Veterans Day 2.0: A Historic PSA Campaign to Support New Veterans (See the Ad)

What has the power to shut down part of JFK Airport, the Number 7 Subway Train, and one of the busiest intersections in New York City?

A bold new campaign to support veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

I've told you before about the isolation many troops feel when they come home from Iraq. It's a shock to realize you've been fighting a war while for the average American, life has gone on basically unchanged. For many veterans returning from war, it can be hard to reconnect with friends, family and community.

So today, as people gather nationwide to honor all those who have served, I have a very exciting announcement to make. IAVA is launching a historic, groundbreaking Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign aimed at easing the transition for veterans returning home from combat. Created by veterans, for veterans, this innovative media campaign is like nothing America has ever seen.

Check out the ad featuring Iraq Vet and Purple Heart recipient Bryan Adams here:

We're going to make sure that today's veterans find the community and the support that they have earned. These PSAs, which will soon be running nationwide, were created in partnership with the Ad Council. You might not know the organization, but you definitely know their campaigns -- these are the folks responsible for "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk" and "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste." This new campaign will be just as iconic and just as effective.

Sure, it's a powerful ad. But what is this PSA going to do to help vets?

It will bring them together and connect them with the veteran's hall of the future. Veterans coming home have told us again and again, the thing they need most of all is to reconnect with other vets. So this innovative campaign links veterans to a new private social network, exclusively for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, at www.CommunityOfVeterans.org.

For many veterans, they are in Baghdad one day and Brooklyn the next. They don't come home to a community full of people who have also fought in Iraq. CommunityOfVeterans.org will be a place they can build bonds with people who understand where they're coming from. The website will also provide veterans with a searchable database of vetted resources -- including everything from free counseling to help with your home loan. In addition, they'll get access to specials for vets only -- from sporting event tickets to free music.

We've all heard horror stories about vets struggling to find their place after coming home from combat. This historic campaign will save lives, and it will finally turn the page on how veterans were treated in America after Vietnam. This is the welcome home that our newest generation of heroes has been waiting for.

But there is still more to do after Veterans Day is over. Our new President will have to move boldly and quickly to support new veterans and their families. And he'll need the support of every single American--no matter who they voted for or where they stand on the war.

And there is something you can do right now. Please help us spread the word about this historic campaign. On Veterans Day, forwarding this link is an easy, 2.0 way for every American to do something to support our newest generation of veterans. Share this video. With your help, we can make every day Veterans Day.

You can learn more about how we shut down part of JFK, how we produced the ad, and about the personal stories of the wounded Iraq veterans featured in it, here.

UPDATE: I spoke about the new PSA campaign and other vets issues Tuesday night on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show. Check out the video here.

 

 

Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff

Comments

[knowhelpnow]

I think they should have a special place on the web just for returning females from these wars, they have a very different story behind them, that I do not believe males understand at all. Women are only 15% of the military but not only are they in the middle of these fights (without being trained to fight) but they also have to defend themselves from being raped by their own military counter parts, there is no safe place for them in these wars; that's a lot to take home with you, especially when the military's lack of follow up when a rape does occur and how they are treated if they even turn it in. They are ostracized from their unit and treated with disgust sometimes killed. It's no wonder most rapes are not turned in, and these women suffer their own type of PTSD in a whole other world. This happens at home and in a war zone.

[JohnBisceglia]

As someone coping with debilitating PTSD as we speak, I am VERY concerned about the help these veterans will receive. I used to be a peaceful, non-violent, sweet-lil-ol' Church Musician and Piano & Preschool Teacher; now I regularly experience a frightening level of violent images and urges inside from my traumatic experience, mostly out of a need to feel safe and self-protect. Honestly, if I posted them here they would be censored and the authorities would be called....­.again....­.I was a peace-loving guy, with NO combat experience.

But how will our US soldiers fare when they return and deal with their traumas? And what if they fail to get the treatment they will surely need? If what I've experienced internally is 1/1000 of what soldiers will carry back with them, I am beyond terrified. Family, friends, and neighbors may be suddenly killed by a loved one for no apparent reason; complete strangers may cause a slight annoyance in public that results in numerous deaths around them.

We WILL have a problem.

[paulrieckhoff]

Thanks for all this support--and for the comments. Please check me out on Rachel Maddow tonight, and please help us spread the word about www.CommunityofVeterans.org.

Thanks again! And my thanks to all the vets out there that have served, and paved the way.

[angryveteran]

Thanks Paul ... this PSA makes me want to get out and do something to ease the transition of our vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

[sunny123]

Thank you, Paul. As usual you are ahead of the rest of us. I have shared what I learn from you with my two daughters in the Air Force and Army. They need to hear more about you. I will be sending this PSA to them for sharing. Please keep up the good work and I'll keep passing it on. Again, thanks.

