Call to America to help our veterans

Call To America

Hampton Inn Daytona Beach-Speedway

1715 West International Speedway Blvd.

Daytona Beach, Florida 32114

Sgt. Dave Matthews


Sgt. Dave Matthews a wounded veteran himself, tirelessly works to help "Brave-Aid" and its cause. We are remiss in not posting Sgt. Matthews sooner. There have been times when he has called the office to allow us to speak to homeless veterans he has just fed. Below are pictures of his latest effort to help Veterans at the Road to Recovery 10/16/09 event this past weekend. God bless you Sgt. Matthews, the world needs more people like you Sir. Just too look into the faces of our Homeless Veterans and the smile you put on their faces makes our hearts full.

There are presently over 19,000 homeless Veterans in Florida. On this night thanks to you some of those 19,000 had a good meal.
http://www.braveaid.org/

When you look into the eyes of Sgt. Matthews, you can see some pain there but above all, you can see true dedication to others. I've been with him during meetings when he has shown frustration that more people are not joining this organization even though considering the official kick off is not until tomorrow and hundreds have already joined, Sgt. Matthews is impatient to do more for the troops and our veterans. I've been with him when he was helping to feed the homeless in Orlando, again, frustrated that more is not being done. He is a member of the Florida National Guard, doing his duty this weekend and won't be able to go to the convention.

The thing most people do not understand is the members of Operation Warrior Support are not satisfied with just being frustrated. Just as Sgt. Matthews is not happy complaining and spends his days trying to make a difference, all of us with OWS are tired of complaining. Tired of seeing what is not being done and tired of seeing our veterans waiting for help.

We know what they are going through beyond waiting for their claims for benefits to be approved. We know what they go through between wound and compensation. Because too many have no income while they wait, they are falling through the cracks. Bill collectors don't want to hear the government has not paid their bill to a wounded veteran. They don't want to hear we'll pay when we get paid. They expect the debt to be paid on time without delay. It would be a wonderful time in this country if the veterans could be assured of the same consideration.

Then we have veterans coming home, like Sgt. Matthews, to a nation where the job they expected to return to is no longer there. The members of the National Guards do what they are supposed to do, deploy where they are sent for however long they are told to stay there. Do we ever think about what happens to them when they come home and have to still pay their bills? What about the debt we owe them?

The list of conditions our veterans return to is hardly coming close to being addressed. While I try to do what I can with my blog and website along with the videos, what you don't know about is the number of veterans and their families emailing me and the hours of phone calls trying to help them understand what they are not being told. What you do not see is the suffering from every state in this country and the families falling apart. We read numbers. We read some stories. Above all, we hear their voice.

Brave-Aid was established to help them. Operation Warrior Support is a member funded support for Brave-Aid. Consider organizations hiring professional fund raisers. Ever consider how much money they have to paid out of the donations you make? OWS is the fundraising arm. Please consider coming tomorrow to Daytona and get more information about this organization I am proud to be a member of.

I was not satisfied with being frustrated in 1982 when I tried to help. Not happy with being frustrated all these years since and I am certainly not happy just complaining now. It is not enough to just offer prayers and move on with your life when they cannot. It is not enough to show up when they come into the airports or try to show up when one of them is laid to rest. It is not enough to show up for Memorial Day or Veterans Day Parades. We need to be there when they need us just as they are always there when we need them.

If you cannot attend the convention, please go here and take a look at what you can do beyond being frustrated.

http://chaplainkathie.warriorsupport.us/