Local Veteran Continues to Serve the Community After Multiple Deployments

Austin, Texas – The local veteran continues to serve despite multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Daniel Morgan is a retired Army colonel and currently serves on the board of directors for the nonprofit Tuesday’s Kids.

Morgan joined Mike Warren of FOX 7 Austin to discuss his future service.

Mike Warren: First, children of Tuesday, what is it? What does it do?

Daniel Morgan: Children’s Tuesday, a non-profit organization that was originally founded on 911, the attack on New York towers, and also on the Pentagon in Pennsylvania, it obviously affected a lot of families who lost either, you know, a loved one from the towers or in an accident. rescue services and police and fire and rescue services. And so these days, children are born from it to take care of these families. The uniqueness of the Children of Tuesday program is that it takes care of families in the long term. There is no timeline associated with it. So it’s an ongoing healing process where we provide programs and services for the time we think they need and for how long they want. Right.

Mike Warren: And you also pay attention to veterans.

Daniel Morgan: Yeah. About ten years ago, we changed and started caring for members of the Gold Star family who lost a loved one, be it a spouse, father or mother while serving in our military. And we provide about 37,000 so far across the country. And one of our top priorities is to continue to expand here in Texas with a population of veterans and Gold Star family members here in the state.

Mike Warren: Right. Now you are also an author. Tell us about it.

Daniel Morgan: Yes, I have written a couple of books, but the most recent one is called Black Hearts and Painted Guns of Italians Traveling the Iraqi Triangle of Death. This was the time when we were hunting for Zarqawi, who at that time was considered the number one terrorist in the global war on terrorism. And the story is written through the eyes of one of our soldiers who was in our court unit named Kelly IADS, and he co-authored the book with me.

Mike Warren: You are no longer a military man, apparently retired, but you still continue to participate. Why?

Daniel Morgan: That’s a very good question, and it’s a difficult question that many veterans ask themselves day in and day out because they are part of a team environment with values, sacrifice and mission allegiance, to everyone. to others and family is something that never leaves you. And so when you leave the military, whether it’s in five years or 20+ years, you really struggle with that type of environment, because it’s a completely different environment when you leave. So being able to provide similar services to veterans, especially Tuesday kids, all proceeds from this book go to Gold Star Tuesday Kids programs, allows me to have a closer connection and allows me to continue to help and serve others as I have done in the past.

Mike Warren: For veterans returning from business trips. What problems do you see for them, and how do they deal with these problems?

Daniel Morgan: Yes, this is a really difficult dilemma that people face in the book. We talk about it, and it’s towards the end of the book, and it’s what I called with Kelly the battlefield at the kitchen table and spouses, you know, or just ordinary family members. If you’re not for the unmarried veterans, they’ve got their own routine, and they’ve got to get on with their lives, you know, whether it’s football games, lacrosse games, church family gatherings. There is no veteran. He is not there because he is on a business trip and doing something else. And so when that veteran comes back, you have two parallel lives that are completely different. And it’s very hard to get back into that routine because you don’t want to do it too fast. Right. And you don’t want to take it too slow. And then it’s hard for a lot of people to understand what this veteran is going through, whether it’s actually a combat fight where you see, without quoting, blood and guts, or it’s just the separation and stress of being separated from his family. Yes, it’s just difficult.

Mike Warren: There are many problems. We don’t have time now. Dan Morgan, we appreciate you coming. And we thank you for your service and your continued service.