I chauffeured my son & his date to the prom in my big truck. They loved it & his friends went wild when we pulled in.
“The Face Behind the Windshield” is an oral history and photo essay project devised to capture the one thing that remains constant among all truck drivers; the love of the road. This project is not about the trucking industry itself, it is about the drivers that sit behind the wheel, what they sacrifice or gain in their dedication to keep America moving and their love of the road.
With the support of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, I plan to record and photograph as many of these stories as I can over the next year. But I need your help. If you are a truck driver, it does not matter if you have been driving one day, 50 years or more, I want to hear from you. I would like to tell your story through photographs and recordings of your own words. You will receive a digital copy of all photos and recordings as well as the finished product. The finished product could be put on display as an exhibit on the USM campus in Hattiesburg and /or Gulfport, MS, as well as any other places that request it.
If you would like more information or be included in this project, please visit the website or shoot me an email at whiterose@gearjamminradio.com. Please tell me a little about yourself and how long you have been driving. I will contact you to give you the rest of the details on how the process will work and how the photo and recordings will be gathered. If you are not interested in being a part of the photo essay, the oral history part is still open to you. Just let me know what you are willing to do when you send me a message.
No matter how you see your life and what yo do, others will most certainly find it interesting and exciting. So remember:
In college we write many papers for this or for that. Some of them don’t mean much to me in terms of the subject, but others do. This semester not only was my final paper for my Comp2 class hit close to my heart, but it inspired a topic for the video project in another class, Intro to Media Production. I want to share these two class projects with you in the hope that it will help open your eyes to this tragic situation happening to the people that have put their lives on the line for our freedom, our Veterans.
First is the video project. The song is by Bert Jones and can be found at To The Fallen Records. The actor is a fellow classmate and Iraq Veteran, Houston Hunt.
Here is the paper I had to write for my Comp2 class. The works cited in this paper are at the end in case you would like to read more on this subject or double check my facts.
Homeless Veterans: Combat Doesn’t Stop When They Come Home
Before I went to Iraq, I often wondered why I had seen so many homeless veterans on street corners begging for food or money. Since coming home and learning to deal with my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and watching my son deal with his, I can clearly see why they are homeless. Even though the Veteran’s Administration (VA) is treating more veterans every day that suffer from PTSD, and new treatments have been developed over the years, with almost ¾ of homeless veterans suffering from some form of mental illness, they are still missing more than they are treating. The American public has no idea what PTSD is or how it affects our veterans when they come home. This lack of understanding directly affects why many veterans are not getting treatment. It is my belief that the stigma associated with PTSD and the lack of timely, quality treatment for it, are major contributing factors for many veterans to become homeless.
Homelessness, overall, is a growing problem in America and measuring the number of people experiencing it is problematic according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. In 2007, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that in January 2005, 744,313 people experienced homelessness. These numbers cannot be use as an exact number of homeless for the month because many homeless people do not use the service providers; the actual numbers are likely to be higher (National Coalition for the Homeless). According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, veterans make up 23 percent of the homeless population. Of that 23 percent, 76 percent of the homeless veterans suffer from alcohol, drug, or mental health problems. The lack of family and social support systems compounds the problems with veterans that fall into this 76 percent (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans). The Veterans Assistance Foundation translates these percentages to mean that 200,000 veteran are homeless on any given night and more that 400,000 experience it over the course of a year. That means that almost one in four homeless people “sleeping in a doorway, alley, or boxes in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform to serve our country.” Of that one in four, most are single, 45 percent suffer from mental illness and 4 percent of them are females (Veterans Assistance Foundation).
To understand who is included in these numbers we need to understand what constitutes being homeless. The Stewart B. McKinney Act, 42 U.S.C. § 11302, defines the term “homeless” or “homeless individual or homeless person” to be “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and/or an individual who is living in or using a shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations” (Office of the Law Revision Counsel).
