Our Blog
The Story of the Afghan Children
The opportunity to witness the court-martial of Bowe Bergdahl allowed me to hear another story in that military courtroom. Retired Navy SEAL James Hatch testified of the circumstances under which he was shot in the leg during a search and rescue operation for Bowe....
Torture–Its Relevance Today
Last week, Quaker House attended public hearings about flights and airplanes that were used to transport prisoners to black sites around the world where they were tortured, mainly from September 2001 to September 2006. These hearings were about airfields and a flight...
Bergdahl, Moral Injury, and Our Responsibility
Bowe Bergdahl likely suffers with moral injury. Symptoms of moral injury include feelings of shame or guilt for events that are in conflict with a person’s essential inner moral code and that may have occurred outside of that individual’s control. Nonetheless, the...
Bergdahl’s Compassion for Animals Now a PTSD Trigger
Since returning from Afghanistan, on his own time, Bowe has worked with an organization that rescues feral cats, and the lady who runs the rescue calls him the cat whisperer because, for some reason, these cats trust him. He has been able to successfully work with the...
Refugees and Military Members: Not So Different After All?
[This is the complete version of an article written for the Quaker House Winter 2017 Newsletter. It is enriched by illustrative examples from her own experiences working with refugees that were omitted from the newsletter due to space limitations.] “I will write songs...
Recent Standoff Involving Veteran
A tragic standoff with police and death of the barricaded individual occurred a few days ago in North Carolina. More details were released in a Fayetteville Observer article, today. A few things stand out in the article: The veteran who barricaded himself and shot at...
Why YOU Shouldn’t Join the Military
I'm often asked by people, "What are good reasons for not joining the Army/Navy/Air Force/etc.?" Or I'm told the corollary, "My friend/recruiter says the Army/Navy/Air Force/etc. can do . . . for me." I recently picked up and reviewed a booklet which Quaker House has...
Agent Orange: A Half-Century of Pain
Agent Orange. One of the many terms associated with the Vietnam War that evoke strong and often angry reactions. Why mention it now, and risk stirring those responses again? Partly, it's the calendar: August 10 will mark fifty years since the first load of powerful...
To End Torture: START NOW
Friends-- I've been reflecting on how most of the proposals I've seen for opposing torture in the coming years seem too narrow and oriented to one or another "silver bullet" idea. The problem is more complex, and more entrenched, it seems to me. So I've been drafting...