Veterans for Common Sense

July 13, 2008 – When Johanna Montalvo, 35, returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq in 2006, the drug habit she says she acquired in the military got her kicked out of her house. She has since cleaned up. But she is still living in a homeless shelter.

Montalvo is one of at least 100 homeless veterans in New Haven and more than 260,000 homeless veterans across the nation, city and federal officials said.

Her story is not new: one in 70 U.S. veterans has experienced homelessness. In Connecticut, it is one in 30, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

And veterans are more than twice as likely to become homeless than other civilians, statistics released by the Alliance indicate.

Officials predict more veterans will become homeless, especially as thousands return from Iraq and Afghanistan, and they see a new issue emerging: the increasing number of — and lack of services for — homeless women veterans like Montalvo.

In March, the Department of Veterans Affairs reported a drop in the number of homeless veterans nationally on any given night to 154,000 — suggesting a total number of about 266,000 for this year. Partnerships between the VA and community-based agencies have caused a drop of about 25 percent in the number of homeless veterans on any given night since 2003, the VA reports.

But the numbers go against the upward trend in homeless veterans rates that previous years suggest. National statistics show that in 2006, the most recent year with reliable data, 3.3 percent of all Connecticut veterans were homeless, up from 3.1 percent in 2005.

The percentage was more than double the 2006 national homeless rate of 1.4 percent of all veterans, which had increased steadily since 2004. In 2006, estimates put the number of homeless veterans at 330,000.

Although many experts stress no reliable studies have been published with the number of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, some estimate that number could be as high as 10,000 to 15,000, or about 1.3 percent of all soldiers who have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001. You can also check with site www.percentagecalculator.co.uk

The percentage has rapidly approached the 1.4 percent average homeless veteran rate in seven years, while in other recent U.S. wars, the percentages start nearing the average rate in the span of 10 to 20 years, statistics from the National Alliance to End Homelessness suggest.

“For Vietnam vets, it took nine, 10 or 11 years for them to really be homeless,” said Amanda LeClair, executive director for Homes for the Brave, a Bridgeport transitional living facility that tends to veterans. “But what we are finding with younger vets is that they’re reaching that point a lot faster.”

Dr. Laurie Harkness, director of the VA Errera Community Center in West Haven added: “We have vets now coming back a year later and are already homeless.”

RISK FACTORS

A November 2007 report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness also suggested several risk factors that could cause an increase in Iraq and Afghanistan homeless veterans, including more difficult adjustments to civilian life because of longer tours of duty, compared to veterans of previous wars.

LeClair said there are not many young vets showing up at her agency. But soon, she said, “those numbers will rise.”

In May, 52 new homeless veterans sought help at the VA Errera Community Center, while last year agency officials had to send out teams to find the veterans.

“There is definitely something peculiar going on,” Harkness said.

Factors that predict homelessness among veterans are the same as those for the general population. Scarce affordable housing and difficulty in finding and keeping competitive jobs are the two main factors, according to Joy Kiss, executive director of Homes for the Brave.

“The job pool is already small,” said Donald J., 48., a vet who has been living at the Emergency Shelter Services Inc., formerly Immanuel Baptist in New Haven, since he was released in June after five years in prison for drug-related charges. “It is even harder as an ex-con.”

Incarcerations also can increase veterans’ difficulty in finding jobs and their likelihood of becoming homeless. According to a 2004 report by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, 10 percent of prisoners in the country report having been in the military.

“The average stay here is creeping toward a year,” said Allison Cunningham, executive director of Columbus House shelter in New Haven, where five beds are paid for by the VA. “The cost of living is high and the waiting list for Section 8 (housing) is long.”

Those factors are further complicated by substance abuse and mental health problems such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which often originate in or are exacerbated by the service.

PTSD is one of the most devastating of those. “There is hyper vigilance, but if you are driving down I-95 looking for IEDs (improvised explosive devices) you will get (hurt),” said Kate Kelly, a social worker for the homeless team at the VA’s Errera Community Center.

Many choose not to turn to the VA, trying to avoid the stigma still connected to mental illness. “There are men and women out there who don’t want to associate with the VA,” said Gabor Kautzner, an Iraq veteran who works at an outreach program for combat veterans who return from Iraq and Afghanistan. “They want to be cops or firefighters and you can’t with a history of mental illness.”

“When I came back I isolated myself a lot because I didn’t want people to think I was crazy,” said James Murphy of Bridgeport, who served in combat in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.

