REFLECTIONS About Veterans/Military

REFLECTIONS - About Veterans/Military, Their (Our) Families, Friends and Healing and Growing through All Trauma, Combat Trauma, Cumulative Stress, Coronavirus, Racism, Fear, All Life Difficulties

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(Also available on www.healingtrauma.us.com under “Resources” is “Healing and Growing through All Trauma, Combat Trauma, Cumulative Stress, Coronavirus, Fear, All Life Difficulties”)
By Jim Hollister, 2025

In 2011 I bought and began wearing a Vietnam veteran hat and instantly I went from being fairly anonymous (as a veteran and, in particular, a Vietnam veteran) to informally talking a lot especially with other veterans/military and their families and especially other Vietnam veterans—I found an instant “brotherhood” that I never had known before. I never had contact with anyone I had known in the military; and even though I generally didn’t hide the fact of my being a veteran, I certainly didn’t discuss anything with another veteran. Instead I tried to forget Vietnam and what I went through and how it affected me. I had needed time to process what I went through with combat and with the months of continuing threat of combat. And shortly after being in Vietnam I found that I desperately needed to find my purpose in life, who God is and God’s plan and purpose for me; and over the years, I did progressively get some of those answers.

And beginning in 2011 as I informally began meeting other veterans/military people, their families and even their close friends and found that most were still hurting in various ways from various forms of trauma associated with combat or threat of end of life complicated with other forms of trauma and stress from before and since military service. I found some answers; I found that there were resources that were Christian, that dealt with healing. Then God kept expanding His vision of healing and actually growing through combat trauma, all trauma, cumulative stress and cumulative trauma and life, that we are people who are spirit with a body and mind and that if we don’t deal with life and trauma spiritually we sometimes are dealing more with symptoms and more surface effects rather than deeper causes and issues. And that while traumatic events are very important, seemingly less significant are the daily and cumulative trauma and stress that are incredibly important and crucial to deal with, again spiritually and not just mentally and psychologically.

So after decades I found that I finally wanted to remember and learn more about and from my own experiences in Vietnam, including the extent of my whole life before and after Vietnam and how these experiences worked together to include God’s plan and perspective. I found that I (and others) needed to process all that I (and we) had gone through.

So, I began finding and writing about these Christian resources, and as I met and talked with other vets and their family and friends I found that almost no one knew about spiritually-based Christian resources, and people were so hungry for them to get answers and healing. And then after a year of informally sharing resources anywhere I went, God gradually expanded my understanding for those needing healing and growing through trauma to include first responders and then others. But people needed not just a list but have a training readily accessible and handed/given to them as God orchestrates our informal and individual meeting “out there” for themselves and for those who were hurting around them.

I gradually found (from my own and others’ life experience and God teaching me) that essentially everyone has gone through and/or still going through something(s) whether called combat trauma, life trauma, PTSD, crises, wounds, stress, cumulative stress and cumulative trauma, etc. And I kept finding that God has purpose(s) for our trauma, not only for healing but actually growing through these difficulties as we work together with the Lord so that we actually benefit as well from these—and then God can use us for His and others’ benefit as well—one example could be called Post-traumatic GROWTH which I won’t deal with here but is in “Healing and Growing through All Trauma, Combat Trauma…”

And I came to realize that there is something called “secondary trauma” with those people close to military/vets and others who have experienced trauma and tragedy as they suffer often quietly and needlessly; and then for them as well as all others “cumulative stress or trauma” which can seem to be more quietly normal in life and just as tragic if not dealt with—and this is normal life that God wants us to work with Him through this all. And then God wants people to get on the offense, to help others and not get stuck in victim mentality, defensiveness and passivity.

And then as I self-trained to do formal groups with a couple ministries groups curriculum and actually participated as an invited informal adviser to a couple groups, I rarely got the opportunity to work with groups; but everywhere I got the opportunity and encouragement to share informally “Healing and Growing Through Combat Trauma, All Trauma…” with large numbers of individuals, family members, churches, departments, businesses, etc. who usually are interested and even excited to read and go through the self-training by themselves or with others and send the training to others they know who need it (and they in turn can send to others). God makes us hungry for the truth—for ourselves, our families and others. “Healing and Growing through All Trauma, Combat Trauma, Cumulative Stress, Coronavirus, Racism, Fear, All Life Difficulties” is available under “Resources” on www.healingtrauma.us.com . You can download, make copies, share on e-mail or social media and even make a training with this.