Veterans’ Resiliency Symposium: Homecoming and Moral Injury, Vietnam to Present Day

Join NAMI Maine and the Bureau of Veterans Services on May 16^th at University of Maine Augusta (UMA Theatre & Gallery), for the 2025 Veterans’ Resiliency Symposium: Homecoming and Moral Injury, Vietnam to Present Day.  There will be panel discussions and speakers about moral injury, physical and mental health, peer support, veterans in indigenous communities, community supports and more. Registration 7-8 AM, Symposium 8 AM – 4 PM.

Food will be provided.  There will be a lunch-time screening of Personal Courage, and a Q&A with the film’s director, Lucian Reed. To learn more about the film, go to the Personal Courage Website.

Keynote speaker Jim Chancellor, will be gifting all attendees with a copy of his book, “Til Death Due Us Part” and he will be available to sign after his presentation. Mr. Chancellor is well-educated on the issues facing our nation’s heroes and has been featured on the same agenda as President Ronald Reagan, Colin Powell, Vice President Al Gore, Ross Perot, Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

A U.S. Army combat veteran who served as a Door Gunner in the Vietnam War, Chancellor, shares his experience with audiences across the nation. Through educational workshops, he creates the awareness that war does not simply end when the veteran returns home, for some it only begins. Chancellor’s mission is to use his hard earned lessons of the past, and how he has successfully overcome PTSD, to help bring light to our struggling veterans. See More About Our Keynote >

Visit resource tables and community programs in the gallery throughout the day.  

This training is eligible for contact hours for continuing education for licensure. The low registration cost for this program is made possible through generous funding from the Bingham Foundation Grant.

Event Attendance: Open to Public
Civilian Registration = $30
Current or Prior Service Members, Registration = $15 (*Use code “HalfOff” at checkout)

AGENDA:

7:00 – 8:00am – Registration Check In

8:00am – Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance – Brigadier General Diane Dunn, Commissioner for the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management and Adjutant General, Maine National Guard

SEMINARS: _________________

8:15am – Exploring Moral Injury – COL Earl E. Weigelt, Maine National Guard Clergy

8:45am – The Complex Correlation Between Moral Injury, Physical and Mental Health – Reverend Madonna J. Arsenault, Chaplain Volunteers of  America, Shay Moral Injury Center, and Spiritual Care Services of Maine and Dr. Timothy Usset, Veterans Health Administration

9:45am – Panel Discussion the Benefits of Peer Support and Alternative Therapies – Kelsey Bailey, Coordinator Veterans Upward Bound, and Reverend Madonna J. Arsenault, Chaplain Volunteers of America; Director Scott Hutcherson, Vet Center Lewiston, Maine Paws for Veterans
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10:15am – Break

10:30am – Veterans’ Art Program – Khristina Kurasz, Program Director, Maine Arts Commission

11:00am – Lunch and Film Screening – Personal Courage (80 minutes)

12:30pm – Q&A with Director Lucian Reed

1:00pm – Keynote Speaker, Vietnam War Combat Veteran, and Author, Jim Chancellor

2:00pm – Break

2:15pm – Maine’s Welcome Home & Fort Drum Project – Steven Lanning, Deputy Director, and Jaime Robichaud – Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services

2:45pm – Welcome Home – Veterans Transitioning Back to Maine – Veterans Benefits Administration; Amy Line, Director of Military & Veterans Services at the University of Maine – Augusta; Bradley Stuetz, Disabled Veteran Outreach Program Specialist at the Augusta CareerCenter – Maine Department of Labor Veterans Programs; and Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services, Claims Supervisor Barrett Fisher and Deputy Supervisor, Matthew Kennedy

3:15pm – Closing Remarks – David Richmond, Director Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services