"What is Our Badge of Courage?" Let's find out with Sreven TONIGHT & Warriors for Life (WFL)
Join our Volunteer, Air Force Veteran, Peer Support Specialist/AdultTrainer, and Writer/Author Steven Bates TONIGHT for "Mid-Week Musings!" edition of Warriors for Life (WFL) Online, sponsored and presented by Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV).
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"What is Our Badge of Courage?"
Let's discuss what we consider our "Badge of Courage" tonight with Air Force veteran, author, and Peer Support Specialist Steven Bates with the Warriors for Life Mid-Week Musings Peer Support Group, brought to you by VictoryforVeterans.org.
"On this day in 1895, a book by a 24-year-old Stephen Crane was published called 'The Red Badge of Courage.' It is the story of a young man, drawn into war, whose hopes are to someday earn his 'red badge of courage', which is that of a war wound, so that he may prove his courage, his bravery, and his manhood. Throughout the novel, young Henry is tested in many ways; his courage falters upon his first encounter, he deserts his regiment in the face of a feared defeat, and he watches his best friend pass away from wounds from the war. In the end, Henry never receives his 'red badge of courage', yet he does receive a realization that a wound does not make a hero. In the last words of the novel, the line is said that Henry has 'rid himself of the red sickness of battle' and that he now thirsts for the existence of a soft and eternal peace. The anniversary of this novel made me think, 'What do we consider to be our Badge of Courage?' Is it a medal we earned, the rank we made, the fear we faced without hesitation? What do each of us find courage in?"
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Warriors for Life (WFL) Online "Mid-Week Musings!" edition presented by Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV) — Every Wednesday Evening, September 30, 2026, @ 4:30 PM PT, 5:30 PM MT, 6:30 PM CT, & 7:30 PM ET
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87440882846
Thank you,
Steven Bates, Air Force Veteran, Writer/Author, Peer Support Specialist/Adult Trainer, & Volunteer Facilitator, Victory for Veterans, Inc.
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