About US
When Veterans return home suffering from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, or both, their transition into civilian life can be especially difficult. Co-founded by the wife of a Marine who served in Iraq, Hearts of Patriots understands the challenges faced by caregivers of Veterans with invisible wounds of war.
denise@heartsofpatriots.org
Denise’s professional background is in the performing arts and has worked in the field of dance and theatre as a teacher, dancer, author and choreographer. In 1992 she founded the non-profit Ohio Dance Theatre, a professional ballet based contemporary dance company serving as the company’s Artistic Director for twenty-five years. In 2014, motivated by her daughter Megan’s experience as the spouse of a veteran with PTSD and TBI, (traumatic brain injury) Denise began working on a new project intended to bring attention to the ongoing struggles faced by families whose veterans suffer from invisible wounds of war. The result was an original multi-media theatrical stage production entitled Blood Stripe, a Spouse’s Story which premiered at Cleveland Public Theatre in the spring of 2015.
The performance sparked conversations with audience members who saw their own families reflected on stage. To share Blood Stripe’s message more widely, Denise pursued developing a film documentary and receiving an Individual Artist award 2017 to begin the project which ultimately laid the groundwork for Hearts of Patriots becoming a 501(c)(3). While the film achieved its goal of educating the public and validating spouses’ experiences, it also revealed a deeper need for direct support, leading to the launch of broader direct programming for Veteran families in Lorain County and Northeast Ohio in 2022.
“Like so many spouses, Megan spent years trying to understand the changes in her relationship — only realizing through research and connection with other veterans’ families that her husband’s PTSD and TBI were behind the growing distance. Their family found hope because Megan learned just how vital her role was in helping them navigate life with invisible wounds. Hearts of Patriots exists so that others don’t have to walk that path alone or wait years to understand what they’re experiencing — and what they’re capable of overcoming..”
— Denise Weller
megan@heartsofpatriots.org
Megan has 20 years’ experience in nonprofit management and development with a concentration on the strategic and financial aspects of operating a nonprofit organization.A mother of three and the wife of a 3/25 Marine, and as the co-founder of Hearts of Patriots, she advocates for veterans and their families, ensuring that spouses of veterans who suffer from invisible wounds are not alone throughout their difficult journey as caregivers. While many valuable organizations are fighting for our Veterans, very few focus exclusively on their caregivers and families like Hearts of Patriots. The spouses are often the ones who work tirelessly to keep their families together. As a caregiver herself, Megan understands the vital role spouses play in maintaining family stability and holding the family together. In many cases, it is the spouse who provides an emotional anchor for husbands and fathers keeping them from becoming one of the 22 veterans a day that commit suicide.
“After my husband returned from Iraq with PTSD and TBI, I spent a decade confused and alone, not clearly understanding the impact war had on our family. During that time, I felt completely isolated and alone and often wondered if I had the strength to go on. I never want another spouse to feel so isolated. Unless we are strong, emotionally healthy and well educated, we as caregivers are unable to continue on our journey.”
— Megan Cain
Megan knew the risks when her husband was deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines in January 2005. But Operation Iraqi Freedom was especially hard on the members of his unit. Forty-six Marines and two Navy Corpsmen were killed during their yearlong tour, including 23 over a particularly devastating three-month stretch in the summer of 2005.
While Megan’s husband, Jeremy was one of the lucky ones who survived, the infantryman and squad leader was not unscathed by the events of his tour and that had a deep impact on him.
Jeremy’s war experiences, including three IED explosions, left him with PTSD and a Traumatic Brain Injury. When he returned from Iraq, Megan was ecstatic to have him home but was unprepared for the different man who came back. Along with several minor physical injuries, he experienced severe mood swings and memory loss.
The days and weeks that followed were a struggle and her husband seemed like a stranger. Megan didn’t understand what was happening. During that time, she felt completely helpless and alone. Feeling somehow responsible for the deterioration of their marriage and unwilling to discuss what was happening with anyone, she continued to feel lost and isolated. Finally, there was an incident that arose that made Megan fearful she might lose her children and that she needed to seek help.
She desperately continued researching everything she could find to learn and understand more about PTSD, TBI, and its effects on combat veterans. She also signed up her husband for several retreats, attended several by herself, and included the whole family in others. Through these opportunities, they began to come to terms with the situation and recognize that they would need to find a new normal and commit to working together to forge a new future for their family.
They knew things would never be the way they were and realized it would never be easy. Their life will always be challenging. But with education and understanding, support and counseling, they have learned how to recognize triggers and how to deal with them. The children have come to understand that sometimes things are just more difficult for their father. And Jeremy has learned to recognize when he feels like he is losing control to remove himself from the situation until he is in a better place.
In January 2005, 180 members of the 3/25 Marines mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Between March 2005 and their deactivation in January 2006, the Marines of 3rd Battalion had lost 46 Marines and two Navy Corpsmen.
Twenty-three Marines were killed in action during three months in the summer of 2005. In May 2005, nine more Marines lost their lives, Two more Marines and one Navy Corpsman were killed in action that July. Then in August, eleven more of the Company riding in an amphibious assault vehicle were killed by a roadside bomb attack.
In all 46 of the “Three deuce five” were lost that summer.
Hearts of Patriots was created in honor of the Families and Marines of the 3rd Battalion 25th Marine Corps
