Vets with a Mission

Healing. Soul healing. Veterans of war need it, everyone agrees. So how does one go about being healed? I recently watched a movie called “By War and By God,” which showed a very effective way for restoration to take place.


“Vets with a Mission” takes veterans of the Vietnam era and gives them the opportunity to go back to the places in Vietnam where they fought, and bring medical help to the people there. The wounded healer (there’s a book by Henri Nouwen by that name), and it captures our imaginations just thinking about it. These men were hurt deeply at age 19, now as mature adults they are realizing that one way to heal is to bring help to the same people they were at war with in the 1960’s.


“The war is over,” is their message. One guy said that he’s never in his life had a former enemy say “I love you” and embrace him. An American vet had not slept the night through for 30 years, due to PTSD. When he went to Saigon, he slept like a baby!


 Many children receive help from this organization. A village that some of them went to did not have any medical facility in it, and the people had to go several miles to find any kind of care. So Vets with a Mission decided to build one for them. In it, they put a photo of their friend who lost his life there, so many years ago. And his testimony is written in English and Vietnamese next to his photo.


“The war is over.” When I do EMDR with people to help them heal from trauma, one thing I say to them is “that was then, and this is now.” Part of healing is recognizing that fact.


A Vietnamese man who had lost his leg was spending time with these veterans. “How did you lose your leg?” asked one of the Americans. “In the war, it was shot off by a machine gun,” came the answer. “I was a machine gunner,” said the vet. The translator did not want to translate it; perhaps he feared a reaction by the victim. After a while, the American persuaded him to translate it. The response? The Vietnamese man got up from his chair, went over, and hugged the American.


“The war is over.”


How many of us are suffering from old traumas from the past? Fighting wars with the voices in our heads? Healing can come as we move out and do something constructive to help those less fortunate than ourselves. There are lots of them. Our pastor always says “We’re blessed to be a blessing.” Throwing yourself into a project that contributes to the good of mankind is a sure way to recover from depression and anxiety. It is even prescribed sometimes!


Volunteer, if you’ve been raped, at a center for women, or become part of the anti-human trafficking movement. If you’ve been treated unjustly at a job, start a movement to help others who are worse off than you. Or simply, rake you 80 year old neighbor’s yard, offer to babysit for the single mother you know, or go to Feed My Starving Children. Open up your home to single people who need a place to stay. Go to a shelter and play with children or animals. The possibilities are endless.


I was very impressed with the “Vets with a Mission” organization, and the movie that publicized it. The movie was made by Kent Williamson, a friend of my husband’s, who was tragically killed in a car accident a few weeks ago.  Devastating. Heart-wrenching.


Like war.


"Even the saddest things can become, once we have made peace with them, a source of wisdom and strength." ~ Frederick Buechner  
  

We can learn something from these vets. They reached out, and in doing so found more than they probably ever believed they could. Can we do the same?

www.vetswithamission.org