Never Broken: Salient but Deadly

The dust, fine textured as it brushed your face from the forcing winds. The everlasting smell tied to both horror and good memories, infecting the air by trash and waster burning in the desert city. You can feel it, smell it, but you can also fail to digest it. These, are the foundational senses that connect us to what happens next, what sticks, what influences, and what burdens. Veterans have bit their own lip, fighting temptations, urges, and alternatives to PTSD or military traditional-induced battles as they try to become a civilian, knowing what they know, feeling the way they feel, and living in an environment once lost years ago, like Mowgli walking into that jungle. From Veteran Homelessness to alcohol and opioid addiction, our veterans are becoming less relevant to legislative and government power, and the answer to resolution, is standing still with the veteran's hope.

Spending the last 6 months diving into veteran philanthropy and projects, being involved with Roll Out PTSD , Victory Bridge Foundation , and my own nonprofit The Changing Cadence Foundation, I’ve had a unique opportunity. That opportunity was to get a closer look at lives our veterans lived post-service. Some were impressive, and some were sad. Regardless, both dispositions for the most part, shared the same variable to their fait, and it's staggering. The hardships, stories, and pure emotions that were shared and expressed, added more clarity to an issue outside the United States Department of Defense.

I spoke with US Army veterans from the 1-7 Field Artillery, some of which I served with, as well as other veteran from the United States Marine Corps I have stumbled across. I chose those who spent time overseas in a combat MOS or Military Occupation Specialty, and wanted to ask a very important question. Now some of these men and women were very successful, and some recently were on the bridge in their mind, with intrusive thoughts to let go of the railing. I asked, "How are you now since you got out, and how has your time in Iraq when serving all around, contributed to your life's post-military disposition?" The answers, were too close to be ignored by our media and legislatures. Two paths are common amongst those I spoke with. Let’s go into then both

Success, it's always a godsend to turn your service into success. This isn't very common for those who don't retire, but even those who retire share some of the harsh hurdles when they leave. Those who were successful, channeled their PTSD to forms of self-development, or goals setting. They would commonly block the brokenness with a new path filled with incentive and structure to mold the very culture and structure they lived in while serving. This created an alternative identity to mesh with the society they have never operated in for years. Like myself, I suffer from anxiety, but my remedy is to stay busy, sharp, and streamline processes that send one project from start to finish, as quickly and efficiently as possible. For long-term initiatives and projects that need a slower, detailed, and serious approach, I stimulate my mind with research and social intelligence to extract data that will support that project. Those who are successful when leaving the service, use their brokenness, or military burdens, to become unbroken.

Then, we have those who have missed the train to "I'm OK Town", and had to find other alternatives. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is working hard to address issues, pain, and mental battles of these veterans. Then theirs the constant doctor visits to see "What is wrong with me?" - Being lost, can fee hopeless.

Here's where salience misses a date with recognition. The opioid crises is on the rise, but veterans are commonly treated with this strong painkiller.s Sometimes, it's an easy fix, but the positive result of such treatment, is outweighed by the result of its presence. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) suggested that "U.S. military veterans have been heavily impacted by the opioid overdose crisis, with drug overdose mortality rates increasing by 53% from 2010–2019." Let that one sink in. yes, the 1% of America that serves and leaves the military, is suffering an issue. This occurs just Ione year before the heavy opioid and fentanyl crisis broke the American border. You can imagine what the statistics are now with the retiring post 9-11 veteran era, as well as the new age generation who are now seeking to serve one term and get out early, into a society riddled by these opioids. It is time for Capitol Hill, to put their legislative foot down.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs gave us some more recent data to understand homelessness on the veteran community, and they expressed that "The total number of Veterans who experienced homelessness was 35,574 – an increase of 7.4% over January 2022. The NATIONAL COALITION FOR HOMELESS VETERANS shares that "nearly 13% of the homeless adult population are veterans" so if the population is growing, as well as the percentage of the homeless, and the percentage of those who are homeless veterans is a widening gab, we can say that this needs to be addressed.

That's why we need to start with alternatives to pain medication. Put the matter on trial, and find ways to eliminate the issue by altering the precursor. Imagine the VA investing less in opioid treatments, and more into alternative methods, both the veteran and the VA can elevate the issues both physically and in VA business structure. I have been vocal on serving our veterans with alternatives, and I would assume action will be taken soon. This brings me to the next salient issue, alcohol and mental instability. I met with the President and founder, Mr. Michael Brian Ledford, the man behind Roll Out PTSD .

It all started with a story of a man longing for more, but not knowing what. In his mind, he was doing everything he was supposed to do. Fighting for the people he loved, but also missed it along the way without meaning to. In 2003, Brian lost a friend in the war. He was hurt because at that moment he thought that he should have done more. So, he did what only he knew to do and joined the Army. He didn’t want to lose another brother or sister, so he jumped into the middle of it all, still fighting for the people he loved. However, the war brought trauma, heartache, and disunity. He wasn’t just fighting physical wars, but now mental wars. These wars started to affect him and his family. The enemy tore apart everything he could down to the relationships and left Brian broken and isolated. In February 2013, he ended up going to military prison where he slowly started his journey of recovery. In this prison cell, he met God. He started a relationship with HIM.

?When he came home it was still chaos and things seemed to keep getting worse before they'd ever seem to get better. Brian knew he needed a change and needed to be transformed by Christ, so he started to go by his real name “Michael”. Michael started making changes little by little and was still doing the best with what he knew. After a couple of years, he started to travel around the US and to other countries promoting Roll Out PTSD. But with every story there are complications. And Roll Out PTSD had its own. People came in and out and it ended up changing its name for a little bit, but God still used it to change lives. Michael continued to take steps to become better. He moved to Puerto Rico. He started to seek out mentors to help give him advice. Little by little he went a step further to where God wanted him to be. He is now sober and has found ways to continue keeping his mind away from the enemy he lies to speak over him. Today, I am happy to say that Roll Out PTSD stands because of God’s provision and his sovereign hand on my dad’s life. If anyone could see a change in my dad’s life it would be me. We’ve had our ups and downs in our relationship, but I've watched my dad completely turn his life around for the better. God has used Roll Out PTSD , to change my dad’s life and in return, he is using this to help others.

In conclusions, veterans are far too often used as an advertisement for big Pharma, served as a second priority over many, and left in the dark of a growing society who have had that 99% difference of a life. We as American, owe it to at least recognize the problem. One day, there will be a success story with this crisis. If you want to learn more about the many other stories from veterans sharing the untold scenes of Iraq, Afghanistan, and reveal the true uncharted stories of our heroes, stay connected. The book "Never Broken" will be told by those heroes, and one day be published. Written by Nick Busse in partnership by Changing Cadence Foundation and Roll Out PTSD, telling the authentic and raw stories of those he interviews.

"Sometimes, the most selfless people come from the harshest of lives. - Nick Busse"