The Long Walk Home

   You can now donate to The Long Walk Home using PayPal®!
Simply click the Donate button below - you can donate using your existing PayPal account or by using credit card.

The Long Walk Home is a not for profit organization raising money to provide counseling services our Veterans who are coming home from the war in the Middle East. Please see the Resources page for more information on these programs.

The Appalachian Trail is 2,174 miles long. Ron is asking for donations of $21.74 or a penny per mile, but will gladly accept donations in any amount.

If you would like a "The Long Walk Home" hat, please send $28.74 ($7.00 for shipping & handling) as well as your shipping address. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of your hat.

If you want to help other then financialy, please call (305)852-4782 and we will provide you with many different ways in which you could help make a difference.

    The Long Walk Home
P.O. Box 929
Riverhead, NY 11901

Dear Concerned Citizens,

Today thelongwalkhome.org is asking that you write Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as well as your congressman a personal letter or at least mail in the attached form letter. You can find the addresses below. We do so because we know that when congressmen receive 500 handwritten letters they take notice, and when they receive thousands they make it their mission. Your single letter defines where you have drawn your line in the sand and declares what you stand for. You can truly make a difference!

Below are listed our goals and the reasons for them:

GOALS:

Goal #1: To institute mandatory grief counseling for all military personnel as an integral part of the boot camp program. It would be similar to that which the police and fire personnel receive so as to enable them to more effectively cope with the emotions that are associated with the trauma of loss of life and limb. It could be accomplished in two hours with large groups.

JUSTIFICATION:
A) Our troops go into combat totally unprepared for the trauma to come.
B) This preparation would pave the way for making treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) more acceptable and more effective.
C) Troops would be more effective and efficient in accomplishing assigned tasks.

Goal #2: Establishment of a mandatory civilian reentry program for all military personnel prior to discharge. This could be accomplished efficiently in large groups.

JUSTIFICATION:
A) This will give personnel tools and skills to assist them in dealing with the transition to civilian life.
B) It ensures more effective screening of those who are severely affected but who neither recognize nor admit it.
C) Making the program mandatory as well as calling it a Civilian Reentry Program removes the stigma and acknowledges that it is a human condition; the personnel are not broken or weak.
D) Making the program mandatory prior to discharge also enables those who receive a Section 8 or conditional discharge to get attention they would likewise never get due to the loss of benefits.
E) This program ensures that no one slips through the cracks.

Goal #3: Making support groups available after discharge similar to a 12-step program to enable separated personnel to continue to lead productive lives.

JUSTIFICATION:
Such a program would foster more trust among veterans, the government, and civilians through concrete evidence that the nation they served cares enough to do something both practical and effective.

I am anxious to be working with you and the DoD to make this happen on its own under the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act or as an expansion of TAP.

Ronald Cj Zaleski
www.thelongwalkhome.org
305 852 4782 home 631 375 5342 cell
Ronzaleski@gmail.com

Please write your Congressmen, using your own words or copying the three goals listed above. Please include our organization's name (The Long Walk Home) because united we have a louder voice. To get your Representatives' e-mail click here (will open in a new window). Or if you prefer, you may send the letter via regular mail, here are some officials that you may wish to send the letter to.

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000 Deputy Secretary of Defense
1010 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1010

Under Secretary of Defense
(Policy)
2000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-2000 Under Secretary of Defense
(Personnel and Readiness)
4000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-4000 Under Secretrary of Defense
(Comptroller)
1100 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1100

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
9999 Joint Staff Pentagon
Washington, DC 20318-9999 Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
9999 Joint Staff Pentagon
Washington, DC 20318-9999 Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0101

Secretary of the Navy
1000 Navy Pentagon
Washington, DC 20350-1000 Secretary of the Air Force
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670 Army Chief of Staff
200 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0200

Chief of Naval Operations
2000 Navy Pentagon
Washington, DC 20350-2000 Air Force Chief of Staff
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670 Commandant of the Marine Corps
Headquarters USMC
2 Navy Annex (CMC)
Washington, DC 20380-1775

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