This offer is over.
In honor of Veterans Day we are offering “Hidden Battles” for 99 cents, for one day only. Please help your community take advantage of this offer by forwarding this e-mail to your friends, family, and colleagues.
On Veterans Day (Friday November 11th) from 12:00am -12:00pm you can:
Stream “Hidden Battles” for only 99 cents
or
Purchase a DVD for $15 (more than 50% off)
We’ll release the streaming URL and discount code to our mailing list, Facebook friends and Twitter followers on Thursday. If you haven’t joined already, go to www.hiddenbattles.com and at the bottom of the page, click on the option that suits you best. You can also share the streaming URL and discount code with your community once it is released.
Please note, that “Hidden Battles” is not generally available for streaming, so take advantage of this special offer!
Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.
•••
“Hidden Battles is a powerful testimony to war and it’s effects on those who fight in them. Hidden Battles goes to different parts of the world to reveal the journey of men and women in the fight to find meaning in their war experiences. The world needs to see this film.” – Shad Meshad, Founder, National Veterans Foundation
•••
“Hidden Battles offers inspiring examples of how different veterans coped with and continue to cope with the demons of war. It is a film I have recommended and will continue to recommend to those who work with and care about veterans. Director Victoria Mills lets the veterans speak for themselves, without analytical voiceovers or editorial comments – offering fresh insights into the complex ways war and combat can affect those who survive it, and the impact combat trauma ultimately can have on military families.” – Robert M. Wilson, Executive Director, Veterans Education Project
Carolina Nadel is an illustrator and children’s book author with a background in medicine. Her newest book, “Daddy’s Home” gets straight to the point when it comes to how military children may be understanding their parent’s new behavior after returning from war. The story mirror’s a child’s experience of an easily aggravated father who, after returning from service, disturbs an otherwise stable family life. Perhaps this story will help parents articulate to their children what is happening, and help facilitate open discussion on a difficult topic.
Here’s a clip of a lovely review of “Hidden Battles” in Commonweal Magazine. Click here to read the full article.
…a quiet, poignant restraint is a key note of Hidden Battles, a graceful study of how the act of killing affects soldiers’ mental health. A recent showpiece on the film festival circuit, Hidden Battles interweaves encounters with five fighters who have experienced long-term repercussions of using lethal force. Sensationalism is virtually absent, war footage aside: the documentary contains no explicit accounts of domestic crises, no interviews with therapists, no solemn voiceovers weighing in on posttraumatic stress disorder. Instead, it suggests emotional and spiritual turmoil by more subdued means…
Jerry Brunton of North Carolina has teamed up with two other female veterans to form a group called the ‘Women Veterans of Coastal North Carolina’. This year, they hope to increase the presence of women veterans at their local Veterans Day parade.
“We formed this group to be visible in the community,” said Brunton, a Navy veteran. “We’ve kind of been on the sidelines.”
The group formed earlier this year but already has 28 members all working to bring recognition and respect to female veterans. Women Veterans of Costal North Carolina also provides a space for women to discuss their experiences.
“We want to bring women together and share some stories,” she said. “And, they’ve got some great stories.”
If anyone is in the area and interested in participating in the parade, please send an email to womenveteransofcnc2@gmail.com.
Click HERE to read the full article from Havelock News.
“I’m a work in progress, we all are”, explained formerly homeless Air Force veteran, Robert Morrison. Morrison is now employed and taking computer classes at a local college thanks in large part to the work of Renee and Calvin Elder, founders of Veterans Empowering Veterans.
“Veterans Empowering Veterans is a community-based, non-profit organization that provides case management and counseling, employment training, housing, and benefit assistance to homeless veterans in Fayetteville, [NC] and surrounding areas. We promote and protect the rights of veterans through advocacy, public education, and partnerships with local, state, and national entities.”
www.veteransempoweringveterans.org
When Renee opened the center two years ago, she had eight clients. Today, over 130 veterans and their families visit Veterans Empowering Veterans for various services including: hot meals, legal services and computer and job training.
Click HERE to learn more about the organization or to donate.
