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First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden Announce 'Joining Forces' Initiative At University Of Pennsylvania

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- First Lady Michelle Obama visited Penn, today, to announce a new initiative in the nation's nursing schools. The program is aimed at helping veterans and their families.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress are often called the "invisible" wounds of recent U.S. wars because they leave no physical scar, but, as Michelle Obama told nurses, students and veterans at Penn, they can be devastating.

"These combat related mental health challenges are a normal, natural human responses to the violence of war. They are not in any way a sign of weakness and they should never be a source of shame or cause for stigma. But too often, they are misunderstood or misdiagnosed."

Mrs. Obama says that's why she and second lady Jill Biden enlisted 450 nursing schools and 150 professional organizations to provide special training for nurses, whom she called the "front line" in treating vets.

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