Benson spearheads effort in support of wounded warriors
Publication:
Alaska Star
“I am proud to have initiated a resolution with veterans that brings awareness to the issues of wounded warrior care and their caretakers,” said Benson in a press release Monday. “I felt that this resolution was a great beginning because a major national organization agreed to include the issue of wounded warrior care and support for the caretakers — the families — as a matter of health and societal obligation.”
Benson explained that the experiences modern soldiers are having are unique.
“The fact is troops are surviving horrific injuries unseen in previous wars. Families must be supported by their communities to do the day-to-day job for their wounded veteran,” she said in the release. “Many families are traumatized or overwhelmed themselves, and this resolution serves as a beginning for organizations and institutions to recognize that fact and act on it.
”The resolution also seeks to hold the Advisory Committee of Minority Veterans and the Department of Veteran Affairs to a higher standard on family counseling and assistance than now exists. ��
According to the release, Benson has personal experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and secondary PTSD through dealing with family members and friends returning from Vietnam, her own recovery as a survivor of violence and her son, who returned severely wounded from Iraq after being injured by an improvised explosive device near Kirkuk in November 2005.
“This is a beginning, and it means that I and those of the NCAI Veterans Committee will be expected to create dialogue with tribes and institutions as well as with VA and IHS about community support for families, about PTSD needs and about how VA and IHS can work together to improve and extend services,” she said. “I am dedicated to doing whatever I can for these families.”
