Stay Strong Nation's plea to you for PTSD veterans

Five years ago, understanding this generation of veterans has no desire to read, I started making videos to help them understand. Blending pictures, music and a message is a powerful way to do this. I made over 30 videos now and there is only one reason for all the hours I spent making them. They work! Videos have a way of getting thru to a veteran any hour of the day and talking directly to them, offering understanding but above that, hope. You can find links to my videos on the sidebar and see what I mean. Also check out what a Vietnam veteran started with this type of work.

Musicians put creative 'spin' on PTSD awareness for vets

Nicole Brochu
Sun Sentinel Columnist
8:38 a.m. EST, December 9, 2010



They were two musicians, inspired to act on President Obama's call for the nation to do whatever it can to support U.S. soldiers returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of them, L.A. Keith Crosby, a Vietnam vet, knew all too well the horrors of that return trip.

"I don't want them to come back home and be treated the way we were," Crosby said to his friend, Gresford Lewishall.

From there, Stay Strong Nation was born, dedicating itself to helping current and former U.S. military personnel cope with the all-too-prevalent struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, known respectively by their acronyms, PTSD and TBI.

And they do it with a creative twist that calls on their collective talents as musical promoters in Maui: with stirring CD recordings of an "anthem" to service members, with both a rap and a country version. I'm no fan of either musical genre, but it's tough to listen to both recordings and not be moved by the message of respect, honor and encouragement they broadcast, and even the prayer that accompanies the country version. "Stay strong, the nation will never forget you," the songs urge soldiers.

Stay Strong Nation's plea to you comes in the form of a holiday drive: Order the CD at http://www.staystrongnation.org and fill out and return the accompanying holiday-greeting postcard to them. Their hope is to be able to send mail bags full of the cards to Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of December so they can be posted in mess halls, call centers — wherever troops congregate — to boost morale and remind soldiers they are remembered and supported back home.
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Musicians put creative spin on PTSD awareness for vets