Wild Rivers Veterans Forum

10/20/2026

Speaker Announcement!
Content note: This post discusses su***de and self-harm.
Join us Friday, October 23rd, 2026
9am - 12pm, PT!
Visit tbieventsportal [dot] org to register!

Joining us from Melbourne, Australia, for Brain Injury, Mental Health, and Emotional Regulation, the first conference-workshop of our 2026-27 Building Capacity: Brain Injury series, is Dr. Jai Carmichael with "Coping with Distress After Brain Injury: Understanding Su***de and Self-Harm." Dr. Carmichael will look at emotional distress after brain injury through a coping lens, including why coping can become harder after an injury and how that links to thoughts of su***de and self-harm. He'll share what people with brain injury and the professionals who support them have told his team. That includes the importance of connection and what professionals need to talk about these issues with confidence. He'll also explain how his team is working with the community to co-design better support. Dr. Carmichael is a Research Fellow at the Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre, Monash University, and a Clinical Neuropsychology Registrar with nine years of experience in brain injury research. His clinical work is in the public mental health system.

This presentation will talk about thoughts of su***de and self-harm. We encourage participants to practice self-care. During the session, feel free to step away or switch off at any time. Participants will also be able to move to a separate space with a facilitator and resources will be available. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Su***de & Crisis Lifeline.

Follow us for more speaker announcements and updates! Share with your networks to keep them in the loop on all upcoming events!

This conference-workshop series is sponsored by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Home and Community Living Administration and the TBI Council of Washington.

Visit tbieventsportal [dot] org to register!

10/20/2026

Speaker Announcement!
Join us Friday, October 23rd, 2026
9am - 12pm, PT!
Visit tbieventsportal [dot] org to register!

The first conference-workshop of our 2026-27 Building Capacity: Brain Injury series, Brain Injury, Mental Health, and Emotional Regulation, is just a week away! We’re honored that Dr. Kyla Pearce, Senior Director of Programs, Research, and Operations at the national nonprofit LoveYourBrain Foundation, will be joining the presenting line-up.

Dr. Pearce is an internationally recognized mindfulness educator and researcher who applies mindfulness, yoga, community-building, and positive psychology to brain injury. She has partnered with over 60 community organizations and 30 neurorehabilitation facilities to bring LoveYourBrain's holistic programs to people with TBI, stroke, and their caregivers around the world. She also completed an NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Dartmouth College. Dr. Pearce's presentation, "LoveYourBrain Foundation: Restoring Emotional Well-being and Resilience after TBI,” will include discussion of how brain injury, emotional regulation, and mental health connect, along with an overview of LoveYourBrain's programs and the research behind them, with a focus on emotional regulation and the role of social connection and shared community experience.

Follow us for more speaker announcements and updates! Share with your networks to keep them in the loop on all upcoming events!

This conference-workshop series is sponsored by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Home and Community Living Administration and the TBI Council of Washington.

Visit tbieventsportal [dot] org to register!

10/19/2026

Thirty American supply trucks were trapped in an amb*sh outside Baghdad. Around 50 ins*rgents were firing machine g*ns, r*fles, and rocket-propelled gren*des. The lead vehicle had been disabled, blocking the road, and the soldiers es**rting the convoy were badly outnumbered.

Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester was just 23 years old.

She was a Kentucky National Guard military police soldier who had previously managed a Shoe Carnival store. Now she was responsible for helping protect a convoy whose survival depended on a handful of soldiers f*ghting their way out.

The att*ck unfolded on March 20, 2005, near Salman Pak, Iraq.

Hester was serving as a team leader with the 617th Military Police Company. Her squad, known as Raven 42, had been assigned to es**rt the supply convoy when ins*rgents opened f*re from prepared positions along the road.

The att*ckers had the advantage of numbers, surprise, and cover.

Instead of remaining behind their vehicles, Hester and Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein helped organize an aggressive counteratt*ck.

Their Humvees moved between the att*ckers and the vulnerable convoy, allowing the soldiers to engage the ins*rgents while shielding the supply trucks.

Then Hester dismounted.

With enemy f*re coming from the roadside, she advanced alongside Nein toward the ins*rgents' positions. They maneuvered along a trench line, using gren*des, r*fles, and other we*pons to clear the att*ckers from their cover.

Hester personally sh*t and k*lled three ins*rgents during the engagement.

For approximately 30 minutes, the small American es**rt f*ught against a force several times its size.

