To serve those who have served is as great an honor as can be bestowed to any practitioner of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in the United States of America. It is in this great country where we have the freedom to learn from and assimilate the best of all cultures into the mainstream cultural milieu of today. We can only be grateful for the freedom to embrace a way of life that is congruent with the beliefs and values that we hold as our basic truths. As we educate ourselves, we become able to seize our personal power which lies in informed choice. Our freedom….American freedom….is about choice. Those who protect our freedom are heroes who we must treasure for the invaluable gems that they are.
As part of the event, representatives from the school talked with service people about the benefits of acupuncture and provided acupuncture treatments for those wishing to give it a try free of charge. We were able to demonstrate treatments for stress, headaches, body pains and muscular injuries, and PTSD. The fact that acupuncture is a proven effective treatment for a variety of physical ailments outside of musculoskeletal ailments was something that was widely unknown although there were also several Service People who had been using acupuncture for some time and were well informed on its wide scope. On the way back to my car (we had to park at a lot off-site so we were shuttled by volunteers), the Veteran who drove me told me that he was from Philadelphia and that a lot of the Veterans from Pennsylvania had come up to New Jersey for the event. He was happy and thrilled that the event in Morristown was growing and thriving. He thanked me for being there. It was a great irony and reversal being thanked to participate at Veteran’s Stand Down. It was an honor for all of us who participated at the Stand Down to be a part of an event that benefits the women and men who protect us and guard our way of life. We are already planning and looking forward to Veterans Stand Down 2017!
Dr. Thomas Kouo, DAOM, L.Ac., Dipl. OM. (NCCAOM)
Academic Dean
The Eastern School of Acupuncture & Traditional Medicine
One’s True Reflection Can Only Be Seen in Still Waters
