How can Veterans rebuild their lives?

All veterans' lives matter from Theresa Chaze on Vimeo.


A chance meeting created Horses and Heroes.  I met an elderly gentleman in the Borders café.  He was wearing a hat that identified him as a veteran.  I thanked him for his service and we started chatting about his experiences in WW II.  At the time, I was mentally taking notes for a scripted series I was writing called, Operation Home Base; however, our conversation showed me that I had the means to help in a very meaningful way.

His name was William Greene.  Decades later, he still hadn’t come to terms with his guilt and regret.  He survived, but his many of buddies didn’t.  He killed good men just because of where they happen to be born.  Through him, I connected the dots between Operation Home Base and another project, which lead to the creation of Horses and Heroes.

It is easy to get political and throw verbal rock at individuals and agencies.  But what good does it really do?  Pointing out the problem doesn’t create solutions.  Everyone knows what needs to be done.  But many people are too busy pointing fingers to actually find answers.

Horses and Heroes is my solution.  It is a Realty TV series that focuses on healing rather than glorifying bad behavior.  Working with the horses helps veterans find new ways to cope with their physical and emotional challenges.  Telling their stories in a safe, supportive environment gives them the means to face their ghosts head on.   Horses and Heroes can’t get them back what they lost.  War took that person. Yet it doesn’t have to be the end of their story.  One of my favorite sayings is, “You can’t go back and make a brand new start, but you can start from now and make a brand new end.”  Horses and Heroes will help veterans find the strength and courage within themselves to rebuild their lives and create that brand new end.

Everyone serves in the own way.  Although, I don’t have the temperament for the military, I greatly respect those who stand the wall.  I choose use my talents to help veterans tell their stories in such a way that they will heal themselves and show others that healing is possible.

Equine Therapy does not involve drugs nor lying on a couch and spilling their guts to a therapist. What it does do is help them find new ways to see and react to their emotional triggers. It helps their bodies remember how it used to work. It can't replace what was lost, but it can give them the confidence to see that they are more than the sum of their body parts and life experiences. Horses and Heroes will give veterans and military personnel the information they need to find alternative healing solutions, which can help lower the suicide rate.

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Patriotism for Profit

November 11 is a day to honor those who have served our nation during peace time as well as war. However, it has been corrupted by those who put profits over people by turning it into another marketing tool.

To learn more how you can help veterans find new coping skills for their physical and emotional challenges visit Horses and Heroes' website

Horses and Heroes is not about pointing fingers or creating a political firestorm. It can’t fix the system nor will is a cure all. What it will do is show that there are alternatives, which more effectively help military personnel and veterans to heal their way home. They can't go back and make a brand new start, but they can start from the now and make a brand new end. We want veterans and military personnel to know that we have their back.

Until You Walk the Path: Phil Kiver

Until You Walk the Path, You Don’t Know Where it Goes will host Army Veteran and outspoken Conservative speaker Phil Kiver on December 27 at 5 pm eastern.

The writer, Phil Kiver is a former Army soldier and since his service has been a lot like Forest Gump---if there is anything going on in politics or about the war, he has been there--front and center. He was at the Bush ranch confronting Cindy Sheehan, he shows up at political rallies and dinners, on national television, radio shows and in print because of his uncanny ability to be in the middle of the action. He is outspoken, has experienced the war first hand and isn't afraid to mix his impeccable knowledge of history with his analysis of our current situation. You will see him at ball games, floating down the river in an inner tube, talking to veteran's groups, taking his daughter Hero to the park, books in hand ready for a signing. He throws himself into the limelight because of his convictions and overwhelming desire to make a difference. He is an author (182 Days in Iraq and Iraq in Pictures) and has become a well known, outspoken Conservative personality.

Phil Kiver recently spoke at the Ronald Reagan Library, at several Tea Party Rallies, and was the featured 9-11 speaker at Library of Congress in recent years. He just came back from his last trip to Iraq and has been traveling the country giving speeches. Look for him, he is everywhere. He will get you thinking, make you mad and make you laugh all during the same 10 minute conversation.

Tune at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theresachaze on December 27 at 5 pm eastern to learn more about Phil Kiver‘s experiences in Iraq, his book and his perspective as a Conservative.  Those who wish to ask Phil Kiver questions may call in at (347) 324-3745 or participate in the interactive chat room, which is available on the show’s page

Police Abuse in Presidental Candidates Name: Iraq Vet Deliberately Trampled by Horse

reblogged from I-Witness Video

Last Wednesday, while presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain debated domestic policy issues in front of a live television audience at the Long Island campus of Hofstra University, Nassau county police faced off with a few hundred spirited but peaceful demonstrators. And using excessive force, police -- on horses and in full riot gear -- trampled several people including Iraq vet Nick Morgan. I-Witness Video member Emily Forman captured the ensuing bedlam, police violence, and injuries on tape.

Earlier that night, a group of protesters from Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) had, in accordance with a pre-announced plan, assembled on the streets outside the Hofstra University venue where the debate was being held. IVAW had informed the police in advance that several of their members would be participating in a symbolic, non-violent, civil-disobedience action: attempting to deliver two questions for the candidates. The group has engaged in similar actions before, at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Last week, at the presidential debate, the veterans hoped to ask Barack Obama if he would support soldiers who do not want to be deployed to an illegally occupied Iraq, and to ask McCain why he has voted against funding for the Veterans Administration since the beginning of the war in Iraq.

But the veterans' efforts to stage a peaceful protest last week were countered by violent police actions. After a small group of veterans was calmly taken into custody in a choreographed arrest, the police became very aggressive. The police commander on the scene ordered the horses and lines of riot police to push the crowd from the street onto the sidewalk. Mounted police officers charged into the assembled vets and other protesters, pushing the frightened people backwards and up onto the sidewalk. Riot police then forced some demonstrators to the ground, where police horses rode over them.

Former Army Reserve Sergeant Nick Morgan was caught under the hooves of a horse ridden by Nassau County police officer Quagliano. The horse stepped on Morgan's face, breaking his lower orbital (cheekbone) in three places. Bleeding heavily from his face, Morgan drifted in and out of consciousness until another police officer appeared and dragged him away from the scene. After a delay in which Nassau County police refused to take Morgan to the hospital, he was finally taken to Nassau County Medical Center, handcuffed to a gurney, given Motrin and a prescription for antibiotics, and sent on to jail.

Besides Morgan, several others were injured in the crush of horses and police, including Nadine Lubka, whose nose was broken. Fifteen people in total were arrested; they all received disorderly conduct charges.

Except for a brief Associated Press story and some video and photos uploaded to CNN's iReport website by citizen journalists, there has been almost no corporate media coverage of this story.