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In a time of war, what happens once a soldier comes home?
"Accepting the Ashes" was written by Quynn Elizabeth, daughter of a two-time Vietnam veteran in the year of her father's death and the escalation of the war in Iraq.
Due to her father's experiences in war he struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, heart sadness and alcoholism all his adult life even though he didn't get diagnosed with PTSD until 1992. In "Accepting the Ashes" Quynn shares her personal story so that other loved ones and veterans who are fighting right now might not have to wait 30 years to heal their painful feelings.
"Accepting the Ashes" comes in a 60 page book with illustrations, and as a 60 minute audio CD narrated by Quynn. Whichever form you prefer, "Accepting the Ashes" is for everyone. Whether you are a veteran, loved one, co-worker or fellow American, you can use the 15 suggestions discussed to help you understand PTSD and its symptoms. Included are simple, yet profound ideas to help families move toward healing, such as "many times, suffering people cannot express their pain and won't seek help", "many will try to mask or numb pain" and "you have to demand the right to heal". In a time of war, understanding and healing war trauma is essential, to our veterans and their families, because we are all in this together.
Below is an excerpt from "Accepting the Ashes":
My father died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2004, and as I went through the boxes of papers of his life, I realized that he had a story to be told, and since he was not able to tell it, I decided I needed to.
He died at the age of 62, young really, by todays standards, but his spirit was old from his life experience. In 1964, when he was 23, he enlisted in the Navy because he was out of college and saw the draft coming. My father volunteered to go to Vietnam, twice.
I am a combat veterans daughter, and this story is about a veterans experiences, mostly after combat. My fathers story is of interest now because we as a people are once again at war, and like in wars of the past, combat veterans are now having experiences similar to those of my fathers and I feel I need to give voice to what came of it, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as where PTSD took him and my family. I am not a psychiatrist. I am a daughter with over 36 years of experience watching a man with a quiet, broken heart, and I am a woman who has the perspective of one who has just looked into the deepest recesses of her fathers heart and mind, and there are some things that need to be said.
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