Welcome Home Vets

Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans. It’s usually observed on November 11th. It’s also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world. I’m a Vietnam veteran. I’m one of the lucky ones. After completing combat advanced infantry training, I was transferred to Fort Rucker, Alabama where helicopter pilots were trained. Eventually, I did go to Vietnam, reporting to United State Army Headquarters Vietnam in Long Binh. Unlike many heroes from Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other places, I’m not one of them. I served in a support role. The term for us was REMF. I didn’t think I had any Vietnam issues until the other day.
I was communicating with Ingrid Dinter. Ingrid is an EFT coach and ordained interfaith minister in New Hampshire. She is also doing some wonderful work with veterans. If you’re a veteran, family of a veteran, or an EFT practitioner, I highly recommend you visit Ingrid’s Websites to discover what she’s doing. Visit www.eft4vets.com and her blog at www.eftforvets.com. Ingrid specializes in helping veterans return home after the trauma of war. Read her post Returning from Vietnam.
It may be hard for younger people to imagine because whether a person is for or against war, those who serve in the military today are respected. But for many of us who were in the armed forces during the Vietnam War era, it was to the contrary. There was disdain. Soldiers often felt as if society had turned its back on us. We were not welcomed home. So there was no closure. And, those are the hidden feelings that arose for me. Ingrid explains it well:
“When you look at the path of the warrior, for a warrior, not being welcomed home is a huge betrayal by the tribe. Whether you were actively in combat and survived is often a matter of luck, but it doesn’t change the power and motivation of the path of the warrior. And the rite of passage needs to be fulfilled. The rite of passage is much like a tunnel through which one must travel to come out on the other side a new person with new values.”
“When there is not closure, when it is not possible, because the tribe doesn’t welcome a warrior home, the person gets stuck. What happened in the sixties and seventies was a huge betrayal by the tribe, and as EFT practitioners, we need to be aware of this and tap in the voice of the tribe to help finish the rite of passage. Not being welcomed home is for many of my guys more traumatic than the war experience itself.”
If you ever had feelings of not being welcomed home, take five minutes and use EFT to help release any feelings you may have. Please view and tap along with this video from Ingrid.
Ingrid also participated in the filming of EFT for War Vets. If you haven’t seen it, you can view it below. It’s very moving and demonstrates how effective EFT is for Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Thank you Ingrid Dinter for your leadership in the healing work you’re doing with veterans. I appreciate and honor you. Also, on Veterans Day 2009, I salute those who are serving in the armed forces. And, for any veteran who served in the military and didn’t feel closure, I say, “Welcome Home.”
"In war, there are no unwounded soldiers."
— Jose Narosky, writer