By Melissa Cooney, WCAX – Sep. 19, 2021

It takes courage to speak, it takes courage to listen. That’s the motto at the Vets Town Hall, which was hosted in Burlington Sunday afternoon.

It’s the fourth and final event of its kind in Vermont this summer. At a town hall, all veterans are invited to share their experiences serving our country. The goal is to reconnect servicemen and women with their community and initiate constructive conversations without judgment.

“As servicemen and women, we’re taught to compartmentalize a lot of our emotion in order to complete the task, to carry on with the mission, and unfortunately that’s a habit that continues into the civilian sector and once we’re out of service,” said Jon Turner, the town hall host and a veteran. “I think that a lot of times family members don’t understand that. We’ve had folks come up afterward and say, ‘I understand my dad more now,’ or, ‘I understand my mom more now.’”

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