Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Battling Bare, an overview
Our first blog post :) This will be a basic overview of what Battling BARE is and what our ultimate goal is. NO MORE will we be the "silent support" on the homefront... our soldiers DESERVE the right to be healed and whole! Help combat PTSD!
Our mission is to unite women and children who love a soldier dealing with PTSD by providing comfort in knowing they are not alone, a pathway of speaking out and battling back against the struggles they have faced with their soldier, along with offering support and encouragement so those women will continue walking the path of healing with their soldier.In the process of empowering and encouraging these women and children, we will raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of PTSD while combating the stigma associated with this condition by increasing understanding of PTSD allowing for veteran suicide rates to decrease as the willingness to seek help and healing increases.
Battling Bare--a private organization-- is currently seeking non-profit status and is in it's beginning stages. We may challenge the status quo in what is acceptable and appropriate for a woman to do/behave. I ask that you stop for a moment and hear me out... my husband battles daily with his demons of war. These unseen wounds of Soldiers all over the world, have the names depression, anxiety, night terrors,PTSD, and others. I, and wives like me, have tried everything we know to try to help.
Currently stationed at Fort Campbell--home to the highest suicide rate in the Army-- we've suffered the loss of 30 plus soldiers to suicide in the past few months. To state that soldiers are "dropping like flies" is no exaggeration...a few were husbands of dear friends and myheart is breaking as I try to help them cope. Grief from a traumaticloss such as suicide is truly an animal of its own breeding.I ask for your help and support via prayer or taking part in battlingback. The photo, just as the emotion it visualizes is raw--my heartbreaks and soul bleeds for the pain of each and every soldier--I hopethat the power of this photo inspires more "silent supporters" to"battle back".Searching actively for a way to answer when asked "what can we do, weare just the wives?", the idea for Battling Bare hit me in about 45seconds one night...let's start with powerful, eye catching pictures and let our voices be heard. The purpose is to create an outlet for wives that are at their wits' end trying to help their husbands heal...women who feel all alone in their struggle. Let us unite to raise awareness, battle back for healing, create hope and take awaythe feeling of being alone.
What can you do?
Photo submissions of support are welcome, please send them to BattlingBare@gmail.com.
Please utilize the following guideline: Use of tatas and tushies, or photos which could be construed "of a sexual nature" will not be posted. Submission of a photo provides permission to Battling Bare for posting and/or duplication and a release of ownership of photo without expectation of compensation. Editing will be completed, as neccesary, to enhance anonymity or meet spacing parameters at our discretion.
We are also accepting personal stories and testimonials to feature on the blog to inspire and support others.
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Hello there Battling Bare, I love your post and the pictures are raw and emotional. As the wife of a Soldier and a Soldier myself I appreciate the voice shouting out and representing the pain and frustration of so many. Have you read a book called While They're at War? I deployed first in 2003 and then my husband went in 2005 and I read that book, it helped me at the time when there really wasn't a lot of social media to help people cope and it reminded me that I wasn't alone. That we're all struggling, lonely and sad at times and theres hope in comfort in knowing that your not alone. That is why I love what you are doing along with other support pages. Keep doing what you're doing, you guys are awesome! Hope to collaborate on a mission with you guys soon, let us know how we can help.
ReplyDeleteJen
http://dangerbuck.com
Strong soldiers make strong spouses... Or is it the other way around? 1 Wife carries the worth of 100 counselors, doctors, etc. I am 33 and married... Not in the military... I know nobody going through what you and your warriors are - But I love my wife and my country and support our soldiers. Let me say that you women are nothing short of what I have come to expect from those who have endured war on any level. Your new organization has grown amazingly in less than a week... and your server being unable to handle the traffic is a GOOD THING!! You are poised to take the media by storm and are in a position to make an enduring difference in the lives of those who need you the most. I do not often post comments to online articles/blogs/etc., and I do not social network, but this brought tears to my eyes. You women make me proud to be a part of this country. You have formed a support group with the capacity to make far more of a difference than our government ever could. Men and women are out there every single day protecting our way of life, and it's time we did the same for them.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm at it, why not get some military husbands participate as well? I know that military WIVES are the majority, but there are women warriors going through the same complications that come from war. Breaking down the gender boundaries through male participation could also raise awareness that it is not just men who must endure the anguish what was done and seen in the hell that they have lived.
Sadly, I have no disposable income with which to make a donation to your cause. What I have done is to violate a soft personal goal of mine... I will not facebook, share, like, social network online, etc... This cause is far more important than silly ideals. Thus, I pledge to spread the word about what you are doing to the highest degree possible. I will E-Mail everyone I have contact with, I will text everyone that I know, I will spread word in person, on the telephone, you name it. When I am done here, I intend to write and send an editorial letter to our local newspaper in Martins Ferry, Ohio. Our area is a very patriotic one, and we have many veterans of all ages and levels right here at home.
You are amazing women... every bit as strong, resilient, and impacting as the soldiers that you are protecting. I am absolutely in awe. Your photos are beautiful and shattering at the same time... There is a horrifying duality involved that DEMANDS attention - I guess that's the point!
Fight the good fight and keep up the good work. Your country needs you!
Chad Stratton
Martins Ferry, Ohio
Hello, my name is Tamoura Curry, I found your site through another site. I live in Protection ks, I was a military wife of a National Guardsman for 9 wonderful yrs. I lost my Husband to PTSD sadly the best thing I had in my life slipped away. We stuck together though a yr deployment,he also is a Desert Shield and a Desert Storm vet. He was stationed in Iraq in a non combat zone,but still had to deal with security issues.
ReplyDeleteWhile he was deployed I learned how to live at a isolated cattle ranch with three dogs.We had just moved from the city to the country 6 months prior.
he got home ok and 6 months later he started having these horrible headaches, worse than migraine because they did not go away and would cause him to black out. He ended up losing a good job with the state, we almost lost everything, I was not working at the time so I went from a happy housewife to a caregiver and a supporter in less than a yr( I found a job making 600 bucks a month).For a yr we went through doc appts, scans,he was up to taking 10 diff kinds of pills several of them was to maintain his high blood pressure. Nobody could tell what was causing it, I tried to tell them it was PTSD, and in his head and he needed help, he fell though the cracks. A yr later after the headaches started he lost his eye sight completely, I found him at home sitting in front of the PC, just as I left him to go to work, he was sitting there shaking scared. another yr of appts, meds, tests and nobody knew what what going on. finally someone suggested Conversion Disorder..bingo now to get the treatment but for the last two yrs of out relationship the stress, guilt trips he was doing to me and himself took a toll on us, it destroyed something wonderful, the man that I married and the man whom I kissed good by before being deployed, did not come back. I don't know how many times I sat in cried myself to a frenzy I still do a yr later. He does not want to work on fixing us as he feels he is not good enough to be anyone's husband and he cant do the things he used too. I have learned much about myself and learned I have the strength it takes to care for him but the damage is done, neither of us want to give up but both of us know we wont ever fix us because there is no funding for marriage counseling. We both are a casualty of war.