Faith on the Front Lines (Don Malin) | S1E11

Lt. Col. Don served as a chaplain in two tours of duty in Iraq & Afghanistan.  He retired in 2013 as the Chief of Chaplains of the Mississippi National Guard. In his civilian life Don continued his service assisting veterans through the Vet Center in Jackson.

Don has a unique relationship to Crosswinds— on multiple levels. For the purposes of our talk today, though, Don is the man that turned Bob (the founder of Crosswinds) on to the idea of PTSD.

Bob had begun Front Porch Media as a means to use his faith background to discuss cultural trends.

“What’s something in culture that you see needs to be addressed?” Bob asked Don.

“PTSD,” he answered.

Until that point, Bob hadn’t heard about it, so he asked, “What do you mean?” Then— “Tell me about it.”

“Well,” Don replied, “it’s like this… when I got back from deployment, it took me a few years to realize I was in a thunder storm and not under mortar fire.”

In Bob’s own words— and in a story he tells quite often— “that sounded like a strange answer, because I had no experience I could compare. But, we began to study PTSD and learned that it’s very common, it’s something that’s been happening for centuries, and it’s something from which we need to remove a stigma…”

Don is featured in the documentary Crosswinds soon thereafter released about PTSD, Invisible Scars. In the film, Don and other warriors and professionals discuss the emotional and mental wounds— the invisible scars— war often creates…

In this episode, we talk about Don’s background and what led him to enlist…

And then we talk about the things chaplains deal with daily, as trusted counselors and advisors in the theatre of combat.

Soldiers often speak about comoraderie, brotherhood, and the warrior standing beside you….

But there’s also much isolation, as warriors often leave family and friends and full lives behind in order to answer the call.

Don provides us with a unique perspective.

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Learn more about Don’s ministry, CrossSwords at http://www.crossswords.org 

Stream Invisible Scars at www.InvisibleScars.online 

Purchase the book Warrior Family at https://amzn.to/3eAsdYs