“Grown men don’t cry, but it was hard to keep a dry eye as we walked through these profoundly evocative memorials, knowing the gut-wrenching agony of the families of all these thousands of men and women who, had they survived, might have been on the bus with us this very day.”
Using a vast array of artifacts, period newspapers and personal items from the time, combined with a series of lectures by military veterans and authorities, The WNC Military History Museum in Brevard hopes to educate a new generation on veterans’ contributions in an upcoming exhibit, “Operation Armed Forces,” which will open Saturday, Oct. 22, and run through Friday, Nov. 11, at the historic Aethelwold Hotel in downtown Brevard.
“Pain eats you up day in and day out and becomes overwhelming, and when you don’t know how to stand outside of it a little bit, it just controls you,” says Adam Bradshaw. What are the options for treatment?
“For veterans, the community they live in is literally a key to their very survival: It takes a village to help those who’ve borne the battle.”
“Sixty percent of returning veterans have hearing damage of some kind.”
FRS is encouraging restaurateurs and other community members to visit the store, select and new friend from the veterans tree and return one or more wrapped gifts by Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Most folks don’t give it a thought when they head to the store for a gallon of milk, go outside to take a walk or pick up the phone to call a friend. But for someone diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, even these seemingly innocuous behaviors may seem daunting. “After a traumatic event, many people […]
“if the city of Asheville really wants to fulfill the mayor’s promise to Michelle Obama to end veteran’s homelessness, it is going to have to figure out a way to fund and build a veterans apartment building or create some affordable housing for veterans another way.”
The tailgate on Tom Riddle’s 19-year-old truck catches the attention of passers-by as he cruises the streets of Western North Carolina. The tailgate, custom-painted by Andrea Martin in February, features a replication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., altered to show the names of those veterans from the WNC region, as well as throughout the state, who died in the war.
“Through a partnership with Homeward Bound, the city of Asheville provides support to implement the federal Supportive Services for Veteran Families grant. Homeward Bound was awarded $2.7 million in federal funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs to implement its Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) over the next three years.”
“Some time ago, an announcement was made public that Asheville’s mayor had accepted [first lady] Michelle Obama’s challenge to end veterans’ homelessness. Since then, I have not seen or heard anything about the actual plans to do this.”
About 50 supporters gathered at McCormick field this morning to honor veterans and contribute to Operation Homefront of the Carolinas, a nonprofit which provides financial relief, recovery assistance and recognition to veterans and their families in the Carolinas. The color guard of Freedom High School in Morganton presented the colors, followed by a speech from […]
Balsam Range “thoughtfully and respectfully adopted the name of a majestic range of mountains” near the band’s hometown in Haywood County, but the bluegrass ensemble’s reverence for Western North Carolina doesn’t end there. The five-piece will hold a benefit concert for the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry’s Veterans Restoration Services, an organization providing housing, food […]
Ted Minnick has been a military man all his life. You can see it in his disciplined posture, his purposeful gait, his even gaze. What you cannot see, however, are the wounds he suffered as a result of his service — not from gunfire or shrapnel, but from exposure to a deadly, now-infamous herbicide known as […]
Veterans from around the world are in Asheville this week for the Veterans for Peace National Convention. The organization aims to build a culture of peace by helping the injured heal and helping educate the public about the true costs of war. The national convention started July 22 and runs through tomorrow, July 27, encompassing […]
Veterans Helping Veterans of Western North Carolina is a new organization created to help local veterans successfully reintegrate into civilian life. Matt Shepley said he founded the group because he recognized the need to prevent veterans’ homelessness and address issues with post-traumatic stress disorder, rather than waiting for veterans who require care to become homeless.
Last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released an in-depth report examining the hunger and homelessness situations in 25 cities across the country, including Asheville. The report found that the city has serious issues with low wages, unaffordable housing, poverty, and the number of domestic violence survivors who end up homeless. Increases in homelessness are modest, but more families are homeless. The report also highlighted some local organizations doing “exemplary” work on the issues but predicted that coming social service cuts could make the situations on both fronts more dire.
Day after day, Earl Grey sits in his wheelchair on Biltmore Avenue, his Veterans Affairs ID card taped to the top of a red Folgers coffee container. He’s been homeless for four years. But in July, some concerned locals decided to help Grey track down the missing paperwork so he could start receiving disability checks again and get off the streets. (Photo by Max Cooper)
Despite having no military base nearby, nearly 20,000 veterans call Buncombe County home — giving it the sixth-largest veteran population in the state. As local visits for PTSD, depression, substance abuse, homelessness and unemployment continues to climb at Charles George VA, three local veterans share their struggles and stories about mental health. (Cover design by Sarah Riddle)
“Women veterans the fastest-growing population of homeless in America,” says retired Staff Sergeant Alyce Knaflich. Yet there are not enough beds available for them in local shelters.
I would like to bring a topic to the public attention. There is currently a bill on the table in Congress called HR 2985, otherwise known as the The Veteran's ID Card Act. Currently the only people authorized to have a veteran's ID card are those who retired after 20 years of military service, and […]
