TRANSCRIPT 🔗
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Hello and welcome. This is Bill VanArsdel for Radio Eye.
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Today I will be reading from the AARP Bulletin and
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Magazine dated November 9th, 2026. As a reminder, Radio Eye
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. The first story is, Post 9-11 Veterans, now 50+,
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shared their service, struggles, and strength. Two decades of war
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left lasting marks. These veterans show how treatment and support
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are helping them rebuild. It was General John Jumper's first
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day as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force,
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and it was shaping up to be a tough morning.
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I was already imagining a busy, stressful day, he says.
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Then came reports of two planes hitting the World Trade
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Center in New York. Soon after, Jumper's workplace, the Pentagon,
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was struck by a jetliner flown by terrorists. On that day,
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September 11, 2001, all Americans in or out of uniform
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felt a call to duty, recalls the general, now 81
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and retired. Our nation represented a greater good we were
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all prepared to defend. In the year after 9-11, more
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than 181,000 Americans signed up for active duty, and thousands
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more joined Reserve and National Guard units. By the time
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the wars that followed the attacks ended, more than 1.9
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million Americans would serve a total of over 3 million
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tours of duty in combat zones. How post-9-11 service differed
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from earlier wars? In some ways, the members of the
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generation that served during what came to be called the
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Global War on Terror were like those from the Vietnam
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or World War II generations who answered the call of duty.
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But in other ways, they were unique. For one thing,
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everyone who served after 9-11 volunteered for the mission. The
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draft that filled the ranks in World War II and
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Vietnam was not reinstated. more than 400,000 National Guard members
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and reservists were pressed into duty in combat zones. The
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period during which they were asked to sacrifice time away
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from home stretched over nearly 20 years for some, with
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many rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan. New health challenges emerged
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from deployments in harsh environments, from crashes and roadside explosives,
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and from prolonged psychological stress. A total of 7,073 American
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service members were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and over 50,000
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more were wounded. Many thousands more suffered lasting psychological pain.
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Many of the men and women who served in the
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conflicts triggered by 9-11 are reaching their 50s, 60s, and beyond,
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carrying the visible and hidden wounds of conflicts that stretched
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over two decades. and in many cases whole families have
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been called upon to support them. In interviews with AARP,
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a number of those veterans have demonstrated that they are
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enduring with grace, resilience, and courage. Lingering Psychological Damage Robert Hindson, 69,
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a clinical psychologist, was at his office in the Washington, D.C.
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suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, when he got a call from
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his sister in Manhattan about the terrorist attacks in New York.
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We had grown up in Queens, and many people I
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knew from my childhood were directly impacted, either as first
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responders or were working in the towers and either narrowly
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escaped or died, he says. Heinsohn, then 44, thought he
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was too old to join the military, but he wanted
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to get involved. For two years after 9-11, I worked
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with the Red Cross as a disaster mental health volunteer,
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he says. Then he made a critical decision. Around 2003,
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I learned that the Army was waiving certain age limitations
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on people joining the military. I joined the Maryland Army
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National Guard in 2004 and worked in a medical company
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leading a behavioral health section. In that job, he helped
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veterans reintegrate into the civilian world and deal with the
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trauma of their combat experiences overseas. That transition was difficult
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for many. Take the
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example of Rod Moore, 60, a
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retired Navy captain from Windsor, Colorado. Moore is among those
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who brought post-traumatic stress disorder home with him from a
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combat deployment in his case, during a second 13-month tour
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of duty in Iraq in 2010 and 2011. The Department
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of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD estimates that 29%
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of post-9-11 veterans will have PTSD at some point in
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their lives. Studies cited by the VA suggest that is
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a higher rate than those of Vietnam in World War II.
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though analysts caution that reporting methods and other factors have
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changed through the years. It was the closeout of the
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multi-billion dollar Iraqi reconstruction program, and I was the program
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management chief, Moore says. I was constantly taking trips outside
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the wire, off the base, at a time when troop
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levels were being drawn down. There were lots of mortar
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and rocket attacks, and one IED, improvised explosive device, attack
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on our convoy. Though not physically wounded by the attacks, Moore,
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like hundreds of thousands of others, was traumatized by his experiences.
