Starting veterans 4wd club
02-08-2017, 11:28 AM
#11
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We will be a part of this organization, we had a meeting last night. Shouldn't be too long before we're on their website, and have our own Facebook page.
VCRC helping WWll Veteran Jesse Fernandez keep his home. ? Our Heroes' Dreams
VCRC helping WWll Veteran Jesse Fernandez keep his home. ? Our Heroes' Dreams
02-09-2017, 03:22 PM
#13
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Visalia ca
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News here. And navy Seabees vet
I think this is a great idea and would like to find out more as it progresses. Sounds like several vets would be interested and there is always strength in numbers
keep me posted.
Jerry
keep me posted.
Jerry
02-09-2017, 06:05 PM
#14
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It sounds like we should have a page on the Our Heroes Dreams website for "Mountain Warriors" next week, supposed to make a facebook page too. From the amount of interest I've had on this, we could have a few dozen members before too long. Depends how many follow through. I already know a lot of how it will work, you can ask me questions on things I haven't covered. It won't be a club. He considered making it a club, but said there is a WHOLE lot more involved in doing that. We will be one of the platoons of their Veterans Community Response Corps, I will be the Platoon Sergeant.
We will have an operating budget specific for our platoon. They feed their volunteers all meals while they're out, we talked about finding people interested only in cooking. It would give them a purpose. We're not limiting it to 4wd owners, some can ride with other members or with the Forest Service. The point is to get veterans "off the couch" as Justin the OHD founder likes to say, plus there's the possibility some will buy their own rig in time. We won't be limited to working trips, we can also do just for fun trips. Maybe even take wheel chair bound veterans on a trail run. Once the webpages are up, we'll schedule our first meeting.
We will have an operating budget specific for our platoon. They feed their volunteers all meals while they're out, we talked about finding people interested only in cooking. It would give them a purpose. We're not limiting it to 4wd owners, some can ride with other members or with the Forest Service. The point is to get veterans "off the couch" as Justin the OHD founder likes to say, plus there's the possibility some will buy their own rig in time. We won't be limited to working trips, we can also do just for fun trips. Maybe even take wheel chair bound veterans on a trail run. Once the webpages are up, we'll schedule our first meeting.
Last edited by Bigger Ed; 02-09-2017 at 06:08 PM.
02-25-2017, 08:44 AM
#15
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I just spent a few days in Salinas helping Our Heroes Dreams clear storm damage at the ranch/zoo they do the Healing Safari's at, it was hard work.
04-25-2017, 08:30 AM
#20
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I read this at the F.S. Adopt A Trail meeting last Wednesday, the room erupted into applause when I finished. I went outside and had people come up thanking me for doing that, that it helped them understand it better. When the Ranger came out, he said "Ed you were AWESOME!". And then he told me about all the positive comments he got about what I shared. Of course, I'm told the knuckleheads from the other club were over there rolling their eyes. The one that pushed all that the hardest came out shortly after I got outside, looking pissed off, and left. Seems we made them the odd man out. They may never get it, at least we can educate the rest of the people. By the way, we've already been given the two trails we requested (Adopt a Trails).
We're starting a new 4WD squad called Mountain Warriors, it's one of several squads within Our Heroes Dreams. A non profit organization founded ten or twelve years ago by a veteran that was wounded in Iraq, the organization uses donations to help veterans. Last year they took 136 veterans off the streets and put them into apartments, they also do suicide awareness rides, five day veteran retreats, and they have the squads to get veterans out doing something. The other squads are Archery, community projects, Emergency Response, Honor Guard, and Women Warriors. Mountain Warriors will be another avenue for veterans to be productive and hang around with other veterans, we will also be raising awareness of some of the difficulties veterans go through.
I have a condition called Traumatic Brain Injury, the way the doctors described it is, pathways are damaged in the brain, a message is traveling through the brain and , the bridge is out. It finds a way around, but it takes longer, and is draining. It takes me longer to process information, and it's very difficult with distractions, especially under pressure. And sometimes I may have to step away to be able to think clearly, or won't be able to speak even if I wanted to. If my rig breaks and five people come up to help, that's the worst thing that can happen. I can't function in that situation, I "can" function with one person. It will still be very difficult though, I'm also in extreme pain when this happens.
I've done speech therapy to help with this, a year and a half starting in 2012, and I'm about a year back into it now. The first time I called it multi tasking from Hell. I have seen direct results from it, when I'm overwhelmed now I can sometimes tell people that I can't think with them talking, barely. I can also go into stores and let the employees help me find something, I couldn't do that before. I had to focus on one thing, talking to someone would be two things. Another example, last year I went through Dusy with a veterans group from San Diego. A guy with three tours Marine Corps walked by, I gave him some information he wanted one time, asked him a question another time. No response. I was talking to his girlfriend later, and told her what happened, and that "a while later"... and she finished my sentence saying "he came back and answered you". She was right, and I had recognized what was happening. I do the same thing, it's so hard to retain anything that I can't get distracted or it could be a week before I remember again. And often I can only do one thing at a time anyway.
