I am re-posting this song originally posted in May of 2009. I read a devastating article this week in Westword Magazine which I will quote here and recommend that you read. See below for some ideas on what we can do to support our returning soldiers.
“In all, fifteen Fort Carson GIs have been arrested in connection with a dozen murders over the past five years. And these aren’t the only crimes linked with soldiers in Colorado Springs. Since 2005, the number of military personnel in the El Paso County jail has increased more than 25 percent, outpacing the population growth of soldiers and veterans in the region.
Besides the sheer number, there’s something else striking about the soldiers being arrested…. “For the most part, they were squeaky-clean prom kings. Then they enlist in the military and maybe do multiple combat tours, and they come back and commit violent offenses.”
Click Here To Listen: Ft. Carson Colorado
Ft. Carson Colorado
The proud home of our 4th Infantry
The men that pulled Sadaam
out from his hole
Ft. Carson Colorado
Those brave souls of the 31st Dixie
Named after Kit, its the Army’s heart and soul
Ft. Carson’s Deadly Duty
Was the headline on the Sunday News
Now Ft. Carson’s pride is burdened by
Its finest Iron horses running wild
And the army said “some problems slipped right through the cracks’
I wonder what they meant by that
Did they mean the 9 soldiers
turned by war from men to fiends
Did they mean the 6 now dead and gone
Shot or stabbed and left to bleed alone
Ft. Carson’s Deadly Duty
Was the headline on the Sunday News
Now Ft. Carson’s pride is burdened by
Its finest Iron horses running wild
Its constant fear, adrenaline
Its what they are trained to do
Redeployed and torn up limb from limb
And then told to come on home and settle in
Ft. Carson sends ‘em over there
Prepared for every kind of terror
But Ft. Carson doesn’t comfort them back home
Copyright 2009 all rights reserved Camille Bright-Smith
Here is a blog with some good Colorado references for helping Vets, and national references too:
http://healingveteransptsd.blogspot.com/
If you’re a veteran suffering from PTSD or trauma, you can turn to your local VA hospital or Vet Center for help. Vet Centers offer free counseling to combat veterans and their families. To find out more about the resources and benefits available to you, you can also call the VA Health Benefits Service Center at 1-877-222-VETS.
Click here for a nationwide directory of facilities for veterans, including VA hospitals and Vet Centers, provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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