[Christine Pelosi - Huffpost Blogger]

Phenomenal work as always, Paul. Kudos and good wishes to you and all the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Appreciate your service and salute your cutting edge efforts to support veterans and military families.

[paulrieckhoff]

Thanks, Christine! And everyone else!

[slemay]

I've seen you on television several times and continue to admire your purpose and your effectiveness at representing these veterans.

As a veteran with 31 combat missions during Viet Nam, I encourage every reader to pay attention to how the returning veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, and other ventures are treated. (Notice that I said 'during' Viet Nam, not in it.) Even if we disagree with the mission, we must recognize the military members for their service. They don't choose their missions; they carry them out, and do so on our behalf.

Outstanding PSA.

[JohnBisceglia]

I find it sickening that there are some men and women who have dedicated 10-20-30 years of their life to our country, yet some of these Patriots, these outstanding Americans, cannot marry their beloved.

My partner is one of them; for 20 years he lived travelling the world as a Lieutenant Command Officer in the U.S. Navy, yet his treated as SUB-American here at home.

Eric Alva, the first American soldier wounded in Iraq, cannot marry the person he loves.

These men & women serve our country on a level most Americans will NEVER even attempt, yet they are less than 2nd-class citizens. They are worthless, and their FAMILY is worthless, in the eyes of the law.

To expect one penny of tax dollars from any of them, or myself, is the biggest crime of all. Well, NO MORE taxation without EQUALITY until things change. That's the new rule.

[RobertAndropolis]

Returning soldiers from Viet Nam were often derided, even spat upon. Today's returning soldiers are ghosts. This Public Service Announcement is the most powerful :30 seconds of video I've ever seen. Brothers-a­nd-sisters­-in-arms are the only people who can really understand the incredibly powerful sense of displacement they feel within their own country. A simple "Thank you for your service" is a giant leap forward.

[freedomis]

All of these people are patriotic by any standard one could use since a bullet or a bomb does not care what your reason was for joining. There are exceptions but most all of these people will do what they are supposed to with the best of their ability and they will do so with honor. Til one has seen, in person, what war is there is no way to have a dialog about something that can do nothing but harm to a body, heart, and soul therefore as a Vietnam Vet who has done good but never forgets we did what we did for our own reasons and salute all who did because they answered the call. Draftee’s answered also and they deserve a salute.
Have a peaceful day, Sandy and Tony 11/11/08

[freedomis]

VETERANS DAY 2008
Wanted to write something for all the Vets out there but with a particular group in mind and that would be any and all Vets at Country Club Manor a Retirement Community, Assisted Living Facility.

It has always been my observation that when things are tough economically in the civilian ranks that a paycheck from the military is ever an option; this was so in my case in the middle 50’s but you have to have some good fortune, this may sound like an oxymoron when you consider that you are joining up to maybe kill or be killed or end up with physical or mental problems or you come back to a society that cares not a whit what you have done.

There are other reasons that people join such as the chance to get money for college, a career, a chance to travel and just for the sense of adventure. Where do most fit? A job, money for college, travel and adventure. Most career military plan it that way from the beginning; also, for instance when thing are tough folks will reup, meaning they will reenlist and probably stay for 20.
To be cont.

[Borborigny]

War -- what is it good for?

[Delaware22]

Great work, Paul!

[RobertAndropolis]

I missed Viet Nam by one year. My class was the last to be issued the infamous draft cards. I always felt kind of cheap on Veteran's Day. Kind of guilty. Then I started watching Paul Reickhoff's appearances on Rachel Maddow. This may sound weird, but I started to viscerally feel proud to be an American. I'm an Illinois native so I know about Major Duckworth, but I didn't know details until I went to Wikipedia. I didn't know she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from George ashington University. Then this excerpt from 2006:

Duckworth has said that the war in Iraq is not central to the war on terror: "I think a very small percentage of what is happening in Iraq is terrorist activity. I think most of it is sectarian violence, it's Sunnis fighting Shiites ... I think that to try to tie Iraq to the war on terror is a disservice to the real work that has to be done in the war on terror, which includes finishing the job in Afghanistan, capturing Osama Bin Laden and destroying Al Qaeda but also protecting our people here at home."[33]

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I urge everyone--on this day of all days--to visit Wikipedia and read the long and impressive bio of Major Duckworth. We as a country in transition, perhaps selfishly but certainly desperately, need the continued political service of both these exceptional soldiers.

[demfriend]

Thanks for helping organize and getting this out. You are a good man Paul.