l-r John Batiste, US Army RET -Stand for the Troops (SFTT) PTSD Campaign Chair; Greenwich native and journalist Rita Cosby, Command Sergeant Major Sylvia Laughlin, US Army Garrison -- Fort Hamilton; Lorraine Cancro (Photography: Tracy Young)
Greenwich, CT - Caroline's on Broadway in New York, normally dark on Mondays, was packed for a stellar evening of Stand Up comedy from Lewis Black and Vic Henley on September 12. Pete Dominick emceed the first comedy benefit for Greenwich-based Stand For The Troops, the non-partisan advocate for American's frontline troops.
Before turning the microphone over to the three famed comics who performed pro bono, SFTT co-founder and chair Eilhys England Hackworth announced the Foundation's new PTSD initiative and introduced SFTT PTSD Campaign Chair MAJGEN John Batiste, US Army RET; campaign Co-Chair noted psychologist Dr. Henry Grayson, Ph.D with practices in Westport, CT and New York; and SFTT CDS Warrior Salute's GEN Robert Mixon, US Army Ret.
SFTT is collaborating with CDS Warrior Salute on a Rochester-based Pilot Treatment Program, and developing a local referral resource. Because PTSD affects 1 in every 5 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan while eighteen (18) vets a day commit suicide, and Traumatic Brain Injury is the legacy injury of returning vets, this initiative complements SFTT's B.E.S.T. BASIC FIVE Campaign to give our fighting men and women the best chance to make in home alive and in one piece by getting them the best personal combat gear: body armor, helmets, rifles, sidearms, and boots.
l-r MAJGEN John Batiste, US Army RET -Stand for the Troops (SFTT) PTSD Campaign Chair; Lewis Black; GEN Robert Mixon, US Army RET - CDS Warrior Salute; Greenwich resident Eilhys England Hackworth, Stand for the Troops (SFTT) Chair (Photography: Denise Truscello)
Among those in the capacity audience were broadcast journalist Rita Cosby, journalist and author Catherine Crier, SFTT President Fred Tanne, Lorraine Cancro, Helene Barre of Greenwich, Kathalynn Davis of Stamford, Darrah Gleason of Greenwich, Dave Kohn and Joan Young of Eastchester, and Edmund Duffy of New York City.
Proceeds from the evening support SFTT Foundation's unique mission and commitment to safeguarding the physical and mental wellbeing of men and women deployed on the frontlines. Greenwich, CT-based SFTT (www.sftt.org) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, apolitical, nonpartisan educational foundation. SFTT relies on memberships and contributions from individuals, veterans, foundations and B.E.S.T. committee and STAND UP benefit events to keep the Foundation's work going and growing.
ABOUT SFTT Foundation
Stand For The Troops (SFTT.org) was founded by the late Col. David Hackworth and Eilhys England Hackworth to educate our country's citizens on the need to give a voice to our serving sons and daughters and to demand that they receive: Equipment superior to the best an enemy can employ against them; Training that fully prepares them to succeed in all assigned missions and first-rate Treatment for the mental trauma of combat, and; Leadership dedicated to selfless service and the timeless values of duty, honor, and country. Through news breaking reporting on our website www.SFTT.org, which is regularly monitored and sought out by major media, SFTT has been instrumental in shining the bright light of public scrutiny on injustices from substandard body armor and other pieces of critical personal combat gear to anthrax vaccines to Abu Ghraib.
SFTT has been the source, credited and noted for recent front page articles and news segments in the New York Times and the Washington Post, Washington Times, 60 Minutes, NBC, CNN and other national broadcast news programs.
In spring 2009, an SFTT collaborative project with The Washington Times earned a Sigma Delta Chi Award for public service from the Society for Professional Journalists for the series of articles, "Disposable Heroes." It exposed the unethical treatment of vulnerable veterans of Iraq and other frontline duty during a Veterans Affairs medical experiment and resulted in a congressional hearing and major changes to the way the Dept. of Veterans' Affairs will conduct future medical experiments on America's veterans.
SFTT is a nonpartisan, apolitical 501(c)3 organization that is supported by memberships and donations from concerned individuals and foundations. More information can be found on the Stand for The Troops website: www.SFTT.org.