If all this wasn't tough enough on it's own, I've had people go in a direction I didn't expect. They say there's nothing wrong with me and I'm just being rude, and because of this belief they continued to push me when overwhelmed, taking the pain and difficulty level to unbearable, and I had to get away from them. If you see someone that won't leave me alone in those situations, please make them stop, even if you have to physically remove them. That's how abusive it is. The normal reaction of someone who can see what's going on is to cringe at the pain and difficulty I'm experiencing, this shows how off base some are. These people also thought I was going to get violent, that's not even an option I consider. I'm already overwhelmed, getting violent would be many times worse. I have a need to reduce stress, not increase it. Fortunately it's uncommon for people to go in that direction, most are respectful of my difficulties, and there are no problems. However there is a disproportionate number of people in the OHV volunteer community that cause those problems. Overall in my life it's rarely a problem.
Traumatic Brain Injury is the signature Injury from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, I've ran across quite a few veterans with it. I had a head injury in 89, but the cognitive testing didn't show deficiencies. After I got back from Iraq in 05 I had very strong TBI symptoms, and after cognitive testing I was diagnosed with TBI. In 08 the doctor asked many questions about what happened in Iraq to cause it, and entered into my records that it was at Camp Fallujah in November 04. That was the only blast close enough to leave me disoriented. Our convoy was bunched up getting out the gate. I was rear gunner and about to pull on my last glove when it happened, next thing I know my glove had been blown out of reach. I had to climb up out of the gunners hole to reach it, and the truck right in front of us had all the water bottles in a storage box ruptured from the concussion. As the Brain is also mostly water, the doctors find it very significant.
I was in a club that labeled my inability to think at the level they expected, and inability to speak sometimes, as "repeated discourteous behavior", and put me on member in poor standing over it. They refused to talk to the VA Speech Pathologist and find out what was actually happening, and generally made things many times worse than they needed to be by backing up the pushy people, instead of making them be respectful of my challenges. That was some of the toughest stuff I've been through. Mountain Warriors won't be tolerating that behavior. If someone can't respond to you, please leave them alone.
It's likely Mountain Warriors will have others with Brain Injury as well, this is why I wanted to help clubs we might rub elbows with understand the situation. Many veterans have the same difficulties, like my example of the Marine above. However most of them are baffled and alarmed at the way things have been twisted around on me. There are some you may know that might help you with it too, Bartman and Dave Adams have been able to see on their own what's going on all along. And about a year ago JR talked with my VA readjustment counselor, and she validated what I've been saying from the beginning. She said JR wasn't doubting anything, he just wanted to know how he could help me. I think validating what I'm saying and educating people is the best way forward, so we won't have someone make things unbearable for me, or another veteran, then get really mad thinking that "we" were the ones that did something to them. I'm asking the clubs and trail chairmen to help make things go smoother in the future by spreading accurate information on this subject. If any of you want to talk to the VA people that help me, I will set it up. We need to put the misunderstandings behind us.
I will be staying in Hill Hoppers also, they're pretty understanding people. Hill Hoppers had already seen the difficulties I have back in 2011 when I helped them install a toilet at Ershim, and they were understanding and accommodating. One of them took the group ahead when he saw that I was having a hard time diagnosing a fuel problem on my truck with distractions. And there were no hard feelings, that's the kind of harmony I'd like to see in the 4WD community.
The biggest reason I wanted to do this is so I won't be pushed to the point that the pain and difficulty is unbearable, I really don't want to go through that again. There are some people that refuse to stop doing that, no matter how many times I tell them what's happening. If enough people are educated on the subject, maybe someone will be around that will stop them. And again this isn't just for me, it can also help others with Brain Injury.
We're starting a new 4WD squad called Mountain Warriors, it's one of several squads within Our Heroes Dreams. A non profit organization founded ten or twelve years ago by a veteran that was wounded in Iraq, the organization uses donations to help veterans. Last year they took 136 veterans off the streets and put them into apartments, they also do suicide awareness rides, five day veteran retreats, and they have the squads to get veterans out doing something. The other squads are Archery, community projects, Emergency Response, Honor Guard, and Women Warriors. Mountain Warriors will be another avenue for veterans to be productive and hang around with other veterans, we will also be raising awareness of some of the difficulties veterans go through.
