One Humanitarian Crisis You Haven't Donated To

She's right. Americans are so disconnected from everything about combat, they are clueless until it happens in their own families.

One Humanitarian Crisis You Haven't Donated To
Huffpost blog
Lisa Cypers Kamen, MA
Executive Director Harvesting Happiness

Support for the Afghanistan War has hit rock bottom. In a May Associated Press poll, an overwhelming 66 percent of Americans disapproved of the war, with only 27 percent giving our Afghanistan conflict a stamp of approval. But whether we like the war or not, the troops fighting on behalf of America need our support. Our veterans are facing an unprecedented crisis in the form of PTSD, and this humanitarian issue has nothing to do with politics.

As many as one-fifth of the 2.6 million veterans deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq since 2011 battle PTSD, an anxiety disorder characterized by painful flashbacks and nightmares triggered without notice. As the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs struggle to provide veterans with access to treatment services, many warriors and their families are left to suffer through the daily pain of PTSD alone.

Wars are often controversial, but we haven't seen this little public support for a conflict since the most protested years of the Vietnam War. And it seems that we've let our negative view of the war taint our view of the veterans fighting it just when they need our help.
read more here

I used to wonder why there are so many new charities popping up all over the country when there were even more established decades ago. This pretty much sums that answer up. Financial support is lacking for all of us.

I've been doing this 30 years. For most of that time, I held down a full time job, doing this part time. That changed 5 years ago. It's been full time, out of my own pocket and frankly it sucks to be me but I wouldn't stop doing this for all the money in the world.

I get up, read stories like I posted over the last couple of days, like Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor Hero, feeling like a burden to his family so he pulled over on the side of the road one day, pulled out his gun, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. For whatever reason, it didn't fire. And then the MP from Jacksonville committing suicide after suicide prevention training.

I read emails from veterans, family members and worried friends. Then I read emails from especially Moms after they can't understand how their sons and daughters managed to survive combat but couldn't survive being back home.

I have to beg for donations and even when I do that, few come in. A local VFW made me cry when they donated $1,000 to help me. I was over $3,000 in debt. Now it's only $2,000. It takes between $1-$2,000 a month to cover expenses, which is not a lot of money considering I travel all over Florida for meetings and film events the news is no longer interested in covering for veterans.

I don't mind giving up the income I lost as much as it does bother me while I am constantly asked to show up and be there when I'm needed, few show up to help me.

This is why established charities that have the answers are no longer here to answer the questions and millions are being wasted asking the wrong people.

If you can help them then step up. If not, then at least financially support the people who show up everyday.

You know where the donate button is on here so try kick in $5 or $10. It will at least put some gas in my car.