Murphy disconnected from his wife and son and spent six months on the streets of New York City before he returned to Connecticut and was diagnosed with PTSD.

Although the military debriefs soldiers upon discharge, many of them leave unaware of all of their benefits.

“The VA does a good job of getting the information out there. But the timing and the way it’s done misses the point,” said Kautzner. “They shove everything down your throat that you’re supposed to do.”

THE DRUG CONNECTION

Veterans also face an additional challenge in the prolonged separation from support of family and close friends. That was how Montalvo, a native of Puerto Rico, said she got involved with drugs. Away from her family in Iraq, she gave in to peer pressure to fit in.

“I would go out with other soldiers and they would offer me coke and insist,” she said.

Montalvo, who had never experimented with drugs before, although both her parents were addicts, soon started using cocaine on weekends.

When her father died, Montalvo started using crack.

“Soldiers would rent rooms to get drunk and high,” she said.

Montalvo’s drug use got her in trouble and she served a year and a half in military confinement.

Montalvo is not an exception. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, about 70 percent of homeless veterans suffer from substance abuse. There is also a considerable overlap between substance abuse and mental health problems.

A veteran who would only give his initials as I.F. was arrested at age 17 for smoking marijuana on the Waterbury Green. The officers gave him an ultimatum: jail or Vietnam. He served four years in Vietnam. I.F., now 54, has struggled with addiction throughout his life. He has been homeless since 2000, and has sought VA help on and off.

FEMALE VETS

A VA-endorsed 2008 Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Group report predicts an increase in homeless female veterans.

Women make up about 4 percent of homeless veterans. But counting them is not easy.

New Haven City Hall Special Projects Director John Huettner — an expert on New Haven homelessness — said he has received calls from veterans who are mothers with dependent children looking for housing help.

According to some studies, women veterans are up to four times as likely to become homeless.

Experts point to a slew of reasons why they are more susceptible to homelessness than male veterans.

Women tend to earn less money, for instance. According to the National Alliance report, female veterans are more likely than male veterans to experience a severe housing cost burden.

And, “military sexual trauma rates are higher among women,” added Kelly. Also, because the military only consists of 15-20 percent women, there are fewer women veterans and fewer services available. There are many more transitional houses for males, which will cause a gap when more women veterans start returning. This may pose some problems for support agencies.

“Many homeless women find couches (with family or friends)… and it’s unbearable for some with PTSD being in open spaces or shelters,” said Kelly. The VA has women’s groups and special services for women, including access to an ob-gyn, but housing for women is scarce.

“There is always a waiting list for women,” said Montalvo, who had applied to several different housing facilities before moving to Beth-El Shelter in Milford temporarily. Grants are helping the VA, along with other local organizations, prepare for an influx of women veterans in the future.

The federal VA has 11 sites with specialized case management, outreach and residential care programs for homeless women veterans. And for the general homeless veteran population, VA officials have many support programs in terms of funding and health care.

But VA officials said that more can be done. According to the CHALENG report, VA officials said that one way they could improve services for Iraq and Afghanistan homeless veterans is creating more programs for women veterans and their families.

HELP IS AVAILABLE

The federal Department of Veterans Affairs says it will be able to handle the problem of homelessness: “This is a national tragedy that can … be addressed,” said a release issued by the West Haven’s Veterans Affairs medical center. But the Department of Veterans Affairs provides services for only about one-third of the total homeless veteran population each year, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Aside from substance-abuse treatment, the VA offers veterans myriad other services. The VA reached out to Vietnam veteran James Murphy when he was homeless and unemployed.

“I knew something was wrong but I didn’t know what until I came (to the VA) and was diagnosed with PTSD,” he said. After receiving treatment and making significant progress, Murphy got back on his feet and was offered a job from the VA as a peer counselor. He now runs treatment groups for more than 180 veterans.

The VA “doesn’t want what happened to the Vietnam veterans to happen to them,” said Kautzner, citing the VA’s policy of having a follow-up schedule of 30 days, 60 days, 90 days and 180 days.

Homes for the Brave in Bridgeport reaches out for homeless veterans who haven’t yet sought help. After they leave the shelter, specialists follow up to ensure a good transition.

“The problem that the VA is running into is that the services are only as effective as the next step,” said Harkness. “Even after transitional housing, they need support. The shortfall is funding.”

“There are just not enough appropriate places to house our homeless veterans,” a statement issued by the Errera care center says.

