Last week long standing Rotarian Burnie Kibbler was awarded Honorary Membership of the Rotary Club of Cowra for the many years of service he has dedicated to the service of the Cowra and larger communities through his membership of the Cowra Rotary Club since 1968.
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Burnie has been an active member of the Cowra Rotary club since first attending meetings with the view to joining in late 1968.
He was inducted into the club in early 1969 and served many times on the board including being President in 1973-74.
Burnie will be the first to admit that he is slowing down a little now, and surely he is entitled to do so, but he still attends meetings whenever he is able and can still be seen helping the members on various occasions.
He is also ever ready to advise we members who have nowhere near his experience, and would be one of the most respected members of the club.
Very few are granted the title of Honorary Member and Burnie is one who is definitely deserving of this accolade. Well done Burnie and hopefully this will only be another step in your continuing association with Cowra Rotary.
Also on Thursday Bernard Clancy spoke to the club. Bernard is a Vietnam Veteran who refuses to allow Post Traumatic Stress Disease to be ignored by successive governments.
PTSD is, and has always been, a result of young men and women being sent off to war and after the horrendous suffering and carnage they are forced to witness and endure, being told that when it is over they are to just resume a normal life and basically forget all that they have encountered. Of course this is almost impossible and we have all been touched in some way by the resultant PTSD which affects in some way or other about 50-70% of those who serve.
It was most severely shown to us by those who returned from the Vietnam War and has now been diagnosed as a disease which can not only affect returned servicemen but others in the community as well.
Bernard explained many of the causes which have been identified including the training engaged in by servicemen and women which although being necessary to produce effective soldiers is not easily dispensed with when the war is over. He also pointed out to those assembled some of the ways which the mind is affected and explained why there is such a need for ongoing help.
Many of those affected do not even realise they have a problem for many years and when you realise that over 30,000 have served in deployments since the year 2000 and are still engaged in conflicts, we will have to address this problem for many years yet.
Many of us left his address with a whole new understanding of why our fathers, grandfathers, brothers, sons and other loved ones acted (or in some cases still act) as they do. This was again a speaker with much to give to his audience and another reason to attend Rotary meetings; to hear and learn about things and people which affect our whole community from those most closely involved.
- Cowra Rotary
