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This Veteran's Day 11.11.11

Published November 7th, 2011

This year, Veterans Day falls on a very significant date, 11.11.11.  So significant, in fact, that the national Veterans Day poster below displays the triple 11’s front and center.  Many will exclaim it to be a day of enlightenment and a special day of healing as well as a day of remembrance.  

I will echo that exclamation, which is why I chose to introduce the nation to the Operation Resurrection Movement today. The Op Res movement to enlist the civilian health care, education, and employment systems to join the Military and the Veterans Administration with the reintegration of our returning heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan.  This is especially true for our military personnel who suffer from the signature wound of these wars, Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI.  There are an estimated 400,000 such heroes who require time and skilled medical services to heal.  

I do this in remembrance of a very special hero, Staff Sergeant Brian F. Piercy, of the 82nd Airborne Division, who was killed in action July 19, 2010, becoming the 1,111th casualty of the Afghanistan conflict.  His leadership, his heroism, his humor, and his legacy have touched my life, and the lives of so many, including his comrades from Ft. Bragg who will never forget him.  It is Brian and another of my heroes, Sgt. Zachary Wade McBride, KIA 01/09/2008, who inspire me on this journey to integrate civilian resources of time, money, and services with those available through the military and Veterans Administration.  It is time for us civilians to become involved again, as we were in WWII, to thank those who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms by providing proper medical care, education and employment opportunities.    Please visit our websites:  whatistbi.org and OperationResurrection.com to learn more about the Movement and upcoming documentary and to understand what you may do to assist this cause.  There is no greater way with which to honor our fallen heroes, than to care for their comrades who return.    

Chrisanne Gordon, MD