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Once home, he downplayed his symptoms of lasting trauma, road rage, anxiety,
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and the feeling of always being on alert. I was
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in the running to be a unit commander, he says.
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Why risk that by admitting I had problems? Then a
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freak accident showed him just how much trauma he had
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been suppressing. While he was out to dinner with his
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wife in Hawaii, a glass door at the restaurant shattered
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on the couple, striking his head and knocking him out.
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As he went in and out of consciousness, he says,
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suddenly I was back in Iraq. Moore retired from the
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military soon after. and says he barely left his house
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for the next seven years, as his rage and anxiety
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symptoms persisted. He did lots of therapy during that time,
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but what finally helped him manage his PTSD was adopting
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a specially trained service dog. She regifted my life, Moore says.
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Service
dogs are just one of the relatively new forms
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of therapy being used to treat PTSD. with encouraging results.
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Philip Held, Director of Research and Innovation for the Road
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Home Program at the National Center of Excellence for Veterans
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and Their Families at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, says
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preliminary research at Rush shows that virtual at-home programs that
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deliver sessions one or more times a day for a
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week or as little as two days can be as
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effective as standard once-a-week treatments. They also have higher completion rates.
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The more options you have that are evidence-based, the more
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likely you're going to find something that works for you,
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Held says. But it is critical for those feeling the
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symptoms to seek help, he adds. There are still a
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lot of individuals who, due to stigma, logistical, or time barriers,
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are not able to get help. Brain Injuries, an Ongoing
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Crisis Another matter that distinguished the wars after 9-11 from
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earlier ones was the enormous number of injuries to the
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brain caused by the ubiquitous IEDs and other things, like
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the need to supply troops over vast areas with truck convoys,
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which has caused hundreds of road accidents. The good news
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is that advances in medical science meant service members had
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a much better chance to survive traumatic head injuries than
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in earlier wars, but survivors face the challenge of lifelong
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brain trauma. More than 500,000 veterans and service personnel were
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diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, TBI, between 2000 and 2025,
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according to the Department of Defense. They are people like U.S.
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Army Sergeant Lisa Crutch, 59, of Jacksonville, Florida, whose life
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was changed forever by on a desert road in Iraq
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in 2005. Standing on the back of an armored truck
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with a powerful. 50 caliber machine gun, Crutch guarded convoys
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crisscrossing the Iraqi desert for 13 months. But Crutch was
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in the passenger seat one day when the five-ton gun
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truck slammed into the back of a fuel tanker that
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had stopped short. The road was just sand that causes
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all this smoke when you're driving, she says. You can't
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really see in front of you. Crutch's head slammed into
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the windshield. Her legs hit the dashboard hard. If I
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didn't have my helmet on, my head probably would have
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split in half, she says. She blacked out, but remembers
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a helicopter airlift to a hospital and weeks of recovery.
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There was no thought of going home early. I stayed
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and healed and went back on the gun truck after
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the crash, she says. Crutch lost her sense of smell
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and most of her sense of taste. Her knees would
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swell and cause severe pain afterward. But only after her
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deployment ended and she returned home did she start having
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panic attacks, anxiety, and severe chronic migraines. Crutch didn't want
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to leave the house. Then there was the puzzling memory loss.
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I remember everything from Iraq, but not my happy family
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members from before that, she says. In 2005, tests showed
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Crutch had a TBI, which is considered a signature injury
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of post-9-11 conflicts. It took 15 years of counseling and
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medical treatment to find a migraine prevention therapy that worked,
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plus family support and help from a nonprofit veteran service organization,
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the Wounded Warrior Project, before she felt she was healing.
