Vietnam and Iraq Brotherhood Alliance – Due to our active role in assisting Veterans, Sally Daughtery, my fiancée and business partner, discovered a pattern of behavior amongst service members returning from Iraq. I doubt that few if anyone is aware of the particular situation. After Sally’s discovery, I looked for a solution and came up with the following:

Scenario: service members come to us for job assistance. Once employed, they often come to the farm or we deliver their weekly pay checks to their job site. Since our intent is to assist Veterans in obtaining full time employment, they are on our payroll for the typical 90 day probationary period. After that time, they are hired on permanent basis.

2007 was the first full year that Sally and I have assisted service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. With Sally’s years of experience in the staffing industry, she is very adept at recognizing patterns. As a result, she noted that many of the Veterans, particularly with PTSD, do well when they have direct contact with us. We often get several telephone calls each week and have face-to-face conversations on pay days with our returning service members. However, once they are hired on a full time basis and that connection is broken these individuals crash. Without notice, the veterans fail to show up for work and in some cases disappear altogether. Previously they appeared to have made a successful transition from the military to the civilian sector.

Solution: Given this situation, I approached our local mayor, in regards to Sally’s discovery and my proposed solution. I suggested that we connect our Veterans returning from Iraq, with Vietnam Veterans. Specifically, we need model Veterans - Citizens in a functional family that have over come the adversity of war that are active and successful in the community. At the very least, we need to listen to them and let them educate us.

My solution is to create a link between the two generations of Veterans on the lines of the Big Brother concept. Since our Vietnam Veterans have wrestled with similar issues, it could be emotionally rewarding for them to help a young service member that recently returned.
What happens without the big brother? After many conversations with our young returning Veterans, I know that they are in the clubs after hours and on weekends. Now we have young adults with PTSD complaining about their jobs, home life, Veterans Administration, the war, to each other. In essence, they are counseling each other over copious amounts of alcohol.

I would like to see the Big Brother have access to the Veteran’s Administration’s Case Worker and the Mental Health specialist. The Big Brother would be part of the team. If a service member was having an extremely difficult time and regresses, this scenario might serve to provide an early warning. Hopefully, this would prevent service members from harming themselves or someone in the local community.

My concern is that we are continually working with individuals that are struggling with issues PTSD or otherwise that the system has not identified. The Veterans Administration is getting beat up on all fronts. Sometimes when the system is overwhelmed it is time to out source. This is on the same lines as Department of Labors Faith Based and Community Initiatives. Let’s embrace Veterans that are successful and outsource their resources. The mental health community will probably want to guard its turf. However, it is clear from what I see in the trenches that they are beyond their capabilities. My concern is to take care of the Veterans without drawing lines in a political battleground or an agency trying to protect their turf.

Only time will tell if this concept is of value. I don’t expect that this will be the answer for all service members, particularly those that suffer serious PTSD or have additional mental health issues that have come to light because of service in Iraq. If we discover success, this concept might offer a simple cost effect solution for many individuals. After their review/analysis and expert recommendations from the agencies involved, I would propose legislation to create a national campaign.

On a side note, Stephanie Reitz of the Associated Press, release an article on how training helps officials spot troubled veterans. The article states that, “Many police officers are veterans, too, and the trainers say those conversations can build a sense of camaraderie and cooperation that may encourage veterans to let down their guard and share what's troubling them.” In this light, I would like to create a bracelet that only service members who served in the current Gulf War (Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom) are entitled to wear. A “Red, White and Blue Bracelet” that acknowledges that they “Proudly Served Our Country in Iraq and or Afghanistan.” The entitlement to wear the bracelet would eliminate any negative stigma. However, for those individuals suffering from PTSD it would allow our law enforcement officials a form of identification and understanding of the underlying issues that might be involved in the event a problem arises.