Civic Scholar
With presidential elections just around the corner, it is more important than ever to consider various potential candidates’ policies regarding different aspects of politics, and more specifically, it is crucial that a future president take precautions to provide care for veterans and their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. It is the duty of the nation to ensure that veterans are shown gratitude and support by their communities.
Liberty University President Dondi Costin is a veteran, and he served in the United States Air Force as a major general. He also served as Air Force chief of chaplains, and retired after 36 years of service. He spoke about how presidential elections affect veterans and how the United States should offer thanks to those who have served in the military.
“A veteran probably thinks in two broad categories when it comes to how an election might affect them as a veteran,” Costin said. “The first of that is national defense — the one thing that a veteran wants more than anything else is to know that his or her work was not in vain. … The second thing is what is the nation doing or going to do to care for our veterans in terms of mental health and physical health and mental care, because veterans go and do things that most people don’t want to do, are unable to do, or unwilling to do, so we as a nation owe them at least gratitude.”
Costin also spoke about one of the most common challenges that veterans face when returning from service.
“One of the biggest challenges for a veteran to face is isolation,” Costin said. “Most veterans come back from their time in uniform completely unscathed; they come back, and they have a good time, a meaningful time — they served their country — but there are a number of veterans who come back with challenges related to moral injury or physical injury or all kinds of things like post-traumatic stress, and we as a nation — and not just the government, but we as a nation — owe veterans as much help as we can give them.”
Choosing an organization to volunteer with is a simple way to support those who gave their lives to serve.
Many options exist to volunteer for veteran resources: The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes for Our Troops, the USO, and Feed Our Vets are all well-known organizations that people frequently donate money to, but few realize that volunteering their time can be just as valuable as financial offerings. Participants can host 5Ks, fundraisers, and other events designed to raise money and support for veterans and active service members.
Operation Write Home is a program designed to offer soldiers in active duty the supplies that they need to write letters home to their loved ones. Sites like amillionthanks.org allow citizens to write and send notes to service members and veterans in a time when many often feel alone.
The National Center for Healthy Veterans offers veterans a way to connect and fellowship with others who share their backgrounds and is a great place for students to get involved with local veterans in their community.
The Central and Southwest Virginia Honor Flight is another program that offers veterans the opportunity to connect with other service members. It also offers citizens the opportunity to show their gratitude by escorting veterans on trips to memorials of wars they served in.
On-campus veteran support options exist as well, such as a veteran group that meets at Thomas Road Baptist Church on Fridays, the Liberty University Veterans Center, the Office of Military Affairs, or the Chaplaincy Center on campus.
“I would encourage a local person to get ahold of Liberty University’s Military Affairs Office. They do great work, they have their finger on the pulse of things that are on veterans’ minds, they know what the benefits are, and if they don’t, they know how to contact and connect people with those who do,” Costin said. “This is a great place to be involved with ministry to veterans.”
Jarnigan is the asst. news editor for the Liberty Champion