Numerous local organizations are in the process of building more housing for veterans. Homes for the Brave currently has one transitional all-male housing facility and plans to build a similar one for women. Also, Columbus House recently received a $22,500 grant to renovate a building on Howard Avenue for homeless veterans. Yale University is also building one ownership unit and one rental unit for Iraq veterans in collaboration with Common Ground.

The city of New Haven is working in cooperation with these programs using the Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s 10-year plan to end homelessness.

The issue is being recognized on a national level as well. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill last week called the Homes and Heroes Act; it would allocate $200 million for housing and services for veterans and would require 20,000 rental vouchers a year for low-income housing for veterans. It would also authorize $1 million for grants to nonprofit groups, which can provide housing for veterans.

However, the Connecticut VA only has enough beds for 2 percent of the homeless veteran population, partially because of the lack of funding.

“We are trying to ask companies who made money off the war to help the veterans now,” said Harkness, who noted there is a sign at her center that says, “The price of freedom is visible here.”

July 15, 2008 – A Pennsylvania lawmaker who says he continues to hear many complaints about sexual harassment and abuse from women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan wants the Defense Department to do more to stop mistreatment and provide more care for victims.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said in a Monday letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that harassment and assault of military women, especially in combat zones, is a “scourge” that needs to be eliminated.

Casey is particularly interested in how the military handles complaints from women in the National Guard and reserve, whose cases may be harder to investigate than those of women on full-time active duty and in the federal civilian workforce.

In the letter, Casey said he knows the military is trying to do more, but added: “I am still very troubled by a process that may dissuade many victims from ever coming forward with claims.”

“While I understand the Department of Defense has taken steps to prevent such incidents and punish offenders, I implore you to aggressively seek to change the military culture that allows this problem to fester,” Casey said in the letter to Gates.

Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said she had not seen the letter and could not comment. If Gates responds, he would do so directly to Casey, she said.

One problem, Casey said, is how a woman might react if the alleged offender is her commanding officer — the person assumed to be in charge of investigating complaints under current policy.

“The stories I have heard from women in my home state indicate that there are still serious flaws in the system,” Casey says.

The Pentagon has been trying to be more aggressive in preventing sexual harassment, abuse and assault. A March report by the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office said there were 2,688 reports of sexual assault in fiscal 2007, the last year for which records were available, with about 600 of those reports resulting in service members being punished.

About one-third of the cases with punishment involved criminal charges, one-third were nonjudicial punishment and one-third were resolved through some other administrative action, such as discharge from the military.

The number of victims may be greater if women are unwilling to report an assault, Casey said.

The March report does not separate claims based on where they occurred. Casey said he would like to see an analysis comparing combat zone and noncombat allegations, and to see if there are differences in how cases were resolved.

July 15, 2008, Washington, DC – Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama laid the groundwork for a crucial foreign trip Tuesday, vowing to divert the US focus from Iraq to Al-Qaeda lairs in tribal Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As a furious debate raged with his Republican foe John McCain, Obama was to give a major foreign policy speech in Washington and in-depth television interviews to bolster his credentials as potential US commander-in-chief.

Obama is due in Europe and the Middle East next week, and is also expected to embark soon on missions to Afghanistan and Iraq, details of which have not been released for security reasons.

In excerpts from his speech Obama, a long-time opponent of the Iraq war, slammed President George W. Bush, and McCain, who he said had misunderstood the prime challenge to US security.

“As should have been apparent to President Bush and Senator McCain — the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was,” he said.

“Al-Qaeda has an expanding base in Pakistan that is probably no farther from their old Afghan sanctuary than a train ride from Washington to Philadelphia,” Obama said in excerpts released by his campaign.

“If another attack on our homeland comes, it will likely come from the same region where 9/11 was planned. And yet today, we have five times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan.”

“This war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize.

“This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century.

A poll Monday underlined why Obama needs to improve his standing on national security issues, and why McCain’s team senses he is vulnerable.

Some 72 percent of the 1,119 adults surveyed by telephone in the July 10-13 ABC News/Washington Post poll said McCain, a Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war, would be a good commander in chief. Only 48 percent thought the same of Obama.

Both candidates garnered equal support for their Iraq proposals.

“By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe,” Obama said Tuesday.

He pledged to pursue a tough and smart new national security strategy, focusing not just on Baghdad, but on Kandahar and Karachi, Tokyo, London, Beijing and Berlin.

