This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Forum Agenda


Kickoff Address: Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), chair, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs


The Early Years — How Wounded Warriors/ Families Are Doing Today: Petty Officer 2nd Class Derek McGinnis, USN-Ret., Community-Based Out- patient Clinic, VA; Alex Quade (moderator), freelance war reporter; Capt. Alvin Shell Jr., USA-Ret., force protection branch chief, Department of Homeland Security; Danielle Shell, spouse caregiver.


Transitions and New Beginnings — Linking Alliances to Evolving Needs: John Campbell, deputy assistant secretary of defense, Warrior Care Policy, DoD; Maj. Tara Dixon, USAR, trauma and critical care surgeon; Derek Donovan (moderator), vice president, Fisher House Foundation; Master Sgt. William “Spanky” Gibson, USMC-Ret. (modera- tor); Petty Officer 3rd Class Benjamin Host, USN- Ret., student veteran; Col. Karen T. Malebranche, USA-Ret., executive director, Veterans Health Ad- ministration, Office of Interagency Health Affairs; Annette Slaydon, spouse caregiver; Tech. Sgt. Matthew Slaydon, USAF-Ret.


Luncheon Keynote: Gen. Eric Shinseki, USA-Ret., VA secretary


Wounded Heroes Recognition Reception: Cpl. Jonathan Albrecht, USA; Staff Sgt. Dale Beatty, ARNG-Ret., cofounder, Purple Heart Homes; Maj. Justin Constantine, USMCR (master of ceremonies); Sen. Elizabeth Dole (guest speak- er), Caring for Military Families: The Elizabeth Dole Foundation; Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, USA (key- note speaker), surgeon general and commanding general, U.S. Army Medical Command; Shannon Maxwell, spouse caregiver, cofounder, SemperMax Support Fund and Hope for the Warriors, author, Our Daddy Is Invincible! and Big Boss Brain; Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell, USMC-Ret., president, SemperMax Support Fund; Master Sgt. Juanita Milligan, USA- Ret.; Lt. Brian Naughton, USCG, Maritime Security Response Team.


Special Video Message: J.R. Martinez, Army veteran, actor, motivational speaker, season 13 winner of Dancing With the Stars


64 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2012


And I’m not a shrink, you know. I like things — I like


surgery because you can cut stuff out and be done with it. You can’t really do that in psychiatry or psychology, but sometimes it’s just needing to hear somebody that’s been there, you know, and say there is hope. … You don’t have to give up. You can live again. You can be happy again. TECH SGT. MATTHEW SLAYDON, USAF-RET.: I was blown up in October of 2007. I was a bomb squad team leader in northern Iraq on my third tour. I actually had a great transition from active duty to the


VA system, and I guess I’m a success story. … I think it was partially I got lucky. I met some good people. My wife was a phenomenal advocate, and I got out and started speaking about my experiences very early on in my recovery. [But there is a] lack of understanding and education of what PTSD is and what it does to you. … I’ve seen a lot of death and destruction. … I’ve had to [do] everything from disarming bombs to scraping up people off the road. And … it changes you forever. It’s an indelible mark, and it should be. If you could go through these things and walk away unfazed, I would be very scared of you. [When I was injured] I was literally leaning over the bomb when it detonated. It hit me point-blank in the face, and it took me a long time to even wake up. … I knew [my time in the military] was coming to an end, but it was in the distance. … When I finally actually retired, all of a sudden I didn’t have anything to do. I didn’t have to get up. I didn’t have to report in. I didn’t have to call anybody. I didn’t have to do anything, and that was really weird. … That’s when you start getting time to think, and that’s when the PTSD really started to rear its head for me, and I started to become paranoid. I’m 100-percent blind, and I couldn’t … even protect myself. I don’t even know if there is somebody in my house or not. … So I would sit with a gun … listening for hours because I was convinced there was something in the house with me. … Imagine that 24 hours a day. And so I ended up having to check myself into a treatment facility … in Colorado, and that was my turnaround point. I didn’t bring my guide dog with me today. … Not only is he a mobility device … but he [also] gives me a massive sense of security because he’s a 90-pound German shep- herd, and he’s incredibly protective of me. It’s obvious I’m blind. And I still have problems [tak- ing him places]. One of the reasons I didn’t bring him is because I can’t get a cab here in [Washington, D.C.] ANNETTE SLAYDON: … A couple of years ago, Matt and I spent 15 months at Brooke Army Medical Center [in San Antonio] while he recovered. While you’re there, you’re kind of living in a bubble. Everything is done for you. You have all of your support right there and around you, and the whole time you’re there all you can think of is I can’t


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108