With so much news about the death of Bin Laden and devastating tornadoes and floods in the US, we often forget that military are still serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last summer, the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children presented a special session on the issues of military and their families. Sue Diaz, a journalist and mother of a son who served in Iraq again reminds us of what families and those deployed have encountered, both in the theater of battle and on the home front. Sue explains : “Sergeant Diaz’s [Sue’s son] second deployment put him south of Baghdad in the region aptly termed the Triangle of Death. There his platoon experienced extraordinarily heavy casualties during the height of the Iraqi insurgency. That unit has since become the focus of considerable media attention following events that made headlines in the summer of 2006: an insurgent attack at a remote outpost on three of their own–one killed at the scene, the other two kidnapped, their bodies found days later; and a terrible war crime committed against an Iraqi family by four soldiers from First Platoon.”
For trauma specialists working with returning military and their families, the following short film will remind you of the important work we have to do in the next few years with these individuals who will be returning as the US begins troop withdrawals from the region. And for all of us in honor of the upcoming Memorial Day this month, let’s take a moment to remember the sacrifice that military and their families make each and every day to work toward resolution of conflict, both in Iraq and Afghanistan and at home where for some the internal battles continue.
To read more, Sue Diaz also has written a powerful book on her experiences called Minefields of the Heart: A Mother’s Story of a Son at War.
Be well,
Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT
traumainformedtherapy 