen. There were also four geese that make the most serene noise. I enjoyed just walking down, sitting on the bench or leaning on the fence, and watching the fish slowly swim around while the geese scavenged for food in the well-manicured grass.

Vets4Vets is a way to get vets from all backgrounds together to discuss their experiences and help one another understand and cope with them. Through timed discussions, we were able to have equal time to discuss without worrying about any one person monopolizing the weekend. I was a little leery at first, but ended up liking the timed sessions. For one, it forced us to get to the point of what is bothering us without rambling and it ensured that everyone had equal time to speak (and listen).

At times, we broke into small groups for short and long timed opportunities to listen intently and personally to one another. The V4V staff provided coping strategies and counsel made sense at least to me. I had an opportunity to share some intimate combat experiences with other people who understand. For the first time, I was able to talk about some of the issues that I could never talk about before without just breaking into uncontrollable sobbing. While still difficult, I’m finding that talking about these experiences is truly helping me to cope with them.

The biggest take away from the event was camaraderie and being a set of ears for someone. I made some great friends, some great connections, and got away from it all for a few days. I’m going back to work recharged and ready to take care of troops.

I highly recommend that suffering veterans look into Vets4Vets.us and check out a workshop near you. They are generally held over the weekend, so minimal time away from the office is needed. I would also ask that if you are able, please donate to this organization or ask your business to sponsor a workshop. Each one costs about $30,000 and they are always looking for sponsors to bring veterans together to heal and cope. This is my plea and not an official request. Nor was I asked to make it.

I would also like to take a quick opportunity to thank Air Compassion for flying some of us out for free. We were treated better than we deserve and the opportunity to attend this workshop without having to worry about paying for a flight made the event that much more stress free. American Airlines. The staff and flight crew were top notch and uber-professional. If given the opportunity in the future, I will indeed consider American before any other airline. They even allow active duty military (in uniform or not) to board the plane with 1st Class Passengers.