We’re all aware of someone putting a message in a bottle, hoping it would miraculously reach the person it was intended for. Today I received a message in an email, written by someone 18 years ago!
I was searching for an email I knew I had, but with several accounts, I wasn’t sure where I stuck it. I have no idea how it ended up in the saved email of an account I haven’t used in many years. All I know is, I need to read this this morning.
Sent: Thu, Jul 22, 2004 10:00 am
Subject: For the Love of jackDear Ms. Costas-
My name is Joni XXXXX and write the reviews for the PX bookshelf, one of the places your book is posted on the web, I guess you are familiar with it? In any case, I am always looking for a book that catches my eye- I have certainly read many books about the logistics of the Vietnam War, but really, the ones that most interest me, are the human aspects of that time.I am a strong supporter of the Vietnam veteran and am always looking for books that help me understand what happened, so that I might somehow better understand what happened as the result of that war, do you know what I mean? It seems like there was a slow domino effect one huge event in the lives of brave men and women- the war, and as a result, the rest of their lives have been changed- some for the good and right, some not so good and wrong. And not just to those who served, but really, it changed our whole country.
Blah, blah, blah, what I was meaning to ask, was whether you have any books still available? If so, if you could let me know how I could go about purchasing one, I would very much appreciate that- so that I can read it and then post a review for all the world to see- or at least as many in the world as pass through our website. I am not sure if my reviews help any authors, I really do hope they do, it is my intent to write good, strong reviews, that are truthful and respectful of the history that is in them. It
is sort of a debt of honor I think, as the main reason I write them, to pay back those who need some paying in my opinion.
I will look forward to any information you may have,
Joni
email from 2004
This is what every author wants to read. It means the work mattered, and was delivered in a time when it was needed when it was originally published back in 2002. It was finished before September 11, 2001 but I couldn’t find a publisher. I ended up self publishing it because no publisher was interested in a book devoted to living with #PTSD at that time.
I knew it made a difference because of at least a hundred emails thanking me for writing it. For The Love Of Jack His War My Battle was republished in 2012. By then, apparently, people like me were being shoved out of the way of all the interest in #PTSD with Afghanistan and Iraq veterans taking over social media. We didn’t have social media back in 2004. Just using Facebook as an example, in 2005 only about 5% used it.
The increase in interest in veterans and PTSD took off in 2012 when the Department of Veterans Affairs released a report on veterans committing suicide, using limited data from just 21 states. The report stated that clearly along with the fact that 68% of the known suicides involved veterans over the age of 50. In other words, since Vietnam veterans were the majority of that age group, along with being the majority of veterans in the country, they clearly needed the most attention.
Main Finding: More than 69% of Veteran suicides are among those age 50 years and older.
VA 2012 suicide report
Apparently, all the new groups ignored all that information. What followed was an endless supply of groups gaining money off “raising suicide awareness” without even taking enough interest in reading the damn report in the first place. None of the new groups wanted anything to do with older veterans and I lost hope in any of them doing anything positive to change the outcome. Letting suicidal veterans only know about others that gave up, didn’t help them want to live!
When I wrote For The Love Of Jack, I wrote it as a warning to younger people about what they were heading for so they wouldn’t have to suffer and learn the hard way as my generation was forced to do. I wanted to offer knowledge so they didn’t make the same mistakes I did.
What I got in return was an avalanche of support and people thanking me for doing it until the new groups popped up, spread out and took over the internet.
Now, no one can find my work, or books, or videos or websites but the thing is, for 40 years, I never regretted a day of effort I put into any of this. I started in 1982 when hardly no one had a computer in their home and I had to research PTSD at the library with stacks of clinical books and a dictionary whenever I had any spare time because it mattered enough to learn all I could.
Now maybe you know why I find it so offensive these new groups pull in millions when they didn’t even bother to read the report they could find in the comfort of their own homes while still wearing their PJs!
Hope is a great thing to find when you have none left. I just found mine!
