No Better Friend: Veterans' Support Group Emerges In SL

Yesterday was Veteran's Day in the US (with similar memorials marking the calendar of many other countries), and that reminded me of an encounter I recently had.  The large Disabled American Veterans non-profit has an official site in Second Life (direct SLURL teleport at this link), but while talking with the woman who helped run it, I kept noticing a man named Gwill Brickworks in a full dress Marine uniform, standing by the entrance.  He wasn't with the DAV staff, he told me, but belonged to a large group already thriving in Second Life: "U.S. Military Veteran", which now has over 500 members.  Their own headquarters, the US Military Veterans Center, is located in Asha-- direct SLURL teleport at this link.

A veteran of the first Gulf War, still suffering from neurogical disorders incurred during the conflict, Gwill doesn't always wear virtual Marine blues, he told me, just when he's on "official" business, greeting veterans at sites like this.

"Second Life has a lot to offer vets," he explained.  "It's a great way for folks with post-traumatic stress disorder to interact on their own terms and have control over their surroundings.  It also allows for those of us with disabilities to do things that we may not be able to do in real life."

As part of their outreach, Gwill and his fellow vets have created a space customized to serve their unique requirements-- which means isolating it from content you might typically see in SL or other virtual worlds.

"We keep our area at the center as a safe zone," said Gwill, "meaning we tell folks no weapons or gestures containing sound effects like that, or sirens... this way there is a place folks can go and sit down to talk and be safe."

That's the other advantage of their virtual space: a controlled environment they can share with other individuals, not as words on a screen, but as avatars, often dressed in the uniform of their branch-- forming a community who can share experiences that few us of who have not served can hardly begin to comprehend.

"Someone you know will understand where you have been," said Gwill Brickworks," and what you are going through now, and saying, 'Listen, this is kinda driving me nuts'...

"Nine [times] out of ten, they know what you mean."

Comments

[Clarrice]

Applauds!! Now this is what Secondlife is all about!

[Faerie]

Is this a possible contender for the current Linden Lab contest?