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Transitioning from Sergeant Crutch back to Lisa, I didn't even
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know where to start, she says. I had to learn
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to like the new Lisa. Signs of an Undiagnosed Brain
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Injury Emerging brain research suggests another common cause of significant
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but under-recognized mild TBI. Repeat exposure to low-level blasts, such
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as from heavy artillery, and from firing high-caliber weapons during
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deployment or training. This may cause memory loss, headaches, fatigue,
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and anxiety. 82% of military TBIs are classed as mild,
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according to the Pentagon. Yet even these can cause life-changing
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symptoms that may be overlooked, as veterans like Crutch and
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their health care providers focus on more obvious injuries. Symptoms
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of an undiagnosed TBI that someone might notice aren't limited
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to memory problems, difficulty controlling anger and irritability, anxiety and withdrawing,
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says Jeffrey R. Hebert, Director of Research and Physical Therapist
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at the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the University
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of Colorado. His research shows that trouble processing visual information,
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words on a computer screen, or product labels in the
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grocery store, for example, is a less recognized sign. A
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TBI can have long-term effects on thinking, memory, and sleep,
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as well as on relationships, daily activities, and working. And
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if it is never diagnosed, veterans may miss out on
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brain health care that can reverse mental processing problems, help
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people work around memory loss, reduce risk for related problems
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like depression and anxiety, and ease physical symptoms such as
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painful headaches. Those who suspect they are dealing with an
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undiagnosed brain injury can get help. TBI screening is available
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for veterans at VA health appointments and is a mandatory
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part of first-time checkups for those who served in Afghanistan
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and Iraq. Meanwhile, a U.S. study that plans to enroll
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more than 800 veterans with mild TBI is underway that
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will track their symptoms and brain imaging biomarkers before and
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after they participate in an intensive three-week program. The study
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includes behavioral counseling, physical therapy, brain rehab, and treatment for
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symptoms like dizziness, memory loss, and concentration problems, all personalized
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for each participant. And the good news for vets who
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suspect they may have an undiagnosed TBI is that it's
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never too late to benefit from treatment. For lifelong health
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of the brain, earlier identification and treatment of TBI is best,
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but getting help at any time can still result in
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improvements in symptoms and function, says Hebert, a researcher
on
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the new TBI study. As with many veterans of the
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past 25 years, The difficulties Crutch experienced revealed she held
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a deep underlying strength, as did her family and friends
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in confronting them. Crutch credits her husband with convincing her
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to join a support program for veterans with combat-related injuries,
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including TBIs, run by the Wounded Warrior Project. She has
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since earned a college degree, graduating at the same time
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as her oldest daughter. and has taken part in plenty
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of support programs, done volunteer work, and traveled. And she
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hosts a podcast with her best friend, also a veteran
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of the Iraq conflict. Poisonous Environments Along with the TBIs,
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there was another unique and extremely dangerous aspect of serving
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in Iraq and Afghanistan, the poisons in the air. Long
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exposures to toxic environments would affect the lives of hundreds
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of thousands of men and women, like retired Army Captain
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Leroy Torres of Robstown, Texas. Torres took a deep breath
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as he stepped off a shuttle at sprawling Joint Base
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Balad in Iraq in late 2007. I was like, oh
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my goodness, what is that stench in the air? He recalls.
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It smelled like burning plastic. Torres had enlisted in the
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Army Reserve at age 17, inspired by his father's service
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during the Korean War. He was my childhood hero, he says.
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Soon after, Torres went to work as a Texas state trooper.
