Learning, Understanding, and New Friends Through the AW2 Symposium Experience

Filed under 2011 Symposium, Symposium by on July 25, 2011 at 4:37 pm {one comment}

By Victoria Nail, AW2 Teenager

Operation Purple® camp teenagers participated in their own AW2 Symposium focus group on Army issues affecting them.

Hello everyone, my name is Victoria Nail, and I was blessed to be a part of Operation Purple® camp during the 2011 AW2 Symposium. During the week, we participated in a variety of activities to not only enjoy, but to help us build trust, respect, and communications skills throughout our Families and each other.

We went tubing, rock climbing, zip lining, and were able to go to Universal Orlando® Resort. This experience has been fantastic. Making friends that I can relate to, I learned to communicate with not only my parents and Family, but with people who don’t quite understand what being an Army Brat means.

I am able to understand more about my father, who has post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and also was injured in Iraq. I feel like communicating with my father is going to be a lot easier now that I understand why he can and can’t do certain things.

I am also able to understand more about my mother, who I am so much like, that I sometimes don’t get along with her. Along with my siblings, who without, I wouldn’t be able to make it through the day.

I will never forget the amazing staff, volunteers, the yummy breakfast and lunches, or the bug bites from Camp Wewa.

Talking with other teens that have been in the same position, or gone through the same things I have, has been wonderful. Keeping in touch with my new friends is going to be fun. I hope that they feel like they can come to me with any Family related issues. I now have a support system of friends that I have never had before.

Tough Love and the Battle Back Home

Filed under 2011 Symposium, Behavioral Health, Soldier and Family Story, Symposium by on July 25, 2011 at 4:04 pm {no comments}

By Alan Morales, WTC Stratcom

AW2 Symposium delegate and spouse Crystal Ransom and her husband retired SPC Matthew Ransom with their two children.

It wasn’t until about 30 minutes into my conversation with AW2 Symposium delegate Crystal Ransom that something colorful caught my eye. I turned and noticed neon pink embroidery pop-up off her Army green camouflage purse. I gestured to the purse and asked her, “Does that say what, I think it does?” She grinned, plopped the purse in front of me, and proudly replied, “Yes. U.S. Army Retired Wife.”

Crystal reminded me of that kind of Southern woman who would scold you for not finishing dinner, serve you another helping, and walk out of the room with a smile. She’s a friendly soul, and follows a set of beliefs that are shaped by her life experiences. I realized that of all her challenges, living with her husband’s injuries has tested her the most as a woman, a mother, and an Army wife.

Retired SPC Matthew Ransom, Crystal’s husband, wasn’t injured by an explosion or a training exercise. Like so many of his fellow Soldiers, his injury was silent. It slowly penetrated his mind and body to manifest itself into a behavioral injury that took over his life and his Family’s. Nevertheless, Crystal was not a bystander in her marriage. She could tell the difference in her husband’s personality between his first and second deployment and was not going to let any injury continue harm him—or their Family.

“You have two choices. You either admit you have PTSD, admit you are an alcoholic, and seek help. Or I’ll leave you,” Crystal told Matthew a few years ago.

Her words struck me by surprise at first. In fact, I took a pause after she said it. But when she saw the expression on my face she explained, “Oh don’t you worry, I wasn’t going to divorce him. This is just the way we work. It got him to get the help he needed. And I can prove it. He’s two and a half years sober.”

In addition to Matthew’s post-traumatic stress disorder, he sustained degenerative disc disease (DDD) in his spine as a result of wearing heavy combat medic gear. Because the illness deteriorates the cartilage in his spine, Matthew decreased in height from six foot five to six foot two in a matter of years. To this day, he sleeps upright on his couch at home because laying on his back is too painful.

Nevertheless, Crystal faced her husband’s DDD just like she faced the other obstacles in her life. Head on.

Today, Crystal works hard to make sure that her children grow-up understanding how to accommodate their father’s injuries. From teaching them the consequences of waking “daddy” off the couch too early, to letting them know when he’s trying to get through an episode, Crystal prepares them now to avoid challenges later.

