With this next week’s Power Up theme being ‘Safety’ it seems relevant to bring up a topic that is near and dear to all of us in this community- the safe return and reintegration of the Oregon National Guard’s 41st Brigade from Iraq and other operations overseas.

We’ve all heard that there is ‘Safety in Numbers’ so this week I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to click a few extra buttons while you’re surfing the internet and find some small way to help or encourage our returning soldiers and support personnel whether they are with our Corvallis unit or one farther away- they all need us in greater numbers than ever before.  I’ve heard reports of wonderful care packages, cards, and letters being sent over during this deployment and that is a fabulous testament to the integrity of our community no matter what each individual’s political views may be. 

In some ways post-deployment can be even more difficult than the actual mission.  Life circumstances change, people change, and these dedicated men and women of all ages suddenly no longer have the constant camaraderie of their friends and fellow soldiers that they have come to rely on under circumstances that are difficult for the rest of us to imagine.   For those of us that have never been ‘in country’ no matter how caring or sympathetic we may be it is simply impossible to fully comprehend what these people have experienced; our family, our friends, our fellow students, maybe even just our neighbor down the street that we’ve never really talked to… let’s help them all get their lives back to normal- while remembering that ‘normal’ has been redefined for most, if not all, of them.

Those of us that have experienced deployment once or twice (some even more than that!) already know that the sacrifice does not end with the demobilization ceremony. 

The love, patience, support and respect of not only friends and family, but an entire community, is *absolutely crucial* to successful reintegration. 

Mike Francis recently wrote an article that I would like to share with you.  He says all of this much better than I could ever hope to. 

Time to step up for Oregon veterans (editorial)

By Mike Francis, The Oregonian

April 07, 2010, 10:22PM

http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonatwar/2010/04/time_to_step_up_for_oregon_vet.html

http://fortoregon.com/

And an invaluable resource for the Oregon State community if we need a little extra help dealing with the stresses of reintegration is the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) department.  These are kind professionals who are understanding and discreet: http://oregonstate.edu/counsel/

~Cammila  =)

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