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But the 9-11 attacks changed life for him and hundreds
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of thousands of other reservists. Since then, thousands like him
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have been activated. Torres was deployed to Iraq, where he
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served for a year as a personnel officer and then
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in logistics to support a massive 2007 troop surge. But
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exposure to airborne toxins from what the VA calls the
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biggest military burn pit of the Iraq War quickly led
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to a lung infection that then abdominal pain, severe headaches,
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and chronic respiratory infections. Medical providers said it was just
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Iraqi crud, he says. It became routine. While he was deployed,
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his main worry was being hit by fire from mortar attacks,
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he recalls. His base was enveloped daily in toxic burn
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pit smoke. Little did I know this culprit would be
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detrimental to many of us till this day. Environmental toxins
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were threats in earlier wars, like the Agent Orange herbicide
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used to kill foliage in Vietnam. But they became a
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unique problem near the American bases in Iraq, and to
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a lesser degree, Afghanistan. Some of the pits were massive,
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and they operated around the clock for years, incinerating hundreds
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of tons of material daily. What was being burned included
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medical waste, insecticide containers, plastics, styrofoam, and tires, all doused
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with jet propellant fuel to keep it blazing, creating an
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ever-present chemical smog, emitting known carcinogens. The 10-acre trash fire
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at Balad, the size of seven football fields, burned 24
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hours a day, seven days a week, for six years.
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The VA estimates that 4.7 million veterans and service members
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were exposed to burn pit smoke, oil well fires, airborne sand,
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vehicle exhaust, and other toxins since deployment to the Middle
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East for the first Gulf War of 1990-91. The burn
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pit smoke was loaded with tiny particles of heavy metals, hydrocarbons,
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and other chemicals that trigger inflammation in the lungs, blood vessels,
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digestive system, brain, and elsewhere, and boost the risk of cancer.
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You're swallowing it, inhaling it. It's in the air. It's
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in your eyes, on your skin, up your nose, on
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your uniform. says Dr. Anthony M. Sema, a pulmonologist and
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clinical professor of medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker
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School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell in Hempstead, New York.
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He treats and studies veterans with burn pit exposure. Torres'
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symptoms worsened when he returned home in 2008. In 2010,
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he was diagnosed with constrictive bronchiolitis, scarring and inflammation of
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tiny airways in the
lungs that obstruct breathing. Later, his
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debilitating headaches were diagnosed as a brain injury called toxic encephalopathy.
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He has logged 490 medical visits since 2008. During that time,
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Torres lost his job as a state trooper and was
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denied VA benefits. On a dark night in 2016, he
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tried to end his life. He says he was saved
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when his service dog knocked a shotgun from his hands.
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I was in so much pain, he says. Everything spiraled.
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Torres and his wife, Rosie Lopez Torres, suspected that the
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toxic fumes from the burn pits were linked to his suffering.
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But it was years before links between those exposures and
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their health consequences were identified, and even longer before the
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government made provisions to care for veterans in with burn
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pit-related ailments. How the PACT Act expanded care for toxic exposure.
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Leroy and Rosie Torres helped make that happen. In 2010,
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they started Burn Pits 360 as a forum for veterans
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experiencing illnesses possibly tied to burn pit exposures. Their nonprofit
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advocacy group played a key role in pushing for passage
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in Congress of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, PACT,
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in 2022, a law that expanded VA health care eligibility
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and benefits for millions of veterans with toxic exposures. The
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act lists more than 300 medical conditions the VA presumes
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were caused by service exposure. veterans do not have to
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prove a link to get help. Under the PACT Act,
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veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan can enroll for
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a checkup at VA health care centers, even if they
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don't feel ready to file a disability claim. Those enrolled
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get a toxic exposure screening and can be screened thereafter
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at least once every five years. The list of conditions
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associated with burn pit exposure will expand, Sema says. For
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the present, he adds, it's important for veterans with environmental
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exposures to file a claim. Ongoing Challenges, Lasting Pride The
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recent wars imposed other challenges, like those family caregivers are
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still facing. In Crutch's case, her active duty status required
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her husband and their extended families to care for the
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couple's four children, then between the ages of 4 and
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15 during her 13-month deployment. It takes a village to
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raise a family, and I have an amazing village, she says.
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Other recent veterans are facing the challenges of social isolation,
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a June 2026 AARP survey found. Loneliness is a constant
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companion for 38% of U.S. veterans age 45 and older.
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With social isolation, linked to chronic health conditions, depression, and anxiety.
