Family Day for the Warrior Transition Battalion

Yesterday was the annual family day for Ft. Bragg's Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB). I was invited to set up a table and talk with the soldiers about the journaling class I teach there. I shared a table with Silouan, an inspirational former Marine fighter pilot, and PTSD victim, who frequently visits military installations to talk about PTSD. Check him out at boundforfreedom.com.

Others with a presence at the event included representatives of the Wounded Warrior Project, woundedwarriorproject.org/, The Red Cross, Gold Star Mothers, American Legion, the Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) and others. It is humbling to spend an afternoon with these brave men and women.

I had the opportunity to talk with the Ft. Bragg Garrison Commander, COL Stephen J. Sicinski and his wife, Teresa. With responsibility for all of the physical and mobile facilities on Ft. Bragg, this has to be one of the most challenging, and important, jobs in the Army. I enjoyed meeting them both and we had a good conversation about my work with the wounded warriors. It was good to see the colonel attend this event and show support for the troops.

I also talked with one of the Gold Star Mothers who lost her son in 2007. It was amazing to hear her talk about how this organization has provided her with so much support and given her new purpose in her life. It's a tragedy to lose a child, but inspirational to see how these mothers manage to "soldier on" in the face of such a loss.

I'll be travelling to McDill AFB (headquarters of USSOCOM) next month to present the Therapeutic Journaling program to the Care Coalition, the military's wounded warrior program for the special ops community.

In the meantime, my son Jason has returned to Iraq - his ninth deployment since the beginning of the Global War on Terror. He's planning to leave the Army next year (after 10 years) and will attend grad school, beginning with a semester at Georgetown University for the spring semester.

More to come...