The notion of military life being sort of tribal based comes from author Sebastian Junger, of Perfect Storm fame. In his recent book, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, Junger looks at military life from what he calls an anthropological standpoint and asks the question, “how do you make veterans feel that they are returning to a cohesive society that was worth fighting for in the first place?” Citing a July, 2018 article in Translational Behavioral Medicine, Scott Maucione of Federal News Radio, suggests that that an answer to this question is for Veterans “to build their own “tribe” in the civilian world.” There’s more in Maucione’s report and in the article, including the notion that such a tribe would could be used to implement a formal “theory-based framework for veteran health called the Enrichment Equation, comprised of three core constructs: health, people, and purpose.” Health equals physical and mental well-being. People, our tribe, support health. Purpose involves a notion of “engaged citizenship,” which allows a Veteran to fulfill person needs to serve. It’s an engaging model, each pillar supporting and, receiving support from the others.
The notion of “tribe,” though, is fascinating. Reminiscent of the “global village” and Dr. King’s “Beloved Community,” DAV and the other Veteran’s Service Organizations, are ideally suited to become part of an individual veteran’s tribe. In fact, it’s what we do. Chapter Seven has annual projects that help to provide food for active duty and veterans at the holidays. Chapter Service Officers are adept at working Veteran’s claims with the VA. The Chapter home provides a haven amongst others who have been there and done that. As a member of Chapter Seven, the Bowie Memorial Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Free State Detachment of the Marine Corps League, The American Legion, or any of the auxiliaries, you allow others into your tribe and provide support just by showing up.
That’s great but I’d like to encourage you to take a step further. One of the issues faced by all of the Veteran’s Service Organizations is membership. Perhaps we can become even more of a pillar than we already are and address the membership issue at the same time. Go out. Find a Veteran or two. Encourage them to become a member of our tribe. Not only will this help the organizations, it will help those who you encourage. It may even save a life.
Angel, Caroline M, Blayne P Smith John M Pinter Brandon B Young Nicholas J Armstrong Joseph P Quinn Daniel F Brostek David E Goodrich Katherine D Hoerster Michael S Erwin. "Team Red, White & Blue: a community-based model for harnessing positive social networks to enhance enrichment outcomes in military veterans reintegrating to civilian life." Translational Behavioral Medicine, Volume 8, Issue 4, 17 July 2018, Pages 554–564, https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/iby050
"The Beloved Community" The King Center, http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy#sub4
Maucione, Scott. "Finding a ‘tribe’ after military service is crucial to veteran success, study says." https://federalnewsradio.com/defense-main/2018/08/finding-a-tribe-after-military-service-is-crucial-to-veteran-success-study-says/. August 9, 2018.