First guest post

                If you were to ask your  friends what the most common injuries for veterans returning home from overseas is, you’d likely hear a gruesome tale of torn flesh and shattered bones. We have been shown these malformations and tragic sights in movies and television most of our lives. Although these injuries are the ones most covered in the media, there is a more common and equally disturbing sickness is haunting our brave men and women returning from battle, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

                Post traumatic stress disorder is the psychological reaction to an individual’s nerve being pushed to its breaking point. This can happen in any number of ways from abuse in childhood too having to fight for one’s own life on a kill or be killed battlefield, Which is why it is not surprising to see that so many of our fighting men and women suffer. What doesn't fail to surprise, however, is the fact that even though as much as 30% of veterans suffer from the ailment, the government and the public does very little to combat its negative effects on both the individual and society.

                The best estimates according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development states that as many as fifty thousand veterans go without shelter and basic necessities on a daily basis. This staggering number could be blamed on a lack of paying jobs available due our national recession, or on the unwise investments of their army earnings. There are literally infinite points you could argue on such a sprawling subject that touches so close to so many people. Doing so may be inconsequential but My belief however is that if our country could be more dependable in the ways of supporting and rehabilitating its most necessary peoples, our veterans, than we would see these statistics plummet.

                What truly matters is what we are going to do to say thank you and welcome home to our soldiers, who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms to even be able to discuss such matters. How are we paying them back for their sacrifices? When it comes right down to it there are countless organizations, or lack there of, you can blame for the disheveled state of our greatest human resource, but if we are ever going to be able to move forward in the fight for curing Post traumatic stress disorder and bettering the lives of our troops we need to realize that the only ones we can count on to make a difference is ourselves.  Arguing and pointing your finger isn't going to rebuild lives, only actively building a better world will.