Veterans Helping Veterans

One of the most missed things about the service is the brotherhood. The shared suffering brought everyone together and the group dealt with it as a whole. However upon leaving the service, the brotherhood is now separated and despite advances in social media, getting valuable face time with those you served with can be difficult.There is a group of people trying to connect veterans to veterans. Who after all, understands veterans better than those they served next to? Though it's been said over and over again, the idea and the truth behind it still rings true, we do what we do for those to the left and right of us. The best resource veterans have is other veterans. SecDef James Mattis said, "There is also something called post-traumatic growth where you come out of a situation like that and you actually feel kinder toward your fellow man and fellow woman."With that sentiment, the folks at Project Refit are working to get veterans connected face to face via video chats. There is something about seeing your brother's face once again that brings a sense of peace to many. The emotions, the expressions, everything that can be lost over a text message or a phone call is regained during a face to face conversation with someone who put their life on the line right next to you.Project Refit is looking to remove the stigma around PTSD by creating a way for those who may be separated by extreme distance. Sebastian Junger when talking about a soldier he'd met says "I think what he missed is brotherhood. He missed, in some ways, the opposite of killing. What he missed was connection to the other men he was with."Most certainly this isn't the only way to help veterans. That being said it is another possible tool in the toolbox and anything that will be even minimally successful when it comes to saving a veteran's life is something we can appreciate. Even one life saved is a big deal.