What an amazing way to spend Veterans’ Day! My husband and I were invited to attend the Mission Serve kickoff event at George Washington University. Part of the ServeNation coalition, Mission Serve is the civilian-military initiative comprised of 33 partnerships (mostly non-profits and NGOs) committed to serve the men and women of the armed forces, veterans and their families.
The keynote speaker was Michelle Obama - I’ve always wanted to hear her speak. She and Dr. Jill Biden both spoke, and it was worth the 45 minute wait outside in the chilly rain. She appeared to get a little choked up as she talked with some of the soldiers she had met at Ft. Hood only the day before, who had ignored their own gunshot wounds to help their fellow soldiers.
I was impressed at the creative linkages formed among the non-profits dedicated to aligned with Mission Serve in their unified effort to help veterans returning from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan transit to a productive, leadership role in their communities.
“The Telling Project” (www.thetellingproject.org) was by far the most emotional part of the event…I wish had performed before Mrs. Obama’s remarks so the media and the GW students would have seen it. Five veterans and one spouse, sitting side-by-side in director’s chairs, re-enacted their military experiences. Sometimes funny and mostly horrifying, their emotions were still raw as they re-lived playing the daily death lottery while deployed to the Middle East. Some of the veteran performers were not OK, nor did they attempt to be. Rather, they turned their pain into performance art, and in doing so, maybe for the first time, I got a glimpse of the hell that some of our veterans shoulder each day.
You need to see “The Telling Project.”