I have a condition called Traumatic Brain Injury, the way the doctors described it is, pathways are damaged in the brain, a message is traveling through the brain and , the bridge is out. It finds a way around, but it takes longer, and is draining. It takes me longer to process information, and it's very difficult with distractions, especially under pressure. And sometimes I may have to step away to be able to think clearly, or won't be able to speak even if I wanted to. If my rig breaks and five people come up to help, that's the worst thing that can happen. I can't function in that situation, I "can" function with one person. It will still be very difficult though, I'm also in extreme pain when this happens.
I've done speech therapy to help with this, a year and a half starting in 2012, and I'm about a year back into it now. The first time I called it multi tasking from Hell. I have seen direct results from it, when I'm overwhelmed now I can sometimes tell people that I can't think with them talking, barely. I can also go into stores and let the employees help me find something, I couldn't do that before. I had to focus on one thing, talking to someone would be two things. Another example, last year I went through Dusy with a veterans group from San Diego. A guy with three tours Marine Corps walked by, I gave him some information he wanted one time, asked him a question another time. No response. I was talking to his girlfriend later, and told her what happened, and that "a while later"... and she finished my sentence saying "he came back and answered you". She was right, and I had recognized what was happening. I do the same thing, it's so hard to retain anything that I can't get distracted or it could be a week before I remember again. And often I can only do one thing at a time anyway.
If all this wasn't tough enough on it's own, I've had people go in a direction I didn't expect. They say there's nothing wrong with me and I'm just being rude, and because of this belief they continued to push me when overwhelmed, taking the pain and difficulty level to unbearable, and I had to get away from them. If you see someone that won't leave me alone in those situations, please make them stop, even if you have to physically remove them. That's how abusive it is. The normal reaction of someone who can see what's going on is to cringe at the pain and difficulty I'm experiencing, this shows how off base some are. These people also thought I was going to get violent, that's not even an option I consider. I'm already overwhelmed, getting violent would be many times worse. I have a need to reduce stress, not increase it. Fortunately it's uncommon for people to go in that direction, most are respectful of my difficulties, and there are no problems. However there is a disproportionate number of people in the OHV volunteer community that cause those problems. Overall in my life it's rarely a problem.
Traumatic Brain Injury is the signature Injury from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, I've ran across quite a few veterans with it. I had a head injury in 89, but the cognitive testing didn't show deficiencies. After I got back from Iraq in 05 I had very strong TBI symptoms, and after cognitive testing I was diagnosed with TBI. In 08 the doctor asked many questions about what happened in Iraq to cause it, and entered into my records that it was at Camp Fallujah in November 04. That was the only blast close enough to leave me disoriented. Our convoy was bunched up getting out the gate. I was rear gunner and about to pull on my last glove when it happened, next thing I know my glove had been blown out of reach. I had to climb up out of the gunners hole to reach it, and the truck right in front of us had all the water bottles in a storage box ruptured from the concussion. As the Brain is also mostly water, the doctors find it very significant.
I was in a club that labeled my inability to think at the level they expected, and inability to speak sometimes, as "repeated discourteous behavior", and put me on member in poor standing over it. They refused to talk to the VA Speech Pathologist and find out what was actually happening, and generally made things many times worse than they needed to be by backing up the pushy people, instead of making them be respectful of my challenges. That was some of the toughest stuff I've been through. Mountain Warriors won't be tolerating that behavior. If someone can't respond to you, please leave them alone.
It's likely Mountain Warriors will have others with Brain Injury as well, this is why I wanted to help clubs we might rub elbows with understand the situation. Many veterans have the same difficulties, like my example of the Marine above. However most of them are baffled and alarmed at the way things have been twisted around on me. There are some you may know that might help you with it too, Bartman and Dave Adams have been able to see on their own what's going on all along. And about a year ago JR talked with my VA readjustment counselor, and she validated what I've been saying from the beginning. She said JR wasn't doubting anything, he just wanted to know how he could help me. I think validating what I'm saying and educating people is the best way forward, so we won't have someone make things unbearable for me, or another veteran, then get really mad thinking that "we" were the ones that did something to them. I'm asking the clubs and trail chairmen to help make things go smoother in the future by spreading accurate information on this subject. If any of you want to talk to the VA people that help me, I will set it up. We need to put the misunderstandings behind us.
I will be staying in Hill Hoppers also, they're pretty understanding people. Hill Hoppers had already seen the difficulties I have back in 2011 when I helped them install a toilet at Ershim, and they were understanding and accommodating. One of them took the group ahead when he saw that I was having a hard time diagnosing a fuel problem on my truck with distractions. And there were no hard feelings, that's the kind of harmony I'd like to see in the 4WD community.
The biggest reason I wanted to do this is so I won't be pushed to the point that the pain and difficulty is unbearable, I really don't want to go through that again. There are some people that refuse to stop doing that, no matter how many times I tell them what's happening. If enough people are educated on the subject, maybe someone will be around that will stop them. And again this isn't just for me, it can also help others with Brain Injury.