Lisa and Jeff Naslund of Galva lost their son, U.S. Army Sgt. Dillon Naslund, in 2012 at the age of 25 to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Naslund had completed tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffered from nightmares and cold sweats in reliving the events of those times. As a soldier, Naslund believed he had to deal with the demons on his own, but this highly-revered, highly-decorated Sgt. lost his battle with those demons and took his own life. His parents, along with Howard and Jean Somers, parents of California Army National Guardsman, Daniel Somers who was also lost to PTSD, have made it their mission to address the barriers for the emotionally wounded. They have formed Operation Engage America to educate veterans and community members who suffer with PTSD and to show them how to use the resources available to them in their communities. They also want to make families and friends of those who suffer from PTSD aware of ways they can help their loved one and how to go about getting help for themselves in learning how to cope with loving someone who suffers from PTSD. The first Operation Engage America event of this year will be taking place Saturday, April 30, at the King’s Pointe Waterpark Resort in Storm Lake. This will be an open-house style resource fair from 1 to 4 p.m. that will kick-off with keynote speakers introducing the efforts. In addition, Operation Engage America will host a nationwide event in multiple cities across the U.S. on June 18, in honor of PTSD Awareness Month. For more information, follow the links provided below.
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www.operation-engage-america.org
email LisaNaslund: lisa@operationengageamerica.org
Cell: 515-984-0661