Click HERE to read an article about Veterans Empowering Veterans in the FayObserver.
Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur recently wrote a great article on the need for civilians and the American government to connect with returning soldiers in a more meaningful way. Brodeur interviewed Sam Barrett, 30, an U.S. Army Airborne Ranger who did three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Barrett explains that the appreciative applause he and other veterans sometime receive is just not enough.
“A lot of people don’t realize that we carry that baggage in the transition from military to civilian,” he said. “When you thank a veteran, there should be some substance behind it.”
Broeduer asserts that the problem may stem from the nation’s general shift in attention from a variety of important issues (including veterans) to the economy situation of the country. Luckily, many people do still keep veterans in mind. Between the recent proposal of the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit (which offers businesses a financial reward for hiring unemployed and disabled veterans) and the establishment of Veterans Courts which handle nonviolent offenders with substance abuse issues and/or mental health disorders.
As for the rest of us? We can ask more questions, be sensitive to veterans’ stress or sadness, or just give them the benefit of the doubt, instead of viewing some of them as “ghosts in the street,” as Barrett called them.
“You can educate yourself as much as possible,” he said, “but understand that at some level, you just can’t go any deeper. You want to get it, but you can’t.
“And that’s OK.”
Click here to read the full article in the Seattle Times.
During war time, “Stand Down” is a term that describes the removal of exhausted soldiers from combat to a safe place to rest, enjoy warm meals, get new uniforms and receive medical care. Thanks to founders and Vietnam veterans, Robert Van Keuren and Dr. Jon Nachison, “Stand Down” now refers to their grassroots, community based intervention program put in place to offer aid to the nation’s homeless veteran population. Stand Down events bring together homeless veterans for one to three days and provide them access to community resources and work to address problems on an individual basis.
“In the military, Stand Down afforded battle-weary soldiers the opportunity to renew their spirit, health and overall sense of well-being. Today’s Stand Down affords the same opportunity to homeless veterans.” -National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
The first Stand Down was held in San Diego in 1988. Today, an average of 190 Stand Down events are held per year.
“Hundreds of homeless veterans are provided with a broad range of necessities including food, clothing, medical, legal and mental health assistance, job counseling and referral, and most importantly, companionship and camaraderie. It is a time for the community to connect with the homeless veteran population and address this crisis that affects each and every town, city and state in this country. The hand up — not a handout — philosophy of Stand Down is carried out through the work of hundreds of volunteers and organizations throughout the nation”
For more information on the history of Stand Down, click here.
To find a local Stand Down event, click here for a list of upcoming dates.
For over a year now, Dr. Allen Roland has been working with veterans with PTSD in Northern California using his heart centered Healing the Wounded Heart therapy workshops and has experienced impressive results. Roland explains that after completing the eight week workshop, participants experience on average, a 58% symptom improvement.
“The purpose of the Healing the Wounded Heart Workshops is to penetrate the grey zone of guilt, aloneness and unworthiness, that many War Veterans diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) experience, and this is done within a supportive group setting through heart centered self exploration, group sharing, guided visualization and action oriented homework ~ where love and joy eventually overcome fear and separation.”
Dr. Roland hopes the VA will begin funding this alternative treatment method. He explains,
“If combat veterans are responding positively to these once a week eight week action oriented heart centered workshops ~ it’s time for the VA to open the door to alternative healing methodologies which the rest of the country is already acknowledging, supporting and experiencing.“
To read more about Healing the Wounded Heart workshops, click here.
To read an interview with General Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s No. 2 officer, discussing alternative treatments in the National Journal, click here.
Soldier’s Best Friend is an non-profit organization that works to connect service dogs (or Therapeutic Companion Dogs) with veterans suffering from PTSD. SBF’S founder, Dr. John Burnham, feels that the intense human-animal bond can help ease a veterans transition back into society by providing a calming effect or comfort barrier when faced with anxiety or panic. The organization also hopes to help reduce the pet overpopulation problem in the United States. The FAQ section of the Soldier’s Best Friend website explains that 80% of veterans who participate in the program show improvement.
Productions