“Do not fear success!” That is the mantra going through my head these days… We haven’t even begun principal photography for our film. Yet we’re already showing signs of having unleashed what could become a tidal wave. A tidal wave of grief and need. It points to how many vets are suffering and how vastly unaddressed their need is. Not to mention all their families, friends and co-workers. We want to do everything we can to fill this need but we must up our game in ways I hadn’t envisioned. And we have to do it fast!
By courageously allowing us to make public some clips from his interview, Marine Captain Kalani Creutzburg is receiving impassioned requests from Marines and other vets for support and connection. So much so that he’s setting up an 800 number “crisis line” to begin to handle them. We need to get him support because there’s no way he’ll be able to sustain his daily job, provide for his family and kids, continue his work supporting Vets through his Cammies and Canines company, and still get the support he needs to continue with his own healing.
To help him handle the load we’re setting up a web page with support resources we recommend for Vets. Not surprisingly, many of those resources include the ongoing work of our beloved project advisors. Below you’ll find a list of those advisors, along with the institutions where they make their healing work possible.
We’re also setting up a Bibliography page so everyone can access the sobering, informative, and inspiring books and articles that have shaped much of the thinking behind the making of this film.
We have already received numerous heart-rending stories from Vets ourselves and continue to post them on our Facebook page. We want to give vets an outlet to voice their frustrations and fears, and we’re also looking for strong potential subjects for our film – men or women ready and willing to turn their lives around through their willingness to experience healing modalities that will ask them to be vulnerable.
We’ve gotten a tremendous shot in the arm from a generous donor who’s committed to matching our first $10,000 raised. We’re almost at $7,000 now. So after another $3,000 we’ll effectively be at our half-way point: $20,000.
We have clips from two interviews online and will soon have two more. The powerful comments from Kalani and from Army Ranger Captain Matthew Griffin are getting a lot of attention, reaching people right where we want to reach them – in the heart. Soon we’ll be adding clips from two experts: John Bateson, author of The Last and Greatest Battle – a book on military suicides, and Gabriella Lettini, co-author of Soul Repair – a book on vets suffering from moral injury.
“Bearing Witness, Creating Change.” Still our mission, still our task. You can join our fundraising campaign today at healvetslives.com.