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What we hear from veterans is that loneliness is tied
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to a feeling of disconnection from the camaraderie, shared experiences,
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and shared purpose they had in the military, says Juanita
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Jimenez Soto, AARP National Veterans and Military Families Manager. But
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many others have found purpose in getting involved with helping
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fellow veterans. Several years ago, I joined Iraq and Afghanistan
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Veterans of America, which has given me new opportunities to
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help veterans of the war on terror, as many are
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now reaching 50 and over, Heinsohn says. My hope is
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that they bring the leadership and experiences they learned over
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there back home, and that they are honored for it.
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He adds, I felt strongly about being there, Because if
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previous generations of combat veterans had had more access to
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mental health professionals, think about how that might have changed
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the trajectories of hundreds of thousands of Americans. While certainly
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facing extraordinary challenges, the veterans of the post-911 era have
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shown remarkable fortitude. All the veterans who served in the
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wars in Iraq and Afghanistan understood the sense of purpose
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Americans have always had, Jumper says. That is something we
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must never become numb to or forget. From his position
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helping veterans transition to civilian life, Hindson saw that courage.
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The most positive thing I experienced
was to see the
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dedication and heroism of our service members, he says. One
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of my jobs was to talk to groups of soldiers
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and Marines to get a sense of how they operated.
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I interviewed one group of Marines who had returned from
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a 50-day recon mission. These guys were the tip of
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the spear, had taken casualties, and were busted up. Heimson
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says he was moved by the Marines' sense of duty,
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even when it wasn't clear to them what the sacrifices
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were for. I told them, you have given your country
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a great gift. Your country respects and values what you're doing.
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It's meaningful, and there will come a time when you
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are able to more clearly see that. The next story
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is Gifts from a Fairy Godfather. Christoph Waggoner turns thrift
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store items into costumes for kids. He says, When I'm
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at my sewing machine, I'll get an idea for a
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great Halloween costume and think, I bet I could do that.
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It doesn't matter if I only have old table runners
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or placemats to work with. I buy my materials from
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retail stores, then wash and repair them. With some dye,
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decorations sewn on, and a wig added, it all comes together.
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Then I put the costume into my inventory and wait
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for a child to pick it out. The idea of
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giving away costumes came to me after I moved into
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my first house in Austin in 2016 and started getting trick-or-treaters.
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I saw children in nice Star Wars and Toy Story costumes,
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but I also saw them with torn shirts and what
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seemed like a longing, a wishing. Halloween can be an equalizer.
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I wanted to make sure that every child had the
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chance to dress up and be anybody. At the time,
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I was working as a mystery shopper who evaluated resale stores.
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I decided to buy some things, adapt them, and hold
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a free yard sale before the following Halloween. I bought $ 1, 500
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worth of stuff for about $ 40 at Goodwill Central Texas.
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In September, I hung 50 or 60 costumes in my garage.
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People came and took all of them. The biggest thing
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I remember is the laughter of kids and their parents.
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The next year, I was living in a different neighborhood.
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I added props and more costumes, and I told more people.
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Since then, it's grown every year. In 2023, I turned
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it into a non-profit called October's Child. And that September,
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we used half a football-sized field for our donations. We've
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now given away almost 7,000 costumes. plus makeup, pumpkin carving sets,
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even pet costumes. Volunteers help out, and we get donations
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from across the country. We don't ask whether families are needy,
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though I suspect many of them are. The point is
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to make Halloween magical for every kid. I think it's
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important for people to do what they can for their community.
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You don't have to be rich. You just have to
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put your heart and soul into something. If you do,
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A tiny ripple can grow into waves. This concludes the
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reading of the AARP Magazine and Bulletin. We hope you
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found these articles interesting and informative, and if you have
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any questions or comments about this broadcast, please call Radio
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Eye at 859-422-6390. Your reader has been Bill VanArsdel. Next,
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please stay tuned for Health Corner on Radio Eye,