 Several reservists who work out of Camp Lincoln in Springfield were
present to give their story of the journey from citizen, to soldier,
to warrior, back to citizen.
Sgt. Sara Minder returned from her 15-month deployment in 2005,
and at that time she was the youngest veteran in Illinois. Her
passion for this program is from the personal struggles she had with
her reintegration into regular society.
Minder started right back to school as a freshman at Lincoln
College after deployment. And as a freshman outside of the area, she
had to live in the dorms. "What a hard transition it was, to go from
battlefield warrior to living the dorm life with so many girls who
just wanted to party and have fun," Minder said. "I was just in such
a different mindset than they were." And rightfully so for her -- as
she had already lived over 6,000 miles away in another world, a
world no one knows about unless they have been there firsthand.
Adam Wilde, Minder's longtime boyfriend, said, "What a transition
it is to make such a direct impact on the world and your country
while you are over there, and then for her to come back and
transition into college life." The difficult part for so many of
them is to find a group of people who understand. "But the support
is improving since she's been back," Wilde said.
Minder is now very active in helping the Illinois Army National
Guard with community awareness for assisting soldiers and their
families during deployment and reintegration.
The key speaker for the evening, Lt. Justin Anweiler, is doing
what he can to raise the awareness in every part of the community
possible. As an example, he said, "Educators in our communities need
to be aware of the statistics." He said that 38 percent of returning
veterans will drop out of college in their first year back to
school.
[to top of second column] |
And it's not just there that the support is needed. Medical
providers also need to be aware of certain medical issues since the
war began. "Medical providers need to bone up on Middle Eastern
parasites and fully understand traumatic brain injury and
post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD," Anweiler said.
Another concern in the medical field is that military personnel
cannot go to doctors who do not accept Tricare, the health insurance
provided through the military. This makes it a small group of
medical providers for the military to choose from.
Clergy and certified counselors can volunteer their services to
help treat the issues of combat stress, which is "a normal reaction
to being in a war zone," Anweiler said. There is also PTSD and
crisis intervention.
"I know we don't want to make the same mistake as a community ...
(as) was done to the soldiers during Vietnam," Anweiler added. "We
want to do so much better this time. Our veterans deserve everything
we can do for them."
For more information on how you can offer your skills and
assistance to the military and their families for successful
reintegration, you may call Jefferson Street Christian Church at
217-732-9294 and ask to be connected to the Good Samaritan group.
[Janell Woolard]
(Part
1, posted Oct. 2) |
