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Operation Freedom Bird………a journey to find things lost Loss is the experience
in which we’ve lost something significant or someone is taken
away. Each Vietnam combat veteran has had these significant losses.
Human relationships in Vietnam were lost in several ways. Other losses occurred in the Vietnam combat experience. The innocence lost will never be regained or even relieved at a slower, more easily accepted pace. Vietnam vets grew old too fast and too soon. The discovery of youth was lost in the horror of repeated deaths and the constant struggle for survival. The loss of faith and ideals accompanied the loss of innocence. The valor, the wounds, and the deaths appeared meaningless in the struggle of conflicting forces, most of which were not on the battlefield. The losses inflicted pain and sorrow that couldn’t be forgotten when the vets returned home. Because crying on the battlefield was an extreme liability and a threat to survival, the vets never grieved. Grieving was impossible in battle, so reactions to losses became bottled up and impacted. Alcohol and drugs often became easy buffers for emotional pain. Escapes into the woods or away from responsibility did not leave the hurt behind. They only created new, self-inflicted losses that increased the need for healthy grief. OPERATION FREEDOM BIRD offers an opportunity for Vietnam veterans to process unresolved grief and loss in a healing and supportive atmosphere. The men and women veterans selected have prepared themselves for this healing journey by previous counseling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at Vet Centers across Arizona. The trip to the Vietnam memorial, “The Wall,” accompanied by Vet Center counselors, offers each a chance to share their experiences, confront their feelings, pay tribute to their fallen comrades and seek closure to their own emotional war wounds. Dr. John Storie, Psy.D. |
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