Coming off the heels of Veterans Day weekend, Grice Connect caught up with a group of local veterans to gain insight on their local "Vet 2 Vet" weekly meetings, which provide veteran-to-veteran peer support in the Bulloch County Community.
The meetings provide a place for veterans to gather in a safe and nonjudgmental environment to share experiences that are unique to military service men and women. Local veterans have attended the group and formed long-lasting friendships amid the sharing of their personal military experiences.
"Vet 2 Vet is a veterans group which is informal and welcoming to all local veterans. The tone of our meetings focuses more on us offering peer-to-peer support as we share our past experiences and how they have shaped us, in a non-judgmental environment," shared Local Navy Veteran and Facilitator of the Statesboro Vet 2 Vet meetings, Angel. "We meet once a month for a social gathering on the first Thursday of each month, typically at a restaurant for lunch. And each remaining Thursday of the month, we meet at First Baptist Church for our meeting, though our group is not religiously affiliated."
Vet 2 Vet dates are regularly added to the Grice Connect Events Calendar by the Vet 2 Vet administrative team.
Grice Connect recently attended a Vet2Vet meeting, where the Group Members present were:
- Jim McCranie
- Ken Johnson
- Cory Show
- Jim Deal
- Larry Lee
- George Cartwright
Jim Deal, Vet 2 Vet original member of 9 years, shared a bit about the history of the local group.
"The original Vet 2 Vet group started out at the VA clinic," he said. "They were essentially trying out the group as a trial PTSD class. However, several veterans were unsatisfied with the class and took it upon themselves to form a more personal group for connecting with each other. Also, we attended other veterans clinics before forming our own to see how other veterans groups conducted their meetings. However from attending those meetings, we quickly learned that we did not want to gather together to solely complain about the VA or other unproductive things. We wanted to connect with each other and work through any issues or challenges we were facing as veterans. And to point each other in the right direction of helpful veteran resources or support centers."
Local Veterans give stories of Vet2Vet meeting success
At the meeting, the veterans welcomed me to sit at the roundtable, where I was able to bear witness to the stories of how the group has helped local veterans to find long-term support, increase their mental and emotional wellness, and foster lasting friendships.
"I have been a part of the Vet 2 Vet meeting group for 4 months now, and I am very grateful to have been introduced this group. And I value it very much," Jim McCranie shared.
Ken Johnson agreed, saying, "I also knew I needed an ongoing veterans support system as I moved forward in my life. I was a counselor for 36 years professionally and currently have a psychiatrist that I see from time to time. However, I needed to be around a group of guys, like these, who understand what it means to be a veteran. The camaraderie is meaningful and important to me as a healthy outlet in my life. There are quite a few veterans who come to this group and are helped in a serious way as well -- in terms of working through their own personal challenges or issues. It's all been a very rewarding experience."
Johnson hit on an important point: the group provides a space in which veterans can share, knowing that others will truly understand what they have been through.
"It's great to have other local options outside of the VA office to connect with local vets for camaraderie and support," Cory Show said. "It's different connecting with a veteran than just an everyday civilian, because we share similar experiences as veterans."
While the group originally began with just Vietnam veterans, it has expanded over the years to include members of all branches of service and veterans of several different wars. Despite their differences in service, these veterans share a common bond and rely on the connections they make in the group.
"The best thing that I can say about this group is the understanding between individuals who have shared similar experiences," Larry Lee shared. "This Vet 2 Vet group can oftentimes clear up space in your head with some of the mental or emotional challenges we face at times. I moved out here from Ohio, and this Vet 2 Vet group has helped me greatly with forming new friendships and experiencing camraderie among other veterans."
Group facilitator, George Cartwright, buttoned up the conversation by sharing a touching story from a Vet 2 Vet meeting years ago.
"During one of our former meetings years ago, the mission of our group became clear to me when one our attendees began to cry upon being asked to share his story," Cartwright said. "His words were '38 years of being a veteran and I thought I was the only one like this.' He began crying because he never told anyone his story, and he finally felt seen. That experience, for me, solidified the necessity of a group like this for veterans. Having the opportunity to be seen and heard by your fellow veteran peers in a safe, non-judgmental space is an invaluable tool for long-term veteran support."
For more information on the Statesboro Vet 2 Vet gatherings, email Angel at [email protected].
IMPORTANT NOTE: *The local Vet 2 Vet Regular meetings are not directly affiliated with the Vet to Vet organization, they just share part of the name as a 501(c)(3). The 501(c)(3) is exclusive to the Bulloch County Vet 2 Vet group and is not shared with Vet to Vet. The local Vet 2 Vet's nonprofit is called What Pagoda, Inc.
