USO News
USO Warrior and Family Caregivers Conference is Full of Compassion in Fatigues
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
By Tom Sileo
While most stories about military heroes focus on those serving overseas, this week the USO focuses on an extraordinary group of unknown heroes – the selfless caregivers who watch over our nation’s wounded, ill and injured troops.
Most caregivers carry on quietly, invisibly and around the clock in homes, hospitals and rehabilitation centers across the country. Yet according to experts, such constant devotion can take its toll on even the kindest, most sympathetic human beings.
I first heard the expression “compassion fatigue” while talking with a respected psychiatrist who will speak at the USO Warrior and Family Caregivers Conference, which is being hosted by the USO and starts Wednesday at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg.
Dr. Kim Norman, the father of Army and Navy veterans, explained the fascinating term.
“We have to think about how hard it is day after day to be dealing with suffering,” Dr. Norman said. “You can go numb or grow angry and irritable.”
Norman, who will speak about compassion fatigue to wounded, ill and injured service members from Fort Bragg’s Warrior Transition Unit (WTU), Camp Lejeune’s Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR), command staff of the WTU and WWR, caregivers and spouses on Wednesday morning, knows first-hand about this critical issue.
As you will be able to read about in the upcoming winter issue of On Patrol, the magazine of the USO, the psychiatrist’s oldest son, Capt. Seth Norman, who left the Army with a Bronze Star pinned to his uniform, has lived with the invisible wounds of war – emotional scars that most outsiders can’t see – since returning from his second deployment to Iraq. The combat veteran’s father and mother, along with his fellow troops, have been helping Capt. Norman cope ever since.
“It’s not about weakness,” Dr. Norman said while explaining the mental anguish that so many troops and combat veterans experience. “It’s about a normal brain under stress.”
The men and women who care for America’s returning warriors confront enormous challenges posed by compassion fatigue, post-traumatic stress, parenting challenges, children’s grief, and suicide prevention. These crucial issues, along with survivor guilt, depression, and secondary trauma, will all be discussed by experts at the two-day, USO hosted event.
The 2nd annual conference’s goals are clear and simple. The USO, which supports America’s wounded warriors and their caregivers through its programs for wounded warriors and Operation Enduring Care, wants to help ensure that wounded warriors and caregivers know about the wide range of resources available for their difficult journeys ahead.
The wounded warrior community encompasses all wounded, ill and injured service members, and the USO recognizes that caregivers plan a crucial role in ensuring a successful transition for our nation’s wounded warriors.
In addition to the University of California, San Francisco’s Dr. Kim Norman, key speakers at the conference include U.S. troops, veterans and military family members, Kim Ruocco, Director of Suicide Prevention & Education at TAPS, Lt. Col. James "Tom " Schumacher of the Warrior Transition Battalion, John R. Campbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Wounded Warrior Care & Transition Policy) and best-selling author and children’s book illustrator Trevor Romain.
USO speakers include Sloan Gibson, USO President and CEO, John Pray, USO Senior Vice President of Entertainment and Programs and John Falkenbury, USO North Carolina President.
Special presentations will be offered by Sesame Street (Talk, Listen, Connect), Brainline.org, Team River Runner, the American Red Cross, Ride 2 Recovery, Army OneSource, Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2), Hire Heroes USA, USMC Wounded Warrior Regiment, USAA, Armed Forces Academic Resources and Operation Homefront.
As men and women in fatigues and the caregivers who assist the wounded, ill, and injured unite for two days of compassion, we should not forget the message of Dr. Kim Norman. None of the challenges faced by warriors or their caregivers result from weakness, but from normal brains experiencing the extraordinary pressure of war.
The USO is probably best known for lifting the spirits of our troops and their families with entertainment and smiles. Yet this conference is an opportunity to support a remarkable group of people – those who care for our wounded warriors – while discussing some of war’s harshest, ugliest realities.
After ten years of battle, many troops, veterans and military families are in the middle of long voyages of emotional and physical recovery. For the unselfish men and women taking care of them, the USO Wounded Warrior and Family Caregivers Conference is a new beginning. By working together, caregivers, military leaders, medical experts, troops, veterans, military families, the USO and other fine organizations are forging a new path forward.
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