It is our mission to foster hope and support post traumatic growth. Every Third Saturday started with a simple acknowledgement that no matter our circumstance, we are all on this roller coaster together. As veterans, we expect our time in the service to be tough, demanding, and exciting. Generally our perspective has been shaped by movies and TV, which highlight heroes and happy endings, or video games which enable us to start a new life as soon as the previous one is ended. Serving in the military is tough, demanding, and exciting, but also comes with a harsh reality that the movies and TV shows frequently leave out. And it is excruciating to discover that once your battle buddy is wounded or killed, there is no button to bring them back, or put them back together like things never happened. Most of all, nothing can quite prepare a veteran for the moment when they realize the adventure has ended, and it’s time to go home. As we come home, there is a certain temporary peace that comes over us, no more uniforms, nobody barking orders, no more death and destruction. Maybe it’s a couple of days, for some a couple of weeks, but suddenly reality comes a knocking. It has been waiting for us, and it doesn’t take no for an answer. For the majority of veterans, reality is not so bad. Families are reunited, life begins anew, and the veteran takes with him the positive changes made during service. Service leaves an indelible mark; it makes young men and women stronger, wiser, and better for the experience. Every Third Saturday exists for the veterans whose experience was not quite as positive, making the transition back to civilian life much more difficult. It is common for individuals who have served to get tattoos on their skin to display that they served, show their pride in that service, and to memorialize those that were lost. The skin tattoos are easy to see, they are right there on the surface, telling a little bit of that veteran’s story. It is the tattoos that can’t be seen that are wreaking havoc on veterans. The tattoos forced into our souls, without our consent, causing homelessness, unemployment, broken marriages, isolation, and suicide. Every Third Saturday exists to help veterans and their families locate these injuries to their souls, identify where they come from, and how they are so destructive, and ultimately to view them in a different light. Our organization was created to assist veterans in mapping a path from where they are to where they want to be, to ensure that the needed resources are available to walk that path, and walk alongside the veteran and their families as we ride this roller coaster together.
