Red Sox team up to help war veterans

This very well could be the best thing that could happen. We turn sports figures into heroes all the time. The general public knows more about the batting average of a player than they do how many soldiers have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Mention PTSD to anyone without someone in the military and they don't have a clue what it is. It is not that they don't care but more a case they have not been exposed to it.

Humans love competition when it comes to stories of misery and suffering. We do it all the time. Someone will talk about an operation they had, someone else jumps in with a worse story and the games begin. If more people were aware of what PTSD is or the fact anyone an end up with it after traumatic events, including police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors, having discussions about PTSD would be as natural as having conversations about childbirth. The Red Sox can manage to do that just by the exposure they are trying to give PTSD. An American passtime joined with American heroes and what they need! What could be better than that?

Red Sox team up to help war veterans
Pledge care for those with stress disorders and brain injuries
By John Barone and Ian Browne / MLB.com

09/17/09 11:20 PM ET

BOSTON -- In a major effort to help veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Red Sox on Thursday unveiled a multifaceted initiative in tandem with Massachusetts General Hospital at a news conference at Boston Marriott Copley Place and through a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program, in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, is designed to aid service members affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Objectives of the program include providing diagnosis and clinical care for veterans with PTSD and TBI; offering outreach and support services to families of affected veterans; conducting innovative research to deepen the understanding of the disorders and developing better treatments for them; and educating veterans, families and health-care providers about the diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.

Thousands of soldiers who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq struggle with PTSD and TBI, also known as "invisible wounds of war." Some choose to wage their fight in silence.

Now they don't have to.

United States Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Zimmerman, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Boston's series finale against Los Angeles, fought back tears while telling his story in a gripping address during Thursday's news conference.

"I admit it took my wife and I some time to decide if we were ready to share our journey so publicly," said Zimmerman, who suffers from both PTSD and TBI after sustaining multiple concussions in the Iraq battle of Fallujah late in 2004. "But this is a wonderful opportunity to encourage fellow service members to seek the help and the care that they need.

"I lost 22 brothers in the battle of Fallujah, and I remember all 22 of their names, and their faces. I will never forget them. It's very difficult, but at the same time, as I've been taught in counseling, I have to remember the 30 Marines that we were able to save that would have been lost."
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Red Sox team up to help war veterans