This is the second article in a two-part series about helping veterans cope and overcome financial problems. Please read Veterans Battle Against Finances first. The steps are: assess the situation, draw up a battle plan, take the high ground, and accept that there will be collateral damage.

It sounds like something JRR Tolkien might have penned as a day of destiny, the end of a quest, an hour set aside for magical powers and the alignment of planets foretelling the future or – as it does – immortalizing the past.

I know personally that financial ruin can befall anyone. Some lessons are hard-learned, so here are some things I learned that might help you, the vet, to a more prosperous life: assess the situation, draw up a battle plan, take the high ground, and accept that there will be collateral damage.

Anticholinesterase agents are a “persistent organophosphate”, meaning it persists in the environment and its effects are cumulative. Once someone is exposed to this organophosphorus anticholinesterase agent, every subsequent exposure causes greater sensitivity to the chemical.

Between 1955 and 1975, almost seven thousand Army soldiers volunteered to help test a new weapon: nerve gas. These 6,720 soldiers were exposed to anticholinesterase, specifically tuban, Sarin, Soman, cyclosarin, and VX. Reports assured the Army that there had been no significant long term effects.

When you think of the battles you must wage throughout life, one of the most terrifying is that of dementia. What if you could find a way to treat dementia? Even if it put thousands of US soldiers through torturous experiments, would the benefit out-weight the cost?

It is my honor to dedicate Bedina's War to all members of the military, past, present, and future, who know War intimately and irrevocably. I also wish to thank the families of soldiers, those who with silent courage wait behind each door.

Fourth in a series of articles written by Critical Thinking Skills students at Jewett School of the Arts. The question they answer is – Does military experience help or hinder a president or presidential candidate? This one looks at George W. Bush.

When the World Says, "These Drugs Will Take an Edge Off Your Depression"

The poppy is associated with service to one’s country and is used to commemorate those who died fighting for their county. If you are from a generation after WWII, you may recognize the symbol but have you given much thought as to why that particular flower was used?