Wounded warriors…
“I began trusting the horse’s calm bit by bit and week by week until I could learn a new perspective – not just live with my disability, but thrive in life.” Air Force veteran Dave Andrews
War Vets & Wounded Warriors: Remembrance, Healing & Horses
I grew up with War Vets.
As a young boy, I listened to their stories with awe. Their training in England. The beaches of Normandy. The welcome they got, especially in Holland. “We were treated like family,” Dad would often say, always with a smile.
I didn’t know at the time that there was much they weren’t saying. Later, gradually, I learned of darker times they had gone through — my father, his coworkers, Legion buddies — I heard those stories, too.
Back then, in those post-War Fifties, there was much left unsaid. Alcohol was a common medication for them, I guess. But looking back, they at least had one thing perhaps today’s combat vets don’t have: they had each other. Thousands upon thousands of World War Two vets found jobs together. All of the guys my father worked with were returned soldiers.
And also, I think, they knew what they had accomplished. They knew that the life they were giving us (their families, their children) was one of Freedom, one of Peace.
Dad, among others, did tell me the stories that the people they had liberated had told them. People of France, Belgium, Holland. In those stories from a conquered people staggering under the brutal oppression of Hitler’s military, our soldiers knew exactly the horror they had saved their own families — their own country — from.
The younger vets I meet today, some having served in Afghanistan and elsewhere, don’t seem as sure. And certainly the support isn’t there.
The most stirring stories we’re hearing today are about support groups. Service dogs. And horses…
Navy veteran Jessenia Smith and her husband Truitt experienced the healing nature of caring for horses at a Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) equine therapy workshop. Their love for animals enhanced the workshop’s impact and helped them interact with other veterans. [1]
“It was beneficial for both of us,” Jessenia said in a recent press release.
“With this type of equine therapy, you groom and listen to the horse and also work together as a team.”
Jessenia explained that she and Truitt, also a Navy veteran, had a chance to meet other warriors and share how they feel about their place in the world.
“Anything with Wounded Warrior Project is not any pressure. You share if you want to share. You’re in a safe zone with other like-minded people who support you, and they support you one hundred percent.”
Jessenia has felt a sense of validation through equine therapy, also called Hippotherapy, and other WWP programs. She also participated in a WWP Soldier Ride® in New Orleans in 2015. “I’m still friends with other riders from that event, and it was an amazing experience.”
Jessenia first heard about WWP when she was “recovering from serious injuries sustained while deployed in South America. After leaving the military, she attended an all-female veteran WWP event.” She met fellow veterans who reminded her of herself a few years earlier.
“Attending Wounded Warrior Project events made my journey relevant. Interacting with other veterans helped me see myself and what I’d been suppressing. Sometimes, just being in the room with other people who get it is all it takes. You’re being validated for what you feel. That’s what Wounded Warrior Project gives to me – it’s that validation that no one else can give you.”
Wounded Warriors Canada also has its own Equine Program with gentle horses available out of three stables: Rocky Mountain House, Alberta; WindReach Farms, Ontario and Sumac Farms, Nova Scotia, in Atlantic Canada.
Is Wounded Warriors a good project to donate to? I like it — if you’re unsure, you can ask some vets you know what they think.
One thing for sure. There was a time when our returned soldiers were forgotten — certainly here in Canada. At least times are changing for the better this way. There aren’t many World War Two vets still alive today, but here they’re finally getting the help and recognition they deserve. And the younger returned men and women are finding some volunteer programs to help them. We need more such programs.
Yes, I grew up with War Vets. And I also grew up with horses, which is another story…
Live Free, Mon Ami! – Brian Alan Burhoe
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OUT OF MY FATHER’S SHAVING BOX: Dad’s War, Algonquin Regiment & Liberation of Holland
A Remembrance of the Canadian Algonquin Regiment and the part it played in the Liberation of Normandy, Belgium and especially Holland.
And the part they played in the Battle for Hochwald Gap, called one of the “Greatest Tank Battles.”
“I appreciated reading your post on your father. I only recently saw it. My father was also in the Alqonquins in D company. He was also in the Hochwald Gap on the morning of March 2, 1945. His first cousin, who was also in the unit, died that morning, and Dad went to Stalag IIb…” – Larry Cole
SEE OUT OF MY FATHER’S SHAVING BOX: Dad’s War, Algonquin Regiment & Liberation of Holland
[1] About Wounded Warrior Project: “Since 2003, Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) has been meeting the growing needs of warriors, their families, and caregivers – helping them achieve their highest ambition.”
Learn more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us and, in Canada, at https://woundedwarriors.ca/
Source: Wounded Warrior Project, PR Newswire & Civilized Bears
War Vets & Wounded Warriors: Remembrance, Healing & Horses
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