Brian O’Connell here. I am the newly minted vice commander of SAL Squadron 55 in Buena Vista, Colo. I am having to care for my 80-year-old dad, Eddie, who served in Vietnam in the USMC. I am not complaining, as I consider this my “Fourth Commandment” deployment and I am blessed to do it! When Dad returned from the war, he had a few odd jobs for a short time, but soon went into the police academy, graduated and retired 35 years later from the police force. Dad never told us kids one thing about the war or the job as a cop. Those memories were bottled up and not talked about. Dad has had a number of health issues in a very short amount of time that will require assisted care once he is discharged from inpatient physical therapy. The VA, Veterans Care Coordination, United Way and private medical staff who partner with these organizations have all been most helpful and by the time you read this, Dad will probably be home. Dad’s frequent surgeries and doses of anesthesia have caused him to have memories that have been repressed for decades bubble up to the surface as a result of this. He was asking for folks who died 5, 10, 20 to 30 years ago, relived childhood memories that happened in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s, etc. It is very heartbreaking to see a parent experience this.
Mountains Move (https://www.mountainsmove.org) does a whole host of services for veterans that you may not know about. Mountains Move is a faith-based nonprofit hosting veterans, military members and first responders who struggle with depression, isolation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and suicidal ideation. They believe that strengthening faith, addressing lifestyle issues - addictions, sleep, diet, exercise and building healthy relationships that endure long past the program - are the best ways for addressing these issues.
I close with this, brothers and sisters: we need to support each other. We may not actually get what is truly needed from the support currently in place. It is personally painful for me to see a virile, mentally sharp and energetic man like my dad Eddie, who I have known for 57 years, turn into a potato. Mountains Move has been credited by three veterans as “saved my life as I wanted to kill myself" in the past year. How would you have been better if you knew of this outfit? How much better would my dad be today if he had something like this in '67? We need to support each other.