“War is like a cancer in all of us. It quietly eats us up after awhile. We can only stuff our past experiences in us for so long before they begin to eat their way to the surface. I’d like to talk to someone about these things, but I don’t think there’s anyone interested in talking about hell. For us the war never ended, but no one can see that but us. To me that is the biggest letdown of all. We struggled hard to survive and then we found out that nobody wanted to hear about the war and our problems, or where we had been. Coming home was hell.” A US Veteran.

"War is an experience shared by many." Chuck Dean

The reactions we experience are common throughout the veteran ranks with a sense of peace once we realize there is a sharing of these reactions and emotions within the body of veterans; the idea that we are not alone in our feelings. It's sad that so many of us feel that if we admit to problems related to our wartime experiences that we will be labeled as weak or whimping out when the opposite is true.

The unwanted feelings we have are normal reactons to an abnormal experience. What I'm saying is that COMBAT IS NOT a normal experience. In our training, we were taught to shut down our emotions except for anger and in some cases hate. Then we were taught to exploit those two emotions and turn them against the enemy. One problem is that we were never taught how to turn them off and turn more appropriate emotions like love, compassion, temperance and self-control on. Neither were we taught appropriate anger and anger control.

The reality is the soldier/veteran who lives with his problems is letting the world know he is living in fear. Fear that someone might think less of him than he is.

You see, combat effects our lives like no other event we might encounter. It creates anxiety that destroys our peace. Causes fears that wake us at night and intrude on our thoughts during our days. War memories can cause problems that break our concentration and thereby our ability to work and to play. The unbalanced emotions brought about by our internalized problems cause us to have social issues with family and friends as well as work and the genreal public.

The purpose of our ministry and this site is to bring HOPE and HELP and to restore PEACE to war veterans and their families.

Look at these two passages regarding HOPE: Romans 5:3-5 says, "...but we also rejoice in our sufferings because WE KNOW that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, HOPE. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit..."

And, Proverbs 13:12, "Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick but when dreams come true, there is life and joy."

God promises us hope through life in Christ as we accept Jesus as Lord. In fact Jesus himself promises us in John's Gospel, 14:27, "PEACE I leave you; MY PEACE I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled AND DO NOT BE AFRAID."

I know these may be hard pills to swallow for some, but then so was a tour of combat duty. Is it easy? No. This life takes work. It's a fight. But

didn't you suffer during your combat tour? Thus building perserverance and character. Aren't we looking for a lasting PEACE for our lives? I can say that you won't be deserted this time. And, you'll be given a purpose with a mission.