He promised to concentrate on five main goals: “ending the war in Iraq responsibly; finishing the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban; securing all nuclear weapons and materials from terrorists and rogue states; achieving true energy security; and rebuilding our alliances to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

In an opinion piece Monday in the New York Times, Obama pledged to focus on rising violence in Afghanistan with the deployment of two combat brigades, or up to 10,000 troops, while pulling most of US forces out of Iraq in 16 months.

McCain says early troop withdrawals from Iraq would squander the success of last year’s troop surge strategy, and could lead to chaos in the fragile country.

McCain foreign policy aide Randy Scheunemann, a hawk who strongly backed the US-led invasion, contrasted the Arizona senator’s early support for the surge with Obama’s opposition to the plan and vow to bring troops home.

“Senator Obama continues his search for a political position to protect his flank in an election,” Scheunemann told reporters on a conference call.

“Senator McCain said he would rather lose an election than lose a war and see the nation lose a war.

“Senator Obama seems to think losing a war will help him win an election.”

But Obama’s aides questioned McCain’s basic understanding of the war and US strategic interests, saying he would prolong what they called Bush’s failed policies while threats elsewhere gather.

“John McCain has no notion of what’s going on … he doesn’t get the fact that in fact there is no reasonable prospect of there being a strong central government located in Baghdad,” said Democratic Senator Joseph Biden.

And Obama foreign policy aide Susan Rice said the vehemence of the McCain camp’s attacks was designed to obscure “the fact that John McCain has been wrong on Iraq from the very beginning.”

The McCain campaign also said on Monday that the Arizona senator would make a speech on Afghan war policy later this week.

July 12, 2008 – A Department of Veterans Affairs smoking cessation study is not being used to test drugs on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, VA Secretary Dr. James Peake told the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

But Peake acknowledged that the VA did not act quickly enough to alert veterans with PTSD taking part in the study that one drug being used, Chantix, has been linked to adverse psychological side effects — including suicidal behavior — in users.

In the wake of growing criticism from some lawmakers, Peake said he has ordered reviews of:

* The smoking cessation study within 30 days.

* All PTSD drug protocols in the VA system within 45 days.

* The adverse event reporting system for pharmaceuticals within 20 days.

* VA’s medication notification system, to ensure policies support timely communications to patients and providers, within 20 days.

Peake said the current study aims to test whether combining smoking cessation treatment with PTSD therapy is more effective in stopping smoking than providing smoking cessation therapy in a separate setting. Studies have shown that the smoking rate among PTSD victims is twice that of the general population. You can also visit Theihcc.com for better information.

The 945 veterans taking part in the VA study, all of whom have PTSD, receive behavioral counseling to stop smoking. Beyond that, treatments can include optional medications, Peake said.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., asked why VA didn’t suspend the study and notify patients of the possible dangers of Chantix after the Food and Drug Administration issued a communication Nov. 20, 2007, about an ongoing safety review of the drug because of reports of suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior in some patients. The FDA had not concluded that Chantix caused the problems, nor did it advise health care professionals to discontinue using the drug.

Peake said VA officials distributed the FDA notice to their health care professionals Nov. 21. Of the 945 veterans in the study, 241 have been prescribed Chantix at some point. About 40 are now taking Chantix.

VA added Chantix to its approved formulary list in January 2007. About 32,000 people receiving VA care now take the drug. “Should we act on one case and deprive 32,000 people who want to quit smoking?” Peake said.

About 6,500 patients who have been diagnosed with PTSD have been prescribed Chantix outside the study. Doctors discuss with patients the risks and benefits of any drugs before prescribing them, Peake said.

VA officials had noticed symptoms in about one-half of 1 percent of its patients taking Chantix, and in October notified the FDA and began to monitor these reports, Peake said. But it was not clear that those symptoms were being caused by Chantix, he said.

In January, Pfizer, the maker of Chantix, updated its warning label for the drug, and on Feb. 1 the FDA issued a public health advisory notifying health care providers of potential links between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms. To date, the drug still has FDA approval.

Peake said letters to VA patients taking Chantix were sent or hand-delivered between February and June, which prompted Filner to ask why the patients in the study taking Chantix had not been notified about the side effects earlier.

Peake said he is concerned about the delays and the lack of follow-up by study coordinators to ensure their directions were carried out.

The VA’s inspector general found that while the department’s pharmacy service notified providers of the risks associated with Chantix and asked them to notify patients, “we do not find that the research service ensured that subjects … were notified.”

Former Army sniper James Elliott, who said he was not notified about the possible side effects, told the committee he joined the smoking cessation study in October, and began taking Chantix at the suggestion of his VA doctor.

