01-25-2015, 02:27 PM
LRRPF52 Wrote:I had a premonition before this year's SHOT that I needed to focus on forgetting about myself, and looking for opportunities to help others.
There were a lot of interesting new developments at SHOT. What impressed me the most was the number of charities started by combat vets to help other vets recover from TBI's, and get transitioned back into civilian life. We are losing too many genuinely good people to suicide & TBI's, and there are a number of organizations helping out with that.
I ran into some friends who I haven't seen since 2000, who started Green Beret Foundation to help pay for things like hyperbaric chamber treatments, since the Army and VA won't cover them. This particular friend of mine couldn't speak for a year, and still has seizures, but the hyperbaric chamber helped him to be able to speak.
The Green Beret Foundation works with guys like this:
[video]http://youtu.be/gqW00BxpeU4[/video]
Then there is Tom Spooner's Elder Heart:
[video]http://youtu.be/DTuFNy8NtuA[/video]
We also have Tyler Hughes Hike for Life: http://www.maxordinate.com/#!hike-for-life/cua1
I will be working with these organizations to support these causes, because they are truly noble, and the right thing to do. So when you ask me what was new and exciting about SHOT Show this year, prepare to get a different answer from me than what you expected. Please take the time to watch the videos above, and visit the websites. I know Green Beret Foundation puts 92 cents of every dollar to the actual vets, unlike some of the other scammers out there. Green Beret Foundation was started by my good friend, who would probably not be able to speak if it wasn't for outside help in getting him the chamber treatments. He gave 21 years of his life at the cutting edge, so we will be doing everything possible to help out at least from my end.
Really cool. TBI is a big deal. One of my friends ended up being medically retired at age 25 because a vehicle he was riding was IED attacked twice in one day. One flipped the vehicle and resulted in unknown fractured vertebrae as well as cranial swelling that went undiagnosed for a year. Then once they had diagnosed him they retired himbecause of the fractures and TBI. Truly noble causes. TBI can get everyone in every branch and every occupation.