The Soldiers Project: Honoring Our Veterans From Iraq

Today, on Veteran’s Day in the United States, we honor Judith Broder for helping veterans and their family members leave the scars of war behind and come home again.

Judith Broder, a psychiatrist, was drawn to create The Soldiers Project while watching a raw and powerful play written by a former Marine – "The Sand Storm: Stories from the Front" – which portrays the anguish U.S. soldiers face fighting in Iraq. She felt devastated, realizing that they had "done what they had to do but couldn’t live with themselves afterwards."

The Soldiers Project recruits volunteer therapists to provide unlimited, free, confidential therapy to combat veterans – and their families. The sessions aim to alleviate the behavioral problems that can result from combat trauma and address personal, moral, and spiritual crises that may follow grim wartime experiences or personal actions. Broder says the five-year-old program has a network of more than 200 volunteers, has treated more than 300 patients in the Los Angeles area, and is being replicated in other cities.

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And for her extraordinary contribution in her encore career, Broder was awarded the 2009 Purpose Prize at a gala event in Palo Alto, CA.

How she’s helping:
A 35-year-old veteran came to The Soldiers Project after a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. He couldn’t drive on his own because overpasses frightened him. He suffered from flashbacks, bursts of terror, and nightmares, his volunteer therapist recalls.

The veteran’s marriage to a high school sweetheart was unraveling. Therapy ranged from dealing with memories of violence at the hands of his father to recollections of brutal firefights in Iraq and the killing of an Iraqi family, his therapist says. His central struggle was between the image of himself as "hulk" and killer and his softer self.

After many months, the volunteer says, the veteran’s post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms eased: "He brought his wife to sessions, and I saw his deep capacity to nurture, to show me and himself that he was not the monster he sometimes became."

Although Broder, 69, knew very little about the military health system before she started The Soldiers Project, she knew enough about how people react to trauma to be convinced that with more than a million soldiers returning to their old lives – sometimes after multiple deployments – there would be a need for help.

Broder says that The Soldiers Project helps soldiers come home in the fullest sense, not just physically but mentally.

"The people we provide care for are our family," she says. "They give to our country in ways that are unimaginable, and the wounds they carry are hidden and forgotten by most of the population. My passion is to be an advocate for them, to teach them, and provide the care they need."

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The Purpose Prize is awarded each year to ten social innovators over the age of 60 who are compelled to put their passion to work in an encore career. Read about the winners of the 2009 Purpose Prize, or nominate yourself or someone you know for the 2010 Purpose Prize. Nominations are open until March 5, 2010.

Read more: human rights, iraq, peace, veterans

photo: Judith Broder

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Ernest R.

8:28AM PDT on Aug 9, 2011

Many ex soldiers have difficulties living with memories of crimes [yes, crimes] they comitted while in service even if they don't reconnize the campaign [ like Vietnam, Iraq, etc.] as a crime. The problem is draft or uninformed enlistment.

send a green star

Akin A.

2:21AM PDT on Jul 17, 2011

Thank you for posting

Rumana A.

8:19AM PST on Dec 9, 2010

Help veterans and all those who have served our country so well find jobs today! Please spread the word. Take 2 minutes and click on our page and use the "Suggest to Friends" button on the left to invite all your friends to help veterans find jobs! www.facebook.com/chooseveterans and www.chooseveterans.com

8:16AM PST on Dec 9, 2010

Brian M.

2:21PM PST on Nov 22, 2010

Thanks

Robert O.

1:04PM PST on Nov 10, 2010

Great story!

Dana W.

12:13PM PST on Nov 9, 2010

What an inspiring idea and story that touched my heart. Thank you.

Catherine O.

2:44PM PST on Nov 17, 2009

As a Mom of a Vet who served his country for 8 yrs. They need & deserve our utmost respect.God Bless all of Them & their families

Annie F.

6:26PM PST on Nov 15, 2009

kudos to dr broder for doing this.

Annie B.

2:45AM PST on Nov 14, 2009

A new resource available is the National Alliance on Mental Illness' (NAMI) "Connections" Support Group. If you have a NAMI in your town check and see if they have this group available. It is absolutely free for a person with any diagnosis and the facilitators have recently had new training to be more helpful to Vets. We welcome them. We know the VA cannot handle everything at all hours. Google NAMI and see if we're in your area.