In mid-January, Elliott, in an “extremely agitated state,” went to the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center to see his psychiatrist, and told the receptionist it was an emergency. The receptionist took notes, he said, but he left without receiving emergency treatment.

“I never heard back from that clinic,” he said.

On Feb. 5, Elliott’s fiancée, Tammy Hilburn, said he was “so disoriented and was in a combat mode.” She called the police. In a 20-minute standoff, Elliott was hit with a Taser gun.

“I am appalled to hear of his experience seeking emergency care,” Peake told the committee, adding that he will investigate.

July 13, 2008 – If you had access to the bookings calendar of the Bell County Expo Center and turned the pages to Aug. 11, you might read something like this: McCain and Obama need seating for about 6,000. In reality, the booking has been penciled in, with staff awaiting confirmation of a town hall forum put on by a consortium of military groups.

The consortium’s managing director and spokeswoman, Carissa Picard, is excited that Sen. John McCain has accepted the invitation to speak at the forum, and holds out hope Sen. Barack Obama will do the same.

The gathering would give military men and women, their families and their communities the chance to get some questions answered, Picard said.

“CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live to the nation on Monday, Aug. 11,” she said.

“We believe this needs to happen. We have questions that millions of Americans want answered.

“Millions of Americans will be affected if our troops don’t get the care that they need when returning from active duty. It’s not just soldiers that will suffer if they don’t receive better care when they come back. It’s their friends, their families, it’s society in general.”

Picard believes that by getting these questions answered by the presumptive candidates Americans will be offered a better chance of knowing who to vote for in November.

“Fort Hood is not just Texas, it’s made up of people from all over the country. Fort Hood is a base that houses people from all over this country and after this war many will return to their home states,” she said.

One glitch is the fact that Obama has not committed to a meeting.

“We started organizing this in early June and gave some possible dates,” Picard said. “The Democratic Party will not commit though. We have asked to suggest a possible date and have yet to get an answer.”

The consortium has not lost hope that he will accept an invitation in the future.

“The people of Fort Hood are not just returned servicemen in Bell County,” said Sam Murphey, Democrat candidate for the Texas House of Representatives, Dist. 55. “These people are our friends and our neighbors. They need answers and the rest of America deserves answers to questions the military has to ask. Fort Hood is the largest operating military establishment in the free world.

“I would be happy to urge Sen. Obama to come here,” said Murphey, who is a Vietnam veteran.

Ralph Sheffield, Republican candidate for the same Dist. 55 seat, said, “I think it’s a fantastic deal. I think it would be great to see McCain here in our backyard.”

Sheffield said he thinks it would be a good forum for the general public to see the differences between the Republicans and Democrats and where they stand on the war.

Picard is not only the spokesman for the consortium of veterans groups but is a military wife whose husband is serving in Iraq. She wants the opportunity to ask questions of the person who will lead the country.

“The men that serve our country and their families and friends need to know what is going to happen. So often we dismiss the military with a ‘they signed up for it,’ mentality,” she said. “They did sign up for the military but their family members didn’t and they deserve to know that if anything happens to their loved ones that they will be cared for. Society should want that, too, because when these men and women return they are put back in society. They become our community again.

“These are the men and the women who will go and will leave their families and risk losing their families. That will put their physical and mental health at risk at the direction of either one of these men. They should honor these soldiers by showing up and answering their questions,” Picard said.

“There are so many unanswered questions here. There needs to be a dialogue here. It’s such an important conversation to have.”

Picard stresses that this is to be a town-hall gathering – not a debate. “We don’t want this to be an attack on either candidate,” she said. “We just want answers for Americans.”

July 14, 2008 – At 0800 hours yesterday, the lobby of the Veterans Affairs Baltimore Medical Center was filled with dozens of soldiers recently back from Iraq, dressed in their combat fatigues and reporting for yet another one of their duties – to be sure they are holding up both physically and mentally from what they went through in the war zone.

About 100 Maryland National Guard troops who returned from missions in Iraq in February and March had time to sit down with medical professionals – doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants – to discuss any enduring aches and pains, any war-related stress they might have. They were told they were entitled to five years of free medical treatment from the VA Maryland Health Care System and anyone who felt the need could set up an appointment for a full mental health evaluation.

“It doesn’t mean they’re crazy,” said VA spokesman Michael E. Dukes. “It means they’re smart because they’re being taken care of.”

Just as it trained these troops to go to war, the military has been training them to return home. It is not always the simpler of the two tasks.