Though this seems to be a very good definition of who may be considered homeless, it does leave out all those that are temporarily living with family or friends. My son, Kenny, lived with friends for about a year before coming to live with me. When the Army discharged him because of his PTSD and he finally went to the VA, they told him that since he was living with family, they would declare him as homeless. Doing that would get him the help and benefits he needed faster. In an episode of MTV’s “True Life” they focused on three Iraq Veterans suffering from PTSD. Two of three veterans that were featured, Kenny and Arthur, were living with family or friends, which under the guidelines the Biloxi VA gave Kenny, made them technically homeless (“I Have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). This ratio is a reflection of the 76 percent of the homeless veterans that suffer from alcohol, drug, or mental health problems as stated above.
Though PTSD is not just a combat veteran’s illness, and it can develop after any traumatic event that causes intense fear, horror, helplessness, or injury, the most common event leading to a person developing PTSD is combat exposure. Having PTSD also puts a person at higher risk of developing drug and alcohol problems or for having suicidal thoughts and actions (Mayo Clinic Staff). It is not known why some people develop PTSD and others do not but many times it depends on a persons past experiences. How long the trauma lasted, how close the person was to the event, how much the person felt in control of the event and how much support they got after the event are all contributing factors as to how likely a person is to develop PTSD. According to the National Center for PTSD, “1 out of 3 people with PTSD may continue to have symptom” for an extended period of time. There are four types of PTSD symptoms: (1) reliving the event (flashbacks); (2) avoiding situations that remind the person of the event; (3) feeling numb; (4) feeling keyed up (hyperarousal), (Department of Veterans Affairs).
All this may lead a person to ask the question; doesn’t the Department of Veterans Affairs take care of the Veterans? The answer to that question is very complex. Yes, they do, to a certain extent. The VA has over 200 specialized PTSD treatment programs (Department of Veterans Affairs) and they are the nations largest provider of homeless services. This serves around 100,000 veterans annually, which is only 25 percent of the homeless veterans (Veterans Assistance Foundation). In 2010, the VA’s budget was raised more than 16 percent more than the 2009 budget and the 2011 budget asked for another 10 percent jump, which was $125 billion. This also includes a directorate of $5.2 billion in funds for the treatment of PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other such problems (Rowland). The 2012 budget request is another 11 percent, which is $132.2 billion in total. But it is not enough.
Throwing money at the problem may help but it will not solve it if the veterans that need it are not seeking help because of the stigma, red tape, wait times or quality of care. In 2008 the RAND Corporation published a book detailing the results of s study they did on veterans suffering from PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The study says that out of the almost 1.5 million military personnel returning home, 1 out of 3 reported a mental health problem or TBI symptoms. Of those, only half sought help. They also found that many returning troops felt that reporting a problem would impact their career (Tanielian, and Jaycox ). As with my son, Kenny, waiting to report or seeking help can lead to the symptoms getting worse and the military discharging them for medical reason. Kenny returned home from Iraq in the fall of 2005. He got married less that 6 months later and went from the National Guard to regular Army a few months after that. In an interview with Kenny, he said that he knew something was wrong but didn’t want to say anything because he knew he would have problems with the Army if he did. Besides, “you were dealing with your PTSD pretty well so I figured I could deal with mine,” he said. But while on a Spur Run in 2007 he “flipped out”. He says he was sent to see a doctor and began treatment for PTSD. When his sergeant found out about it, Kenny says that he gave him a hard time and said he needed to “man up.” It wasn’t long after that Kenny was medically discharged from the Army. The result of that sparked troubles in his marriage and he was soon separated from his wife, forced to live with friends because he could not hold a job and contemplating suicide (Elliott, Jr.).
