The Ohio State University at Mansfield, North Central State University, Ashland University and the Richland County Veterans Administration hosted a kick off of the Welcome Johnny and Jane Home Project: A Listening Initiative. The event was held on Monday in North Central State’s Kee Hall.
“The very simple act of listening means bearing witness, it means sharing the burden of suffering,” said Paula J. Caplan, Ph. D, and author of ‘When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How all of us Can Help Veterans’.
“I think what’s worse than suffering, and this has been documented through a lot of research, is suffering in isolation. That will crush your soul and it’s so unnecessary. Good listening shows respect,” she added.
Caplan, who is an activist, a clinical and research psychologist, and an award winning playwright, author and director, said she wants to change the disconnect between veterans and nonveterans to show they have more in common that not.
“I want nothing to distance veterans and nonveterans,” she said.
The Welcome Johnny and Jane Home Project is designed for a nonveteran to listen to a veteran about the harsh realities of war with no judgment, replying with only two sentences.
“This is the beginning of a long overdue discussion about the realities of war and is helping veterans heal and bridging the gap between veterans and nonveterans,” Caplin said.
Caplin said the nonveteran should not be a relative and should be fully aware of what the veteran is saying without much response.
Col. Gary McCue, commander of the 179th Airlift Wing of the Ohio National Guard said the majority of folks who join the 179th go to college and he thought it was appropriate for the colleges to collaborate on this important issue.
“This project is very important for us,” he said.
Because of the horrific tragedy of September 11, 2001, people who now enter the guard will only know deployment and war.
“That’s just how it is,” he said. “The initiative project that I read in the book is important and it’s real.”
Adam Boyce, an Iraq war veteran enacted a “mini listening session” by sharing his story with those in attendance. The 1999 Lexington High School graduate joined the Army in 2002 and was wounded by an improvised explosive device in 2004 and had to come home. He said he seen fellow soldiers die right before his eyes.
On his first leave from Iraq, he witnessed the birth of his first son.
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever done is go back to a war zone after watching my first son being born,” Boyce said. “At the same time, I couldn’t wait to get back because I felt weird being here. I was always looking over my shoulder. I was always jumping at the loud sounds. I just wasn’t comfortable. I’d rather be back doing what I was comfortable with.”
Boyce, who works at the Richland County Veterans Administration, said the effects of war for him have been memory loss, loss of concentration, and sleep deprivation among other things.
“Some wounds you can’t see,” he said.
For more information visit: www.ncstatecollege.edu/listen2vets
“This is the beginning of a long overdue discussion about the realities of war and is helping veterans heal and bridging the gap between veterans and nonveterans,” said Paula J. Caplan, Ph. D.
