This Memorial Day We Should Also Remember Our Current Military Wounded

I remember in junior high, as part of the percussion section of the Larsen Junior High marching band, arriving at the cemetery in Elgin, Illinois, at the conclusion of the Memorial Day parade. In those long-ago days I knew that my father and the rest of his generation had served in World War II.

By the time I got to Michigan State University the protests against the Vietnam War were in full bloom almost everywhere except at MSU, a college that firmly supported its ROTC program. And what did I do? I fell in love with one of those ROTC cadets and married him immediately after accelerating my college graduation date.

In those ironies of life, in May of 1970 I drove with my husband to Ft. Knox, Kentucky, for him to report to Armor Officers Basic the same week that the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four college students protesting against President Nixon’s incursion into Cambodia.

Thirty-eight years later I self-published the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT based on my first nine weeks as a new Mrs. Lieutenant. And the publication of that novel launched me into co-founding the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing as well as becoming involved online with numerous military-support projects.

Through one of my activities Dan Stepel, a U.S. Marine veteran, found me. And what developed was my commitment to help promote his compelling project – the PTSD Walk Across America. Dan is going to walk 12,000 miles through all 50 states to raise awareness of and funds for the active-duty military personnel and the veterans who need help with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is sometimes called “the silent wound” or “the invisible wound.”

Now those of you who read the “Mrs. Lieutenant” blog regularly know that I often write about PTSD. And for anyone who wants to know more about the symptoms of PTSD – see the info on my site www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com

Today, though, in honor of our military men and women past and present, I want to share with you a guest post from Dan about the Memorial Day in 1980 he spent in Marine boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina.

And this Memorial Day please visit the Facebook page of the PTSD Walk Across America at www.facebook.com/PTSDWalk and show your support by clicking on the page’s “like” button. You can also follow news of the walk on Twitter at @PTSDWalk.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest military-related project is supporting the upcoming PTSD Walk Across America.Phyllis' social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands. Read her social media marketing blog.