Kenny’s story is typical of many veterans with PTSD, but where he had a support system, many do not. Many veterans have no family or friends or the ones that do, do not understand why their veteran is moody, reclusive, or cannot hold a job. There are many ways that any civilian can help. Beside donations to their local emergency shelters with personal care items, clothing, food or cash, they can volunteer as mentors, help raise funds for programs, or volunteer at Stand Down programs. Stand Down programs are two to three day events where homeless veterans can get free shelter, healthcare, food, clothing, VA benefits counseling and much more (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans).
In it’s pursuit to also improve treatment for veterans, the VA issues a Performance and Accountability Report. In the 2010 report they reported that they achieved 54 percent of their goal for improvement with a 34 percent improvement in performance only. The report also states that they spent $534 million to help end Veteran homelessness. This money served 90,000 veterans through outreach initiatives, which is an 11 percent increase from the previous year. They report that 18,00 veterans have received permanent housing as well as created a National Call Center for Homeless Veterans. The center received 7,559 from March 1 through July 31, 2010 (Department of Veterans Affairs).
In addition to addressing the homeless veteran problem and taking steps to improve the situation, the VA recognizes that their mental health services are lacking. They state that in the “treatment of mental health disorders, the current system fails to support and may even create disincentives to recovery.” In addition to the VA’s Suicide Hotline, they have stepped up their outreach to suicidal veterans by creating online chat services and monitoring Facebook for veterans that express suicidal thoughts. They have also formed a small workgroup to develop a list of suggestions for devising a new mental health rating (Department of Veterans Affairs).
Though there have been great strides in improving the state of medical care for PTSD suffers and outreach to homeless veterans over the last few years, there is still more to be done. But I believe that much of this needs to come from the American public. Until they realize that veterans are still rapidly becoming homeless and that mental illness is the leading cause, the government is only going fund only what they have to, to appease those that are paying attention. Awareness is the key to more funding from the government and action from the public will help. In a country that sends millions, if not billions of dollars to forgiven countries in time of disaster, they are blind to the disaster happening on their own doorstep.
Works Cited
National Coalition for the Homeless. “How Many People Experience Homelessness? -National Coalition for the Homeless.” National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/>.
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. “Background & Statistics -National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.” National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, n.d. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm#facts>.
Department of Veterans Affairs. “What is PTSD?.” National Center for PTSD. United States Department of Veterans Affairs, 05 Oct 2010. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://www.ptsd.va.gov/index.asp>.
Department of Veterans Affairs. “Fiscal Year 2010 Performance and Accountability Report.” United States Department of Veterans Affairs, 15 Nov 2010. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.va.gov/budget/report/index.asp>.
Tanielian, Terri, and Lisa H. Jaycox. Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. 1st ed. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008. <http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG720>. Also available in print form.
Elliott, Jr., Kenneth. Personal Interview by Cynthia Morgan. 08 May 2011. 10 May 2011.
A few weeks ago I had the privilege to catch USm Alumni, Jamie Bates, over at the Cook Library as he was setting up his exhibit, KKK Project. I ask that you keep your mind open and listen to the interview. The photo essay is not to promote the KKK but to bring awareness. The photographs are very powerful and if you can not get to the USM campus in Hattiesburg, MS, then be sure to check out Mr. Bates website, www.kkkproject.com.
I am taking a media class at USM. I have had to do several projects with several different programs; photoshop, In Design and now Audacity. Last November I did a special thing for the Marine Corps Birthday, live on the Southern Miss Today radio show. I was asked if I had recorded it, I had not. So I thought this would be a great thing to do for my Audacity project. I hope ya’ll like it.
Bayou Boy is a Louisiana Owner/Operator that I met a few years ago. He is now pulling a drop deck and thinking about buying a double drop. Here is the podcast of the chat I had with him on the show.
Since the 1970s, WUSM-FM (88.5 fm), Southern Miss’ own radio station, has brought music and campus news to the Hattiesburg area.
According to WUSM’s website, the station “celebrates American roots music with a strong Mississippi influence,” meaning the station mainly plays music by Mississippi musicians. However, according to interdisciplinary studies major and Southern Miss Today host Cindy Morgan, the station is shaking things up this year.
