These men and women have served their country with great honor, and now they are asking for something very simple: The right to heal.
By Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, No Fallen Heroes Foundation
This time last month I was on the floor. Not in a fighter jet cockpit or boardroom as I’d become accustomed to as a Navy veteran—but in front of the medicine that would change, and quite literally save, my life. Congress should act urgently to allow veterans access to psychedelic therapy.
After carrying the weight of childhood trauma and losing 16 of my fellow fighter pilots and aircrew to aviation mishaps—followed by four more F/A-18 brothers who took their own lives—I found myself searching for something beyond the standard treatments. My only other option was to look inward for the healing I needed.
The psychedelic therapy I received shattered my preconceived notions about God, myself, trauma, and healing. This therapy helped me overcome a decade-long struggle with alcohol. It also brought back a sense of peace and harmony that I hadn’t known I was missing.
The mission was born: ensure veterans, first-responders and their loved ones have access these powerful medicines that can save lives. The No Fallen Heroes Foundation was born from this mission.
Last week, I walked into U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) headquarters in Washington, D.C.—not as a patient or protester, but as an invited partner.
Doug Collins met with me personally after raising the issue of psychedelics in a recent Cabinet meeting with the President. No Fallen Heroes wanted him to know what No Fallen Heroes is doing. He wanted to know more about those men and women who we have helped return from the edge. He wanted to let me know that he’s on board: “If anybody is going to make this happen, it will be us. And the time has come.”
That same day, the bipartisan Congressional PATH Caucus—which stands for Psychedelic Advancing Therapies for Healing—reached out to the secretary. There are briefings being held, data is being collected and they’re pushing for evidence-based legislation that honors the veterans who tell them these treatments work.
The Psychedelic Medicine Coalition hosted the first ever Federal Summit on Psychedelic Medicine on the same day. Leaders from all over the United States were present to rewrite the story.
The feeling is hard to explain. The feeling was difficult to describe. In the past, we were fighting against stigma and inertia as well as a system broken that prioritized prescriptions rather than real change. We were grieving lives lost and facing opposition from all sides—political, cultural, religious.
What now? But now?
No Fallen Heroes doesn’t only exist as a lobbying group. Boots on the Ground. We have helped to fund, support, and provide space for veterans and first-responders who are undergoing legal, structured, and safe psychedelic therapies. Our team has partnered up with nonprofits, researchers and active duty servicemen to reform policy. We’re not just sharing anecdotes—we’re tracking data, outcomes and integration tools that actually work.
Thousands of veterans suffer in silence for each door opened in Washington. VA is still moving slowly. Many of these treatments are still illegal or unaffordable. They are not covered by insurance. In order to pay for their treatment, families must crowdfund. In the meantime, 17 veteran suicides are estimated to occur every day. I personally believe the real number is much higher—closer to 22 to 44 a day—if you count the full scope of veteran suicide data. It’s an outrage.
It’s not over yet. It’s not over yet. We are now finally able to see the light through all of the darkness.
It’s not about politics. It isn’t about politics. It’s not about politics.
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Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are working together because they can see the changes. Leaders like Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), a retired Marine Lieutenant General and fellow naval aviator, and Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA)—a Republican and a Democrat—are working together through the bipartisan Congressional PATH Caucus to push for safe, legal access to psychedelic therapies for veterans. They’re listening to their constituents, many of whom are decorated combat veterans—but also those who never saw combat yet still carry deep wounds from military sexual trauma (MST), childhood abuse, toxic leadership and the daily grind of service.
These men and woman served honorably and ask for a radical simple right: to heal.
For every skeptic who still holds on to old paradigms: it’s not about the money. If It’s coming. It’s You can also find out more about. The only question is: how many lives are we willing to sacrifice before the system finally catches up?
We will continue to push No Fallen Heroes. More retreats will be funded. We’ll have more space. We’ll keep fighting—not with weapons or words, but with the unshakable belief that healing is not just possible, it is inevitable. It’s because I can see the other side.
The journey will continue until all heroes can reach the same destination. Now is the time to heal our heroes in their own homes.
Fight’s On!
Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, a Navy TOPGUN veteran, is the founder of No Fallen Heroes Foundation. The organization promotes access to alternative treatments for those suffering serious mental illnesses, including veterans, first-responders, and their family members.
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Images courtesy carlosemmaskype & Apollo.
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