Robert C. Byrd

Reaching Out to Veterans

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined with the U.S. military's increased reliance on National Guard and Reserve forces to serve in those missions, has created a growing population of combat veterans who hail from rural towns and communities across the United States.

West Virginia's current and former service members may not live on or near military bases, but they come back from tours of duty overseas with the same mental and physical injuries seen in active duty forces who receive immediate access to medical care. For many former service members, the fight does not end when they return home. They continue to struggle to readjust to civilian life or to cope with battlefield injuries and stress.

Studies have shown that veterans are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as non-veterans. The highest suicide rate among veterans is in the 20 - 24 year old age group of veterans who may have served multiple deployments in Iraq or Afghanistan. This group is 2 - 4 times more likely to commit suicide as civilians of the same age.

These shocking statistics underscore how important it is for our service members to have counseling services available to them. Unfortunately, many rural veterans must travel long distances to seek help at Veterans Administration (VA) medical facilities, even when the services they need do not require expensive hospital-based medical technology.

To bring some VA services closer to the veteran population they serve, a fleet of 50 new mobile Veterans Centers has hit the road in the last year in an effort to bring counseling and therapy to veterans in rural areas.

Two of the new mobile centers are now roaming the roads of West Virginia. Based in Morgantown and Beckley, the 38-foot motor coaches have spaces for confidential non-medical readjustment counseling and psychological counseling for traumatic military-related experiences as well as family counseling when needed for a veteran's readjustment.

The new mobile vet centers are used to provide outreach and counseling at active-duty, reserve and National Guard activities, including post-deployment health reassessments for returning service members. They will also make appearances at events typically staffed by local VA Center staff, as the Beckley-based mobile vet center did at a "Welcome Home Celebration" for veterans held in Beckley on June 13th.

Hopefully, bringing urgently needed counseling and support services closer to rural veterans and their families will help our veterans and their families mend the lingering wounds of war.

August 5, 2009