Minnesota Post 56 hosts informational session on dealing with PTSD for both veterans and their families.
An American Legion post in Minnesota recently hosted an all-day event to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And with the Legion’s primary mission being preventing veteran suicide through Be the One, the post doesn’t plan on the event being a one-and-done.
On Jan. 22, Albert Lea American Legion Post 56 hosted three sessions of “Living with PTSD and Preventing Suicide.” The post conducted morning, mid-afternoon and evening sessions to reach more than 70 community members and share how to live with PTSD for both those suffering from it and their loved ones.
Post 56 Commander Ole Olson said the event came about after Jean Eaton of local nonprofit Age-Friendly Freeborn County had reached out to him after hearing Wayne Quist and Steve Lansing of Veterans Empowered speak and asked them if they could come to Albert Lea to speak. Veterans Empowered is a nonprofit whose mission is to “inform, counsel, educate, assist, and convey information to U.S. veterans, caretakers and others who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.” The organization does so through assembling, writing, publishing and distributing PTSD materials and information free of charge to veterans throughout the nation.
“I think it was November when we started working on this,” Olson said. “We set it up at the (post). And it worked out pretty good. I thought we had a pretty good turnout. It was the first one, and it was during the week. That’s why we had the times spread out.”
The presentations were set up to accommodate most schedules, running from 10-11:30 a.m., 2-3:30 p.m. and 6-7:30 p.m. During all three sessions, American Legion Auxiliary Unit 56 provided meals for attendees.
Olson, who retired from the U.S. Army, said it was important to provide the information on PTSD because Freeborn County has more than 2,000 veterans among its residents. “We’ve got a lot of young guys who went to Iraq and Afghanistan, and we’ve got a lot of Vietnam veterans,” he said. “A lot of them still have issues to deal with. Our veteran service officer sees that every day. That’s why he wanted to work with us. He saw where this could help out.”
Providing the type of information that was delivered during the sessions falls in line with Be the One – a program that Olson says is critical for the organization. “The Legion needs to be ahead on something like this,” he said. “We really need to take the lead on this.”
Olson saw firsthand the impact of the sessions. “We had one person come up to talk to the service officer after a session. And he said he needed to come back and talk to the VSO some more about some issues,” he said. “He’s a Vietnam veteran. And from our 6-7:30 session, we had a family whose son was involved with the (December ambush of U.S. soldiers in Syria). They came to the session. The mother … is wanting to know what to look for, what to expect. You could see she was taking in all the information. And the husband went to talk to the two experts afterward.
“So, I know we affected at least those people that day. If we only affected one that’s a plus, I think. So, we’re going to try to do this again. I think we would be doing a disservice if we didn’t.”
- Be the One