“The format of the music we play on the station has changed in the last year with Justin Martin taking it over,” Morgan said. “We have gotten away from playing the ‘grandma and grandpa’ music and now play music that will interest the 20, 30, and 40 somethings.”
These new formats include shows such as Synchronicity (alternative), Electronic Phonics (dance), Nine O’Clock News (new music), and much more.
With a library of 60,000 songs, the station has a plethora of genres to offer.
“I immediately gravitated to WUSM since their music taste mirrored my own in so many ways,” said junior biochemistry major Michael Samel. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard one of my favorite songs – the type of song that compels you to roll down all the windows and sing as loudly as you can.”
In addition to the music shows is Southern Miss Today, a live news segment produced by junior broadcast journalism major Houston Hunt and hosted by Morgan and Printz staff member Courtney Carter. The half-hour show is broadcast at noon Monday through Thursday and features campus and community news and interviews with faculty, students, people in the community and local bands.
The personality differences among the approximately 20 staffers at WUSM is what Morgan believes brings diversity to both Southern Miss Today and the music shows.
“I am older and have different interests and more ‘life’ experience than Courtney does,” Morgan said. “But it is that difference that makes the shows we host unique, informative and entertaining. The listening audience, no matter how old they are, can find something that will interest them.”
The station is supported solely on listener donations, which Morgan said has been a huge hurdle to clear.
“There are many things that we all envision for the station, but need the money to buy the equipment,” Morgan said. “Being a public radio station means that we are listener-supported and need donations and sponsorships from them and area businesses. With the change in format, we are getting more listeners and the word is spreading about the station.”
“We want people to let us know what they think because we want to be the voice of the community,” Hunt said.
“I find that no other FM radio stations cover the range and depth of music that WUSM offers,” Samel said. “The station will remain number one on my radio presets as long as I’m in Hattiesburg.”
For the entire schedule of the shows and more information on how to support WUSM, visit southernmissradio.com. The station also broadcasts online, so listeners can tune in wherever they may be.
At the request of several fans, I have created a Facebook Fan page. So now, not only can you listen to the podcast on this website but you access the podcast of the interviews that air on the show from there. I will also keep ya updated with what’s happening with the show and the fans can make song requests. I have really enjoyed creating, producing and hosting the show and talking with the listeners. The music library is expanding and connections are being made with the people that create and preform the truckin’ music that ya’ll love so much. So go to the page and hit the “Like” button. Here is a link to the page:
The contest ends February 9th. I was up around 50th for a bit but have dropped back down to 112. Please help me get back up in the ranking before the contest ends. You can vote at least once every 12 hours. This money will help me pay the bills while I am going to the University of Southern Mississippi to try to start my life over after the devastating injury to my both of my wrists two years ago. Thanks to everyone that has been voting all along and to everyone that continues to vote.
I know that I have let things go a bit on the site and my blog for a little while. I spent today updating everything as well as adding a new page. This page will have podcast of some of the interviews and commentary that I have and will do for the two shows I do on the University of Southern Mississippi’s radio station, WUSM. Just click on the logo in the sling-door header at the top of this page to go to hear the podcast.
During the semester I am the host of the noon show ”Southern Miss Today” on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We do interviews, talk about campus happenings and what is going on in the area. We also have a segment called “Meet the Students” where we talk to random students to find out who we are sharing the campus with.
I am the DJ for “Gear Jammin Radio” every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. (a show of my own creation). The show features trucking music. Believe it or not, it’s not just bluegrass and country, there is also some rock & roll. We talk to real drivers and I comment on what is going on in the trucking industry today.
You can listen to WUSM in the local area of Hattiesburg, MS. on your radio at 88.5 or online at www.southernmissradio.com.
You can also send me a request for a trucking song at wusm@usw.edu. Please put Gear Jammin Radio in the subject line.