She lives and breathes her role as an Army wife. She married an active duty Soldier, and takes pride in the ability to help other Army wives adapt their marriage to military culture. “I’ve always been an Army wife. I don’t know what it’s like to be a civilian wife,” said Crystal.

Just yesterday, I witnessed her calm another spouse who was taking an emotional break from the AW2 Symposium focus groups. “You’ve got to be bigger than this. It’s about the greater goal. You’ve got to do this for all the other women out there,” Crystal said to the delegate. She proved to me once again how she motivates others to lead them to their own successes.

Crystal is a mover and a shaker. She understands the nuances of what drives people, and more importantly, what drives her Family. In that hallway yesterday, I saw determination in her eyes and saw her inspire another individual to affect change. And she did it all while letting the world know with four neon pink embroidered words who she is—a U.S. Army Retired Wife.

S-O-L-D-I-E-R-S. Soldiers We Are.

Filed under 2011 Symposium, Symposium by on July 22, 2011 at 5:34 pm {one comment}

By Alan Morales, WTC Stratcom

AW2 kids participated in Operation Purple® during the 2011 AW2 Symposium.

Last night, 37 AW2 children marched across the main stage of the 2011 Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) Symposium. Some smiled at their parents in the audience, while most stomped their feet, looked straight forward, and yelled chants just like their parents did, or still do, as Soldiers in the Army.

These children participated in Operation Purple® at the YMCA of Central Florida’s Camp Wewa. Sponsored by the National Military Family Association, the camp coordinated outdoor and indoor activities for the children throughout the week. More importantly—Operation Purple® changed lives.

I watched photos light up as they slid across a projection screen. These photos were of AW2 kids not just having fun, but learning how to work together. A photo of a young girl, balancing herself on an elevated tightrope, stood out in my mind. In front and behind of her, were two other children—children she just met five days ago—spotting her to make sure she didn’t fall.

That photo demonstrated the type of AW2 kids at Symposium this week. And the thousands of other kids across the country who support each other, and their wounded warrior parents.

At the end of the ceremony, I walked to a poster presentation where I read notes written by the AW2 Symposium children about their parents.

  • “If he didn’t go to the Army, I wouldn’t be here.”
  • “My mom and myself don’t spend enough time together as I would like, but this week has helped.”
  • “He is better than anybody in the whole world.”
  • “He pushes me in school and has to be the best blessing in my life.”

These words, written in fluorescent permanent marker, illustrated that military kids understand their parents’ challenges. They have the amazing ability to live dual lives. One where they are normal kids having fun growing up, and another where they take on roles above their pay grade to support their parents’ unique challenges.

Later that evening, I walked through the hotel atrium and saw many of the children from the ceremony huddled together, sitting on the lobby couches. They continued to share their stories, laugh, and smile. It was clear to me that these relationships were far from superficial, they were real.

I walked onto the elevator to head back to my room, and reflected on the last words of the photo slideshow that read on the projection screen that afternoon. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

Note: At the 2011 AW2 Symposium, delegate children identified the top issues that face them as the children of wounded warriors. These issues will be presented to Army and Veterans Affairs leadership along with the issues and recommendations presented by their parents.

Seventh AW2 Symposium Brought More People Together to Globally Impact Lives

Filed under 2011 Symposium, Symposium by on July 22, 2011 at 5:30 pm {no comments}

By Tania Meireles, WTC Stratcom

This year the AW2 Symposium had more female Soldiers and Family members than ever before.

“The AW2 Symposium is a venue for wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers, Veterans, and their Family members to have a voice,” said LTC Debra Cisney, AW2 Symposium Operations Officer. “The AW2 Symposium is a formal process that allows them to identify and resolve wounded warrior care and transition issues.”

Cisney has been involved in six of the seven AW2 Symposiums. So I asked, “What is different this year, than in previous years?”

This year the AW2 Symposium expanded to also include non-AW2 Soldiers and Families who receive care at Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) across the country. WTU Soldiers are participating in two new focus groups discussing WTU and WTU medical issues.

“It isn’t just the AW2 voice, but the global Army wounded, ill, and injured voice,” Cisney said.

There is also a different dynamic this year with more female Soldiers and Family members than ever before.

