Friday, October 05, 2007
sponsored by Illini Bank

Tying and untying the yellow ribbon

Reintegrating a soldier back into family and community

Part 2 of 2           Send a link to a friend

[October 05, 2007]  Insight into the life of soldiers once they return home was the focus of the presentation "Tying the Yellow Ribbon." The Sept. 25 presentation at Jefferson Street Christian Church centered on how the community can help soldiers and their families during those difficult days.

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)

< Top Stories index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching and Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law and Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health and Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor