Jessica Waters
News-Leader

They are lawyers and teachers, mothers, neighbors and ditch diggers. Some are strong, and some carry wounds of body and soul. Some have barely entered adulthood, some are members of what has been termed the Greatest Generation, and many fall somewhere in between. But all U.S. veterans have two things in common – they all stepped forward to serve in the name of their country, and each one carries, to some extent, the lingering effects of that service.

On April 3-7, the Gratitude America Amelia Island Military Support Retreat will offer many of those veterans the chance to rest, reconnect and heal.
Aimed primarily at post-9/11 veterans, the retreat will provide support, information and access to local services and individuals – from licensed clinicians who provide assistance and counseling, to yoga and alternative therapies.
“Gratitude America’s primary goal is to assist in the transition to civilian life, and that’s very hard for a lot of (veterans),” said Executive Director John November. “They suffer from isolation, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury – a lot of times they feel lost. They know there is goodwill out there and people that care and want to help, but they don’t know how to tap into it, and the retreat acts as a catalyst – a starting point, a springboard – to get connected to resources.”
The first step, and sometimes the most difficult step in accessing those resources is reaching out to find them, said Army Reserves Capt. Michael Anthony.
“A lot of veterans don’t feel deserving of opportunities like this; they always feel like there is someone who is more deserving, another veteran who has bigger troubles or larger struggles,” said Anthony, who joined the Reserves 14 years ago.
After attending a Gratitude America Retreat last year at Marineland, Anthony said he was so impressed and grateful for the experience that he has been volunteering with the organization ever since.
“I was a bit hesitant at first, but once I got there, I realized that when you’re in the reserves or you leave active duty, you kind of leave behind that camaraderie that you get with other veterans,” Anthony said. “But coming to a Gratitude America retreat, you link up with other veterans and other service members, and you regain that camaraderie and you’re able to share some of your experiences with like-minded people that don’t judge and are open and able to understand what you might be going through.”
Anthony was encouraged to attend the retreat by his wife, who joined him at the St. Augustine event.
“I think the support people – the spouses or family members who attend the retreat with the veterans – get the same type of experience and benefit because we (veterans) don’t always communicate well with the people we love, so the retreats allow the support people to understated more about what other support people are going through as well as allowing the veterans to understand what the other veterans are going through, and then together learn how to communicate in a better way,” he added.
That ability to share with loved ones is vital, according to Anthony.
“I think that’s the most important thing I learned, how to communicate more effectively with my wife, and that’s been a godsend,” he said.
Support from a soldier’s home community is also a key aspect of a veteran’s reintegration and in the ongoing success of Gratitude America’s mission and retreats, November said.
“Community support is absolutely huge, from WestRock providing seed funding, to Kayak Amelia donating the use of kayaks, to the Stay’N Country Ranch providing us with the equine experience,” he said. “The Amelia retreat is a tangible opportunity for the community to support service members that are returning from deployments now – to reach out as a community and let them know they are welcome and that we are proud of them. They feel isolated and this is our response – to ensure that those that do care can make a difference and do something that will at least start some healing for some of these guys in need.”
Although today’s returning soldiers may not face the open hostility experienced by Vietnam veterans, integration is still a challenge, Anthony said.
“I don’t think I’ve met one person who has been ill toward me; Americans are very supportive generally, and even if they don’t like the cause or the government or the government’s position, they are very supportive of the veterans,” he said.
“It’s still a challenge – not because of society, but just because it’s different. You don’t always know how to react to certain situations because of the things you carry in your heart,” Anthony added, saying the support shown to veterans in Nassau County through Veterans Day and Memorial Day activities make Amelia Island a very appropriate location for the newest Gratitude America retreat.
“We are a very veteran-orient-ed community, so this is going to be a great opportunity to have this retreat right here on Amelia Island,” he said.
Rest and relaxation are a large part of the retreat, but behind each activity – or lack of activity – is the goal of veterans reconnecting; with themselves, with their spouses and families, with fellow veterans and their community, and with services and healing opportunities, November said.
“More than anything, its about finding out that they’re not alone, that there are people out there going through the exact same thing,” he said, speaking of both veterans and their loved ones. “They are all unique, but they share a lot of commonalities with other people. The things they share are not a product of who they are, they’re a product of what they’ve been through.”
To donate or apply go to http://www.gratitudeamerica.org