This is the third article in a series designed to unify Americans in order to protect against what is coming in the future. In “United We Stand, Period!” I pointed out that only a strong and unified United States will prevent not only another potential civil war, but also possibly World War III. Since the armed forces of the United States of America are the strongest in the world, our enemies can only weaken and destroy the United States from within. As I type this series, they are trying to do just that through the use of our social media to try and keep us hopelessly polarized.
In “Unifying The United States One Family At A Time”, I wrote about the importance of starting at the grassroots level and concentrating on the 11 areas that unify all of us, regardless of our political leanings. In other words, we are digging deeper than our political differences into the bedrock that unifies all of us. These areas include:
1. Our love and devotion to a higher power.
2. Our love of self.
3. Our love of family.
4. Our love of friends.
5. Our love of community and the groups that we are a part of.
6. Our love of sense of accomplishment at work and in service to others.
7. Our love of city, state and country.
8. Our love of the freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights of our U.S. Constitution.
9. Our love of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
10. Our thankfulness that we live in one of the greatest countries of all time.
11. Our love of peace.
But I believe that it is important to include American veterans into this equation. Why? Because our veterans have experienced firsthand the reality, brutality and consequences of war. In fact, after transitioning from active duty to civilian life, many veterans struggle with how to create and maintain a meaningful purpose to their lives:
“ They fight our wars whether there’s public support for them or not, defend our precious liberties and make personal sacrifices that most of us can’t imagine. Yet when they return home, veterans often find it difficult to find jobs, support their families and deal with the trauma that often comes with military service. There is heightened awareness around these problems now, but mental illness and addiction are still common among veterans, and our country is falling short in healing those who protected all of us.” (https://thehill.com/…/581014-veterans-fought-for-our…/)
Not only do many veterans return home with mental scars, their bodies are also broken, too. Of the 50 million Americans that suffer annually from chronic pain, 20 million of them are veterans. And, when you take into account all wars from the American Revolutionary War to the present day, the number of veterans that have given the ultimate sacrifice are over 3 million, the size of the Dallas metroplex.
First, some veterans have to heal from the horrors that they faced on foreign battlefields. While there are a number of veterans support organizations, Sabot Foundation uses a wholistic approach to help veterans heal from the horrors that they experienced in the theater of war. Hammond Meredith and Jon Krashna, the founders of Sabot Foundation, have purposed that “The Sabot Foundation assists veterans, especially combat veterans to help them redefine their transition back into civilian life and improve their quality of life in a variety of areas related to alternative holistic programs to reduce the effects of PTSD/TBI/CTE, as well as guidance to education and training leading to rewarding careers.” (To learn more, please visit http://sabotgroup.com/sabot-foundation/.)
But, what I propose to do is to include local veterans in these grassroots celebrations of unity that I laid out in “Unifying The United States One Family At A Time”. Each veteran can have a sense of purpose by being active participants in helping unify people so that America can remain strong, free and in a united front. They do this by sharing about their experiences with real battles in a real war. But more importantly, they can dispel the notion that war is a glamorous activity that we sometimes see in the movies. As William Tecumseh Sherman said, “War is hell.”
We honor our veterans the best by making sure that America remains strong, free and united. We can best do this by giving veterans a higher purpose and allowing them to participate in these programs celebrating and promoting unity!
Until next time!
Anthony Cota
Anthony Cota 