While we’re really proud of the work the Talk-On has posted so far, we also know that there are many other places doing important work that can support our mission. Every Wednesday, we’ll post the best links we can find that help challenge your perspectives and bridge the cultural gap between Mil/Vets and Civilians, and we hope you’ll check them out.
Dan Crenshaw writes an opinion piece in the Washington Post after appearing on SNL this weekend:
“Was I really outraged by SNL? Really offended? Or did I just think the comment about losing my eye was offensive? There is a difference, after all. I have been literally shot at before, and I wasn’t outraged. Why start now?”
Read on here
Marie Tillman writes an opinion piece in the Washington Post for Veteran’s Day:
“He was an athlete who didn’t really pay much attention to sports. He was outspoken and opinionated, but a convincing argument could change his views. His nuanced thinking was what I loved most about Pat — that he could love his country so much that he would sacrifice his life to protect it, but also so much that he could challenge it.”
Read on here
Bobby Ganton looks back to look forward in a short piece for Havok Journal:
“…And of all that time, when I find myself with a minute to reminiscent [sic], or dwell on the good times or what could have been, it rarely ever goes to my childhood spent on dirt bikes or at the lake, or family vacations, or fun times in college, or even my own children’s birthdays or camping trips.
It always goes back to the Army, to Ft Lewis, to 562nd Engineers, to Afghanistan, to Frontenac. Why? I have a beautiful wife, 3 healthy wonderful children, house with a little bit of land, a steady job making decent money, a nice truck, good community, a great church I attend, lots of family close by. And almost daily, back to deployment.”
Read on here
Meghan Mobbs challenges the Broken Vet stereotype for Psychology Today in the wake of a tragic shooting in Thousand Oaks, CA:
“…Moreover, it signals to those who do not have exposure to military members that hiring veterans, admitting them to university, or engaging with them is a risky proposition. It reinforces what 40 percent of Americans already believe about the 2.8 million post-9/11 veterans—that the majority suffer from a mental health condition. This is a belief not born out of fact, but of moments like this when haphazard reporting fails to address the complexity of the situation.”
Read on here
Dead Reckoning Collective added an engaging podcast with a veteran who has a unique approach to healing you may not expect from this community (but you should):
“It was an absolute pleasure speaking with Captain Alex Horton. Alex talks about her time assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command and her experience as a Cultural Support Team member/instructor. Finally we discuss Freed-OM Holistic and how her experience in the CST program helped to shape the way she approaches healing. We are looking forward to her impending transition out of the active duty Army and the things her and her team plan to accomplish.”
Listen here
Tim Arango writes for the New York Times about the correlations military vets now serving as firefighters are seeing between war zones in their past and the current devastation caused by raging wildfires across California:
““When you walk through an area that has been nuked out, you can’t help but go back” to the memories of war, he said. The briefings he sits through before going out to fight a fire are peppered with military expressions: aerial assaults, nighttime assaults, “a coordinated assault with multiple units.” When he sees airplanes circling overhead, as they did near the slopes of Malibu Canyon on Saturday, dropping retardant to slow the fires, he thinks of war.”
Read on here
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