Welcome Home Project

     A living peace church initiative of the Church of the Brethren for returning military personnel. On Earth Peace believes that the Christian message of love, justice, service, and humility includes reaching out to soldiers, who may be hurting, afraid, silent, and marginalized. Too often, Christian pacifists have been separated from those who have served in the military. A living peace church accompanies all those who have experienced the violence and trauma of war.

Pastoral Care among Returning Veterans
     Caring Connections is an Inter-Lutheran journal for practitioners and teachers of pastoral care and counseling. It is written by and for Lutheran practitioners and educators in the fields of pastoral care, counseling and education. This issue deals with ministry and theology with returning veterans.

Pastoral Care in times of War
      A series of reflections by Unitarian Universalists on the War in Iraq.

Sidran
     Traumatic Stress Education and Advocacy.
Sidran Traumatic Stress Institute is an international organzation that helps people understand, recover from, and treat traumatic stress (including PTSD). Sidran develops and delivers educational programming; resources for treatment, support and self-help; trauma-informed community and professional collaboration;  and publications all related to trauma and recovery. Sidran resources are not limited to combat-related trauma.

• Sidran's extensive web base of downloadable publications.
• Day, Jackson H. Risking Connection in Faith Communities: A Training Curriculum for Faith Leaders Supporting Trauma Survivors. Sidran Press, 2006.

Trauma Pages
     Trauma Pages focuses primarily on emotional trauma and traumatic stress, including PTSD  and dissociation, whether following individual traumatic experience(s) or a large-scale disaster. This web site includes many resources and articles from general information for the lay person to specific and academic materials and study. The  "Trauma support" section is particularly helpful.

The Sanctuary for Veterans and Families
      The Sanctuary for Veterans and Families provides direct services and support and maintains a website full of resources and articles to enhance understanding of the impact of military service on family members. Explores and addresses the impacts of combat-related trauma, and facilitating the reintegration of veterans into the family system and community.

International Conference of War Veteran Ministers
      A group comprised of combat veterans who are also ordained ministers or full time religious workers. The site contains resources for clergy and veterans, including training and links to religious sites and web resources.

• Spirituality and PTSD in Vietnam Combat Veterans, by Margaret Nelson-Pechota, Ph.D. Don't miss the comments and footnotes at the end of this excellent article.

Veterans Day Prayer
     A prayer for Veterans Day from Rev. Scott Elliott of the United Church of Christ. It calls for support of those who are fighting and for an end to the war.

Speaking of Faith: The Soul of War
     A May 2007 radio program from American Public Media. With Iraq veteran and chaplain Major John Morris, we explore how war challenges the human spirit and the core tenets of a life of faith.

• A conversation with Chaplain Major John Morris. He reveals his own intimate experiences of war and its imprint on a soldier's spirit.  He offers practical guidance for both veterans and civilians and how we can deal more responsibly with the issues military personnel are forced to face.

• Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: How Churches Can Help Soldiers and Their Families Readjust After Combat by Chaplain Major John Morris.

Accepting the Ashes- A Daughter's Look at Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, by Elizabeth Quynn, the daughter of a combat veteran of the Viet Nam who battled  PTSD for over 3 decades and died in 2004.  After her father's death, she wrote a book to share her experience with other veterans and their families. The book's website contains links to other veteran resources.

Bibliography for Pastoral Care with Military Families
      An excellent and thorough bibliography related to pastoral care and military families from the Kentucky Council of Churches. Compiled by Kimberly J. Hoare of Yale Divinity School.

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