By Stephen Smoot
Military veterans have earned a special place because they learn what most cannot, do things that most will not, and are sent places to perform tasks that most will never understand. Both their training and their military experience, especially those who served in combat, make military service not just another job.
The aspects of service that elevate military veterans from others also separate. These walls often block out non military friends and family and lead to needs that only other veterans will understand.
From this need came the inspiration for Chris and Melissa Grimes to expand their veteran oriented services at Mountain Cajun Getaways. At 10 a.m. on Feb. 7, they will start having coffee socials for veterans.
“Anyone who has been in the military has been trained to work and operate in a different environment,” says Chris Grimes, who is also a military veteran with 18 years of service. He explained that the military environment relies on orders given and obeyed through a chain of command. When it works properly, he described working in the military as being part of “a well-oiled machine”
“We’re all mutually broken,” he explained. “We do things in a certain way.”
He stated that veterans feel a sense of frustration and even anxiety when their family has civilian reactions to military style. He shared that “you can ask my boys. Dad would get so upset so quick . . . A mission oriented mindset is not always what others have.”
Alexandra Pajak, a social worker who specializes in veteran mental health, wrote in “Psychiatric Times” in 2016 that many do not grasp “unique challenges faced by families of veterans.” She also stated that in cases where the veteran has some level of post traumatic stress disorder, that “both military members and their spouses report lower marital satisfaction, especially in terms of poor parenting alliance and negative communication.”
The family dynamic serves as an example of situations that can add to a veteran’s sense of frustration. The Grimeses decided that one way to help lies in giving veterans space to talk, to share, and to relax in an environment with others who understand.
“You ask veterans what they miss the most, 90 percent of them will say ‘the camaraderie,’” Chris Grimes stated. He said that he asked the question, “How do you fix the camaraderie?”
Their plan is to provide a space where veterans can congregate and conversate. He explained that the ideal scenario could look like this, “we have a couple of people in the sugar shack; we’re making maple syrup and talking. One person gets up and grabs some wood. Someone else jumps in and helps.”
Along the way, veterans talk about the issues of their life, share stories, bond, and talk each other through life’s hassles and frustrations.
Chris Grimes said that “everyone has anxiety. Everyone has these issues.” He added that providing “things to do, giving people purpose” helps considerably.
The social program will add to Mountain Cajun Getaway’s core mission of serving veterans and their families. As a non profit that partners with Future Generations University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and others, Mountain Cajun Getaway has crafted programs that help to strengthen veteran connections with each other and, also very important, their families.
Mountain Cajun Getaways hosts veterans and their families to come out to Circleville and experience a different pace and style of life that encourages connection and discourages the distractions of modern life. Donations and grants pay the costs. They hosted 17 families in 2023 and three thus far in 2024.
Proceeds from maple syrup and other products made go back into supporting efforts to help veterans.
For the Grimes family, helping veterans is not merely a job or a business, but a way to continue a vital mission.
“I will always give back,” Chris Grimes said.