“It will be interesting to see if having more females involved in the Symposium will result in different types of issues,” she said.

The Warrior Transition Command staff subject matter experts, many of them having previously served at WTUs, provided additional support to Symposium delegates during focus group discussions. This ensured a positive, holistic experience for the delegates.

More children participated in this year’s Operation Purple® camp activities as well. Teens will have their own focus group discussion and present their issues to the Army and Veterans Affairs leadership. “I hope the teens will be candid about their challenges and give leadership insight,” she said.

“One thing is the same every year at the Symposium,” said Cisney. “The impact of the AW2 Symposium is life-altering.”

Look for updates on the 2011 AW2 Symposium issues by checking-out the AW2 blog, AW2 Facebook page, and WTC Twitter page.

Camp Wewa Welcomes AW2 Director and the 2011 Symposium’s Operation Purple®

Filed under 2011 Symposium, COL Gadson, Symposium by on July 22, 2011 at 1:44 pm {no comments}

By Jim Wenzel, WTC Stratcom

AW2 Director COL Gregory D. Gadson shows photos from the explosion that injured him during deployment in Iraq to children attending Operation Purple® camp.

Although Camp Wewa can accommodate about 2,000 campers a year, the Central Florida YMCA facility whose name means “many waters” had a very special group of visitors this week as 37 teens and pre-teens from the Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) Symposium took part in Operation Purple®.

Operation Purple® was developed by the National Military Family Association in 2004 to help service members stay connected to their children. Over the years, it expanded to multiple locations across the United States and the program will have served close to 45,000 children by the end of the year.

At Camp Wewa, Operation Purple® provided a ton of outdoor activities that include “Goliath”, a giant rock wall and zip line, a high ropes course, evening campfire, and tubing on one of its four surrounding lakes. In fact, the kids enjoyed a visit from AW2 Director COL Gregory D. Gadson just after they came off the lake.

First to meet Gadson were Morgan, Brianna, and Justin. Initially shy when they first walked up, they quickly built a rapport with Gadson when they asked him to share his personal story about the improvised explosive device (IED) that severely wounded him and blew him out of his vehicle.

The pictures of the burned out Humvee on his iPhone made an instant connection between him and the sons and daughters of Soldiers who faced similar threats in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as those who were injured stateside.

This openness allowed Gadson an opportunity for some real conversation—which anyone with a teenager knows is hard to come by. “What is the biggest thing you’ve learned as the child of a wounded warrior?” asked Gadson.

Morgan was the first to answer. “You have to grow up faster and take more responsibility.”

Her simple remark reflected the collective experience of most children of severely wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers. As “Army brats”, most Soldiers’ children deal with the reality of multiple moves, frequent deployments, and living within the means of a military paycheck. The children of severely wounded Soldiers and Veterans share the additional burdens and responsibilities of being assistant caregivers to parents with significant medical and non-medical needs.

As a double amputee, Gadson’s response to Morgan came with a wealth of personal experience. “It’s a good thing. Something that happens in your life doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” he said. “Look at me. I wouldn’t change anything about my life and you will have an appreciation that most other kids won’t have. You can help a lot of people by sharing your perspective.”

Speaking to one of the camp counselors as the kids were loading back onto the bus, Gadson touched on the important role Operation Purple® plays at the AW2 Symposium every year. He told the kids that the camp was an opportunity for a “collective experience”—a chance to talk about their similar circumstances and the uniqueness of living with a wounded warrior.  As a group, almost all of the kids thought the best part of Operation Purple® camp was Camp Wewa, especially tubing on the lake.

The camp counselors were just as impressed with the campers. Their ability to get along and their desire to get involved and try new things simply blew them away.

All of the participants at Symposium, both delegates and staff, realize the importance of Operation Purple® and having the kids with them in Orlando, FL. They’ve had a lot of fun at camp, but they’ve also demonstrated an ethos shared by those who support the men and women who were wounded and injured in the defense of our nation.

Turning to a member of his staff, Gadson summed up the character of the teens attending AW2 Symposium’s Operation Purple® camp by saying, “They don’t even know how resilient they are.”

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