By the time the f*ghting ended, 27 ins*rgents had been k*lled and seven captured. Two American soldiers were w*unded, but the convoy had survived.

Hester's actions were recognized as extraordinary comb*t valor.

On June 16, 2005, she received the Silver Star, one of the United States military's highest decorations for gallantry in action.

She became the first American woman to receive the Silver Star for direct comb*t action against an enemy, and the first woman awarded the decoration since World War II.

Her achievement carried particular significance because women were still formally excluded from many direct ground-comb*t assignments at the time.

Yet Hester had f*ught in an intense ground engagement, helped lead a counteratt*ck, and played a central role in protecting soldiers caught in a d*adly amb*sh.

Her recognition demonstrated the gap between the restrictions placed on women's military roles and the comb*t responsibilities they were already carrying out.

The Silver Star citation recognized her courage under f*re, but the significance of her actions extended beyond the medal.

At a time when women's place in ground comb*t remained fiercely debated, Leigh Ann Hester had already demonstrated what she could do when the lives of fellow soldiers depended on her.

10/19/2026

10/19/2026

A Veteran who dies by su***de is not a coward.

Recently, a Green Star family shared that someone called their son a coward because he died by su***de.

Imagine losing your child and then having someone reduce their entire life, their service, and their struggles to one cruel word.

That Veteran raised his hand to serve our country. He had a life, a family, people who loved him, and battles others may never fully understand.

Su***de does not erase courage.
It does not erase honorable service.
And it does not erase a family's sacrifice.

Before you judge a Veteran's death, remember there is a family left behind who will carry that loss for the rest of their lives.

Their life was more than how it ended.

To every Green Star family: We see you. We honor your Veteran. And we stand beside you.

They served. Their families sacrificed.

***deAwareness

10/18/2026

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! St. Tim’s could use your help with free lunch meal prep and service, see the picture below for more info on days of the week that St. Tim’s could use a helping hand!

NOTE: November is not officially designated as National Volunteer Month, which is observed annually in April. However, local Volunteers looking for specific volunteer opportunities—such as St. Tim’s and other community free lunch kitchens, food pantries/foodbank or family-friendly holiday projects such as Brookings VFW Post 966’s Halloween/Harvest donation of candy for handing out goodies—your help as a volunteer is greatly needed, year round! The winter months can be challenging for nonprofits and other organizations to have enough volunteers! Help if you can!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!! SAVE THESE DATES—November has several prominent days and weeks related to service and giving back:

• International Volunteer Managers Day: November 5

• Veterans Day: November 11

• World Kindness Day: November 13

• National Philanthropy Day: November 15

• National Family Volunteer Day: Held annually on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving this year is on Thursday, November 26, 2026, see below:

• Date: November 26, 2026 (the fourth Thursday of November)

• Mitzvah Day: A global day of Jewish-led social action and good deeds often held in November.

Please take time to give back and know that the needs of underserved community members can be met with more volunteers on board! Thank you, ALL, for doing what you can for others!

10/17/2026

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Intimate partner violence is an issue that affects both civilian and military populations. An estimated one in three women, and one in four men, have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. It affects all sorts of people in the United States and abroad, in suburbs, cities and rural areas, regardless of culture, economic class, gender, sexuality, location, education level, race, religion, etc., which is why it is important to know the signs of domestic abuse and where to turn for help. And it doesn't typically start with physical violence.

Last October, we interviewed Joyce Bilyeu, CEO of the Sacramento Regional Family Justice Center in California, about this topic. Her name may be familiar to you - in addition to her work as an advocate and author, she is an active VFW Auxiliary member who has served as National Patriotic Instructor, National Americanism Ambassador, National Historian and Department of California President (2011-2012), among other positions. Bilyeu is an expert in domestic violence education, prevention and assistance. She is also a survivor.

"Domestic violence isn't a private issue," according to Bilyeu. "It's a community issue."

You can read the article in its entirety by clicking the link in the VFW Auxiliary National E-Newsletter.

It is important to remember that we, as VFW Auxiliary members, are not counselors, experts or law enforcement, but we can help by sharing information and resources at our meetings or in our communities, and also by posting fliers and phone numbers in Post home bathrooms or bulletin boards (with permission), by knowing the red flags and by believing victims when they share their stories.

"When we don't say anything, it continues and people get hurt," says Bilyeu. "I always (say), 'I believe your story.' Listen without judgment, connect them to resources."

Spreading a message of hope is key. It can get better. You are not alone.