“The intent is that no one falls through the cracks and has any lingering problems from deployment,” said Lt. Col. Charles Kohler, a spokesman for the Maryland National Guard. “The soldier came to us whole, and we want him to return whole.”

Soldiers were warned, while they were still overseas, that they might find it difficult to readjust to the simple tasks of daily life back in the United States. Soon after they return, the military makes sure they connect with the soldiers’ families, offering counseling to both the soldiers and their spouses.

They are told it is normal to have trouble sleeping, to feel down, to be easily startled. What matters is that they learn to recognize when those problems have gone on too long or when their way of handling them – self-medicating with alcohol, lashing out in anger – has taken a turn down a hazardous path.

Maryland National Guard Spc. Chris Leins, 28, said he gets more nervous dealing with crowds now than before he went to Iraq.

“Obviously, you don’t trust anybody [in Iraq] and you bring that back here … and you’re leery of everyone,” said Leins, a drug and alcohol counselor in Wilmington, Del. “They’ve worked with us to help us calm our nerves a bit and respond to normal, everyday situations in a normal way.”

The military has been working to make sure the transition back to families, jobs and communities is as smooth as possible, knowing that statistics show returning guard members often face divorce or separation in their first year home or drop out of college in their first semester back. Nearly half report psychiatric problems in the first 100 days home.

Veterans Affairs in Maryland has held these screening events for the past 18 months, and there have been occasions when soldiers have been admitted to the hospital with physical problems and committed with severe mental health problems.

Lorie J. Morris, a clinical psychologist at VA, said she teaches these veterans that they have gone through a biological shift. They react to things most civilians would ignore. They are quick to startle and to respond. These skills, while helpful in a war zone, will only cause trouble at home, she said.

She knows some veterans will get agitated if they see a soda pop can on the street – potentially an explosive device if seen in Iraq, someone’s litter here in Baltimore. She’s even heard of some who would drive off the road to avoid the can, a common response in Iraq and a dangerous one here.

“We teach people this is a normal shift and behaviorally, you need to respond differently, but first you have to be aware of what’s going on,” she said.

“When you’re deployed and you’re overseas, you’re so focused on your mission, literally everything is taken care of for him – his laundry, his food,” Kohler continued. “When you get home, you’ve got to pick up kids at sports games, you have to pick up groceries, you’re going from the simple to the complex, and people don’t think of it that way.”

When Spc. Keith Lee, 28, enters a store, for example, he looks to see who is around him and makes sure he knows where the nearest exits are – something that was vital in Iraq. “You get used to walking around with a weapon all day,” said Lee, who lives with his wife and two children in Cockeysville. “The first day I waked out of my house, I felt like I was missing something.”

Staff Sgt. Mark Pheabus said re-entry hasn’t been difficult for him. He’s single. He went straight back to working security at Camp Fretterd in Reisterstown upon return.

“Some of these guys lost marriages, families, businesses,” he said. “Some of them have had problems. You have to feel bad for some of them.”

July 14, 2008 – Tuesday, July 15 – 2 p.m. – 334 Cannon House Office Building Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing, “Media Outreach to Veterans”

This hearing will explore the potential benefits for veterans as the Department of Veterans Affairs incorporates the power of advertising and marketing in their strategic outreach plan. On June 16, 2008, Secretary Peake issued a memorandum rescinding the restriction on the purchase of paid media advertising.  The Oversight Subcommittee will examine the clear need for proactive outreach to veterans dealing with combat stress and other reintegration issues, as well as ensuring that veterans are fully aware of the benefits to which they are entitled. Witness List

Panel 1
* Elizabeth O’Herrin, Washington, D.C., Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom
* Vanessa Williamson, Policy Director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
* Ronald C. Goodstein, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing, The Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
* Sharyn M. Sutton, Ph.D., Washington, D.C., Communication and Social Marketing Expert

Panel 2
* The Honorable Lisette M. Mondello, Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Wednesday, July 16 – 10 a.m. – 334 Cannon House Office Building   

Full Committee Markup
* H.R. 4255, as amended (Filner)
* H.R. 6225 (Herseth Sandlin)
* H.R. 6221 (Boozman)
* H.R. 1527, as amended (Moran)
* H.R. 6445 (Cazayoux)
* H.R. 674 (Gutierrez)

Watch the hearing live: Go to the Committee homepage http://veterans.house.gov/  and click on ‘Live Webcast’. Keep updated on the committee schedule here: HVAC Website