New initiative aimed to help war vets

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indiana mental health professionals have launched an initiative to help Hoosier war veterans deal with trauma following combat. They're calling it "Operation: Forgotten Warrior."

Mental health professionals said the Veterans Administration simply is not able to meet the mental health needs of all the state's veterans. Some vets live too far away. Others fear military superiors will find out about their psychological concerns. So the community of mental health facilities is trying to help.

Mental health leaders said the events of Tuesday, September 29, 2009 point to the need for veterans to get the help they need during the transition to civilian life. Iraq war veteran Jason Carrera, 26, had barricaded himself inside his apartment north of downtown - armed with a high powered rifle.

Seven hours passed before the young man who'd completed two tours in Iraq finally surrendered.

"He's had trouble adjusting when he got back - definitely post traumatic issues," said Lt. Jeff Duhamell, an IMPD officer at the scene.

Carrera's world was crumbling. After his return from Iraq he'd been violently carjacked. Weeks later, his wife filed for a divorce. It's crises like this that mental health providers hope to prevent. The Indiana Council of Community Mental Health Centers and the Indiana National Guard have launched "Operation: Forgotten Warrior."

It's an initiative about which John Manning is passionate.

"Coming back from Vietnam was – how do you explain to somebody something that you don't even want to talk about?" Manning asked.

Some 30 years after Vietnam, Manning served a tour in Iraq. And even though the National Guardsman is the CEO of a mental health facility, Samaritan Center in Vincennes, he's never talked to his own family about what he experienced in combat.

"It's very difficult to do," Manning admitted.

But often it must be done to help a suffering veteran function well on his or her return home. That's why mental health providers throughout the state have begun training to help those who've fought America's wars battle the war within.

The Indiana Council of Community Mental Health Centers will conduct trainings over the next three months to help their professionals better counsel veterans. Most participating providers offer services on a sliding scale based on income.

Click here to view a map to facilities throughout the state.