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NASHVILLE, TN—The Hurt Locker, the 82nd Academy Award’s Best Picture of the Year for 2010, reveals the toll that war exacts upon the lives of soldiers. The film portrays the dangers of combat and the emotional, physical, and spiritual wounds soldiers endure. It shows how much the experience of combat changes people, making it very difficult to come home to a normal life after war.
“One of the biggest challenges facing returning wartime veterans is to face bravely the trauma of combat and then not allow those experiences to scar them permanently,” says David Thompson, co-author of Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: Ministering to Returning Combat Veterans. “Many soldiers find it hard to adjust to life, work, and relationships on the home front after the combat has stopped. When the veterans come home, many feel they have lost their place in civilian life, where jobs no longer fit them, family relationships feel strained and conflicted, and they sense only their fellow soldiers really understand them.”
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon addresses the challenge for soldiers and families of adjusting to life after war. It provides guidance for the faith community to reach out to those in uniform and help this next greatest generation of veterans come all the way home from war and find their place again in civilian life, far from the fields of battle.
Thompson goes on to say, “Hanging up your uniform after war is not easy. How can you emotionally switch from being in combat, living with daily threats to your life and seeing the chaos and carnage of war to adjusting to a peaceful civilian world with normal family life and regular work routines? It takes time and patience from everyone to help our returning soldiers make this transition successfully.”
Authors David A. Thompson and Darlene Wetterstrom offer straightforward, challenging practical help for returning soldiers and their families. Thompson has experienced three deployments and clearly understands the challenges families and communities face. He was a military family life consultant serving the Minnesota National Guard and is a licensed professional counselor and retired Navy chaplain. Wetterstrom is a licensed independent clinical social worker. She works with families and youth in a variety of settings including foster care, adoption, and the military.
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: Ministering to Returning Combat Veterans 978-0-687-46575-0 • December 2009 • $13.00 • 144 pages • paperback
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