Guess what?

Because of you, the Treatment of Ten fundraising campaign is becoming a success.

We’ve raised almost enough funds to send one Combat Veteran to our medical facility in Idaho so that he can receive the treatments and therapies that he needs. Now, we need to send the other nine!

To do that, we’ve extended the campaign until Memorial Day because we’re determined to follow Hack’s “orders” to take care of his men and women who are forever on the tip of the sword, whether it be physically when in combat or mentally when at home. These ten Broncos whom we’re committed to help heal are struggling with Traumatic Brain Injury and /or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder here at home, constantly reliving their tours in Iraq!

I’ve been reading some statistics, old and new that have re-broken my heart:

• About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people (or 7-8% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives. About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma. About 10 of every 100 women (or 10%) develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 men (or 4%). Learn more about women, trauma and PTSD. (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/ptsd-overview/basics/how-common-is-ptsd.asp)

• Two-thirds of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in one major sample had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — a much higher rate than in earlier cohorts of homeless veterans, who have PTSD rates between 8 percent and 13 percent, according to a study in press in the journal Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. (http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/03/ptsd-vets.aspx)

• For many service members, being away from home for long periods of time can cause problems at home or work. These problems can add to the stress. This may be even more so for National Guard and Reserve troops who had not expected to be away for so long. Almost half of those who have served in the current wars have been Guard and Reservists. (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/ptsd-overview/reintegration/overview-mental-health-effects.asp)

• Another cause of stress in Iraq and Afghanistan is military sexual trauma (MST). This is sexual assault or repeated, threatening sexual harassment that occurs in the military. It can happen to men and women. MST can occur during peacetime, training, or war. (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/ptsd-overview/reintegration/overview-mental-health-effects.asp)

• One early study looked at the mental health of service members in Afghanistan and Iraq. The study asked Soldiers and Marines about war-zone experiences and about their symptoms of distress. Soldiers and Marines in Iraq reported more combat stressors than Soldiers in Afghanistan. This table describes the kinds of stressors faced in each combat theater in 2003:

• Soldiers and Marines who had more combat stressors had more mental health problems. Those who served in Iraq had higher rates of PTSD than those who served in Afghanistan. (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/ptsd-overview/reintegration/overview-mental-health-effects.asp)

• Thousands of men and women continue to risk their lives in the United States military to protect the freedom of citizens like me. Their psychological and physical well-being of every human being is important. It is particularly important to care for those who get injured while protecting all of us. Why not reach out and help us today to at least take care of our first cohort of 5 who served and sacrificed.
(https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/curious/201409/11-reasons-combat-veterans-ptsd-are-being-harmed)

Let’s keep the needle moving. Please give today to help send the Broncos to Idaho.