By Lee Davis
Col. C.H. “Stretch” Dunn of Hoover has already given much to his country.
A 1966 graduate of the United States Military Academy, Dunn served in Vietnam, where he earned the Silver Star and three other awards for valor. He spent 26 years in the Army before retiring to enter private business in 1992.
In the years that followed, Dunn worked for the engineering firm BE&K. In his spare time, he gave motivational and leadership talks and co-authored two books.
Although no longer in the military, Dunn still is working to help men and women in uniform. He is an active supporter of the Alabama National Cemetery and has also become involved in a new organization, the Veterans Leadership Ministry, which reaches out to those who have experienced the trauma of war.
“Even those who come out of war without suffering a physical injury suffer from a concept called moral injury,” Dunn said. “It’s an injury to an individual’s moral conscience resulting from an act of moral transgression which produces emotional shame. The concept emphasizes the psychological, cultural and spiritual aspects of trauma. The term is used in literature on the mental health of military veterans who have witnessed or perpetuated a morally transgressive act in combat.”
Dunn first became interested in the ministry after he and Col. Bob Barefield, who also works with the Alabama National Cemetery, in Nov. 2014 attended a conference in Sarasota, Florida, dealing with hidden wounds and moral injury.
“War has a way of damaging the soul,” Dunn said. “We felt by dealing with it from a spiritual perspective, we could help in an empathetic and non-judgmental way.”
The ministry, which is based out of Bluff Park United Methodist Church, has a simple and powerful mission statement: “To provide a safe place of acceptance and healing for men and women quietly suffering from the effects of war.” The Veterans Leadership Ministry’s method, called the Flow, is to listen, love, trust, talk and heal, all in complete confidentiality.
Veterans from all wars and all faiths are encouraged to participate in the ministry. The ministry will be staffed by 50 trained volunteers. “We’re caring amateurs engaged in a professional process to receive service members and their families,” Dunn said. “We want this ministry to be a non-prejudicial safe haven for veterans.”
The biggest challenge may be getting veterans to come to the ministry for the first time.
“Patience and persistence on our part is going to be essential,” he said.
Dunn’s own war experiences shaped his passion for the ministry. His West Point class of 1966 had more officers killed in Vietnam than any other class at the academy. One of them was Capt. Tommy Hayes, his best friend.
The ministry comes as November marks the 50th anniversary of the first major battle in the Vietnam War, and Dunn believes the war left an indelible mark on the national fabric. Of particular importance was the Tet Offensive of January 1968, in which North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces engaged in a massive assault on South Vietnam’s urban areas.
“The Tet Offensive left a tremendous impact and changed the psychology of the country to this day,” Dunn said. “The political powers and country at large were not prepared to do what it took to win. North Vietnam’s General (Vo Nguyen) Giap knew what it took to wear us down. If they couldn’t beat us on the battlefield, they could destroy our will to fight – which is what they did.”
America’s toll in Vietnam was heavy. More than 58,000 American troops were killed and more than 1,600 remain missing and unaccounted for to this day.
Dunn said veterans of particular wars may come back with different issues and concerns. For example, many Vietnam veterans felt ostracized by their fellow citizens when they returned home from the war. Veterans of more recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq may still feel lingering fear from the constant threat of improvised explosive devices – even years after they’ve returned to the United States.
Some of the trauma that soldiers serving in combat zones must deal with comes from the home front, Dunn pointed out.
“As long as there have been wars, soldiers have had to deal with bad news from home such as the death of a loved one, a house fire, an automobile accident, break-ups and divorces,” he said. “They have that feeling of powerlessness that something’s wrong and there’s nothing they can do.”
Dunn hopes the ministry will have an impact in the Bluff Park and surrounding areas, but all veterans regardless of their residence are encouraged to come.
“Our entire congregation has a role to play, even if they aren’t volunteers for the ministry,” Dunn said. “Everyone can pray for the ministry.”
Dunn said he thinks of his late friend Tommy Hayes every day. “I want Tommy to know that we did everything we could to help the veterans that are here,” he said.
For more information about Veterans Leadership Ministry, go to its website www.veteransleadershipministry.org.
