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The Resilient Warrior: Healing the Hidden Wounds of War with Meditation

As one of the last surviving American World War II fighter pilots, Jerry Yellin, 86, is a great inspiration to younger would-be servicemen.

He was decorated with the highest awards for bravery in combat missions over the Pacific, but the former Army Corps captain’s greatest interest lies in inspiring those who are leaving combat and re-entering society; those who must bear the hidden wounds of war in the midst of everyday life.

Because he, like many war veterans, suffered silently for many years with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And it was 30 years before he found relief and, eventually, healing when he started practising Transcendental Meditation (TM). He believes it saved his life.

Now he wants to help hundreds of thousands of other veterans who are suffering with the disconnection, nightmares, flashbacks, emptiness and agitation of PTSD, by introducing them to the same technique. His own healing process, described in his new book The Resilient Warrior, will strike a chord in the hearts of many war veterans.

At a very young age, Yellin encountered death on a daily basis and lost many, if not most, of his comrades during flying missions against Japan. But in the midst of warfare,  he writes, there was certainty.

"All of us knew who we were fighting and why. ... Then it was over. One day a fighter pilot, the next a civilian. No buddies, no airplane, nothing to hold on to, and no one to talk to. Life, as it was for me from 1945 to 1975, was empty. The highs I had experienced in combat became the lows of daily living. I was not able to find any contentment, any reason to succeed, any connection to anyone that had meaning or value. I was depressed, unhappy, and lonely even though I was surrounded by a loving wife and four sons."

That "lack of emotion, restlessness and hopelessness" lasted until 1975 when he learned Transcendental Meditation.

"In just a few months life became meaningful to me and now, at 86 years of living, I can say that this meditation has brought me peace and contentment."

Many veterans have already learnt Transcendental Meditation with good results, and to give more the chance to try, Yellin has joined forces with filmmaker David Lynch to create the Operation Warrior Wellness programme in response to the high numbers -- estimated at 35% -- of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans suffering from PTSD.

Yellin writes that research on Transcendental Meditation shows it works effectively and much more quickly than conventional approaches to PTSD.

"Sufferers of PTSD, and their loved ones, do not have that time. America does not have that time. We are in crisis mode. ... This is a tool to help them help themselves, not for just a month or two but forever."

Find out more about David Lynch Foundation's Operation Warrior Wellness and the benefit launch in New York.


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