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Volume IV, No. 1/November 2001
Veterans and the 21st Century: From Isolation to Cultural Icon
by Erwin Randolph Parson, Ph.D.
The 1990's to the present time mark a period I call qualification, a time having to do with the 21st century veterans’ positive self identity and non-apologetic sense of competence in the world. Twelve years ago in an article I wrote for the Joiner Center Newsletter, "The Future Looks Good: Veterans Find Hope in the Past," I highlighted veterans’ positive achievements in society based on their military-acquired skills in personal qualities and strengths. And it spoke of their success in overcoming impediments to growth and a positive future perspective about possibilities.
The proficient veteran’s growth is seen in a change of language and attitude toward self, toward other people, and toward the world. Being fully aware that words used can program the mind to either succeed or fail, many veterans have been changing if for when, and "I hope" for "I know." They have been exchanging if for when, because they know that words are powerful, that words program the mind to either succeed or fail.
My motivational training developed for traumatized persons and war veterans is geared to help them eliminate negative thinking, take positive charge of their lives, and move forward and win. Among the things I help them learn is to identify and then to eliminate self-limiting, depressogenic words and concepts from everyday parlance. I instruct in how to transform traumatic dreams of the war into big dreams that help them achieve their goals. "This training," one veteran said, "has helped me substitute ‘bad’ dreams from Vietnam to good dreams about life and living successfully."
Change is never easy, but veterans are change and mission oriented. With these as tools, they dispel pessimism and negative thinking, while maintaining an attitude of joy and gratitude for what they have accomplished as well as for the opportunity to be alive entering a new century.
During recent meetings of two motivational therapy groups I conduct in Elkton and Baltimore, Maryland, I was struck by a positive – almost mystical – group feeling; I call it the attitude of gratitude. These veterans are shaping their own image. They feel blessed, very privileged, with gratitude to have served during those turbulent and momentous years called the Vietnam Era. Many miss their friends who died, but they know that the positive outlook and cultural achievements they have made since the war serve as a living memorial for their friends.
With hope, one can make a better world, a life of maximum personal success. While hopelessness and regret are of the past, hope is about future possibilities. Veterans are about our future.
Erwin Parson was the recipient of the 2000 Jesse Brown Leadership Award. He is a psychologist and an expert on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
