The Alternative Press

On March 29^th and 30th Christine Truhe, PsyD, President of Bonds of Courage, attended the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCOE) Conference in Washington, DC.  Among the dignitaries who participated in the meeting was New Jersey native, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, USA, Sgt. 1^st Class Leroy Petry, USA, Medal of Honor recipient and Rear Adm. Margaret Grun Kibben, USN, Chaplain of the Marine Corps and Deputy Chief of the Navy Chaplains. This conference gathered 400 leaders, both military and civilian, who provide leadership, behavioral health and educational services to troops. The goal of the conference was to assure that all those who serve maintain the confidence which is the result of social and psychological well-being while deployed and through the completion of their service.

 The topic of Restoring Readiness: Enhancing Resilience within each Soldier, Unit, Family and Community, (the title of the conference) is close to Truhe’s calling. Her son, Michael, who served  two tours in Iraq and who will deploy to Afghanistan this summer, was the inspiration for the founding of Bonds of Courage. Because of her work with residents of this area who are deployed or have completed their service and their families, Truhe found this conference to be particularly useful and inspiring. “The highest ranking non-commissioned officers of all the branches, walked-the-walk, when they spoke about their own psychological struggles after combat and the value of  getting help.” Removing the stigma of seeking help is another type of battle being fought by the military. With up to 30% of combat veterans experiencing the effects of post-traumatic stress, the joint services are putting a great deal of effort and resources on these injuries.

Among those with whom Truhe was most impressed was Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. 1^st Class Leroy Petry. Petry was on his eighth deployment, this time in the war zone of Afghanistan. After a round went through both his legs, he picked up a live grenade which had landed a few feet from his unit and detonated as he attempted to toss it. The detonation amputated his right hand and sprayed his body with shrapnel. In throwing the grenade away, Petry likely saved the two other soldiers from serious injury or death.  Truhe was moved to tears as she recounted that what seemed most important to him during their conversation was that she be sure to thank her son for his service.

A statement made by Adm. Kibben also struck Truhe, “We don’t need another program – we need a culture of taking care of each other.”  She stated that the work of Bonds of Courage volunteers  proves this statement every day.  The website for the organization <www.bondsofcourage.org&gt; addresses this commitment to neighbors who are serving or have completed their service since our country was attacked just 30 miles from here, and 2 other locations, on September 11, 2001 with the following words of inspiration. “Bonds of Courage is creating unbreakable bonds to tie together those who serve with their neighbors, families and friends. Our post-9/11 military service personnel, veterans and their families are doing their part — and more — to serve and defend the USA day in and day out. Now it’s our turn, as Americans who reap the benefits of freedom, security and prosperity from their service. We owe them so much in return for the risks they have taken and the sacrifices they have made.”