Spreading the Word: The Welcome Johnny and Jane Home Project

It was so gratifying to experience the warm response this morning, when Col. Anthony Henderson and Lt. Col. Tony Forbes from the Warrior and Family Support Program in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Scott Monett from Quality of Life Plus, joined me in a presentation at Psychologists for Social Responsibility. The Pentagon program is humane, nonpathologiizing, and community-based, and Quality of Life Plus has specialists at Cal Poly Tech solve problems involving physical pain and physical function for veterans with injuries. All three speakers were terrific. I know that some people in the audience had never heard what it is like to experience war firsthand, and Colonels Henderson and Forbes spoke with great power and openness about what happens in combat, in the immediate aftermath, and after returning home. At least two people in the audience said they plan to implement The Welcome Johnny and Jane Home Project as part of what they are doing.