By Dorothy Meindok
The Post Newspaper Veterans Consultant
VC38 –
Autumn is here and the lowered temperatures feel welcoming. It’s my favorite time of the year. It makes me think of family as we are all ready for winter celebrations and recognize spiritual hope, where for me that is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. For others it is Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and many other traditional festivities. Many veterans begin the season with Veteran’s Day on November 11 and continue from there.
While festive, for many veterans, the season can be a little stressful as much as it can be fulfilling. I found that creative and planned balance helps me. So, I try to invite healing into the mix of gatherings for myself and suggest it for other veterans as well. As an added bonus, it gives caregivers, and those who support us, an often much-needed break, too.
This year I have chosen to retreat for five days to a working ranch in Texas with other veterans and those that love us via the Operation Red Wings Foundation. It comes highly recommended amongst the veteran community and who knows, it could even be fun! I’m betting it will be. Additionally, there are so many other worthy retreats and respite available now and upcoming in 2023 for veterans in Southeast Texas, scuba diving with WAVESPROJECT.org (right here on Texas’s Gulf Coast), fishing trips with Sea Star Base Galveston (https://ssbgalveston.org), just to name a few. I’ll be sharing some great golf tournaments and other chances for positive engagement to help heal the veteran soul and increase our quality of life while maybe even enjoying the holidays with the ability to be truly present.
I’ll be engaging in the Operation Red Wings retreat and have plans of telling you all about that experience once it has commenced. Until then, I want to tell you about what they do. They offer specialized individual/group retreats (in person and online) for veterans, spouses, couples and entire families affected by military trauma. They cover a gambit of needs from Combat Traumatic Stress, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Chronic Pain Issues, Military Sexual Trauma and Family Impact. The retreats are five days with groups of 8 to 12 other veterans who are experiencing similar symptoms. Retreats are led by a Veteran Team Leader and a small team of professionals who provide individualized custom care.
Formally known as Lone Survivor Foundation until a name change most recently, the organization has been serving veterans for nearly a decade. The organization is founded in honor of 19 American lives that were lost during Operation Red Wings in 2005. To help honor and learn more about these 19 warriors, please visit the ORW Memorial Wall where you can find out about each one, say their names and link to many other ways to help support the legacy of their sacrifice. (https://orwfoundation.org/orw-memorial/)
Operation Red Wings Foundation has facilities in Texas and North Carolina in locations that take advantage of the peaceful, natural environments and are designed to make you feel comfortable while encouraging camaraderie with fellow Veterans. While the retreat schedule and activities are the same at both locations, each location is unique. The Texas facility is located on a working ranch in a rustic setting. Veterans attending in Texas should expect dirt roads, cows and a rustic environment. In North Carolina, located just outside of the city limits of Fayetteville is a modern home featuring a small lake. All the help is free of charge including travel to and from, in most instances, to my knowledge.
Looking at the daily schedule, an activity I’m looking forward to is the trauma-informed yoga sessions which are led by specially trained yogis associated with the Veterans Yoga Project (www.veteransyogaproject.org) because it looks calming. Other types of treatment-based activities offered include A.R.T. reduces fear, panic, & distress without the need to tell the clinician about the trauma and having to re-traumatize to get help. A.R.T. (Accelerated Resolution Therapy) which utilizes rapid eye movement (REM) while awake helps to control and direct the processing power the brain uses during the deepest phase of sleep. This is important for a veteran’s personal health and in some instances, national security. For more information about A.R.T., please visit www.acceleratedresolutiontherpy.com. Alpha Stimulation and biofeedback therapies are offered along with all the equipment and educational classes needed to effectively engage in self-care.
I can’t wait to tell you how it all works out. For more immediate information, to sign up and links to further explanation of the retreats and offered points of wellness please visit Operation Red Wing Foundation at ORWFoundation.org.
Upon leaving the retreat veterans are equipped with a “customized post-traumatic growth plan for continued healing and access to a dashboard providing support, resources & suggestions for continued growth.”
I hope all veterans will deal themselves some love this Autumn season, seek some tools and prioritize self-care. I’ll keep you informed on how the retreat goes for me as a veteran and I’ll keep you informed of other local happenings. In the Wednesday editions of The Post, I’ll share “Calls to Action” of upcoming events in our area for November such as Greater Houston Veterans Rotary’s Field of Honor and Operation Turkey which feeds over 8000 Houston families and how to get involved; as well as Veterans Day 2022 events and celebrations from all over Southeast Texas so you can plan some veteran family fun. Stay tuned.
Be well and God Bless, Dorothy
Dorothy Meindok is The Post Newspaper’s Veterans Consultant. Ms. Meindok served her nation in the United States Navy and is currently a practicing lawyer advocating for our nation’s veterans. Her column appears on Sundays.
