My pledge to you: complete anonymity upon request.
I’m going to be perfectly frank with you right now and admit that I have no idea what I’m doing. Not a fucking clue. Over the last couple of months I have spent a lot of time doing research, talking to people, sending e-mails, and generally being an advocate for veterans, especially those with quinism.
There’s no course I’m aware of that teaches quinism advocacy, at least not yet, and there is no manual or job description. I’m literally making this up as I go along, doing this on the fly, walking on a tightrope without a net, pick your idiom.
Yet, somehow, there have been successes. Nothing huge, but one at a time, veterans and their families are starting to hear the message. If I have helped to save even one life, then it will have been worth it, and the prospect of being able to help another vet or their family is what keeps me going.
This is a learning process for me, so please be patient while I get my collective shit together. One of the things that I have managed to figured out is that I am some kind of a hybrid of advocate and investigative journalist. In either position, confidentiality is sacrosanct, as is being able to establish a sense of trust.
So, I’m going to lay out for you what you can expect from me if you should decide to contact me about anything, and vice versa.
- I will respect any request for confidentiality, and will change the names of the people involved, as well as conceal their locations.
- I will not publish specific information about children.
- It works best if you can be frank and open with me, but if there is anything you would NOT like me to write about, let me know and I won’t go there.
- I will send you a copy of the story before I publish it, enabling you to have the final say about what goes in it.
- If you tell me something that makes me believe that your life or the lives of others are in danger, I will alert the appropriate authorities immediately.
- I will respect the journalistic ethos of confidentiality for all sources.
The rules apply to ANYONE and EVERYONE who contacts me regardless of the topic. Also don’t tell me about any unsolved crimes that you may have been a party to, I don’t need that kind of a headache in my life.
If you are a veteran, or the spouse, child, parent, relative of, or friend of one feel free to send me an email at mefloquinestories@gmail.com. If you need help, I’ll connect you with the people and organizations that can help you. If you ever just need to vent, you can do that, and if you would like me to tell your story I’ll do that too.
I’m in this with you.
D.B.C.
The Advocate-Equalizer 
My name is Bruce Given. I am a veteran who served from 1977-2000 & retired voluntarily in my 24th year of service, my health was deteriorating. I had so many difficulties after retirement while in a dream job, (hired on as a civilian to the base in a former position I held in the military) I redressed my release & hadn’t turned over to a medical discharge primarily for PTSD. First diagnosed as 50% a subsequent series of tests a year or more later boosted it to 65%. 19 years later still a wreck. Topping it off with the reality of Quinism, I took that for 6 months in Haiti in 1995, it connects missing pieces in what I endured & continue to do so. Divorced after 24 years, divorced a second time 6 years later. Financial ruin, business ruin, lawyer debt, quadruple bypass in 2010, stent in 2011, had psychiatrist & psychologist therapy along with multiple meds for years, skipped several years & became suicidal when I got reconnected with therapy. Multiple medications reduced by half with the use of medical marijuana & that has been a fight of it’s own. Qent to the media on PTSD issues & had phone calls but that was it. Complained to Alberta College Surgeons, turned down, did the redirection to Ontario College of Surgeons & same thing. Long story, plenty of previous letters etc to the facts as I saw & experienced them.
Maybe of some interest?
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