VA Finds New Ways to Treat This Generation of Injured U.S. Veterans Date: March 31, 2008 Topic: VA News SAGINAW - Marine Cpl. Andrew E. Love of Kochville Township was in Iraq for two weeks when a bomb blast blew up his vehicle. The explosion crushed his pelvis, damaged his right leg and arm and bruised his brain. Marine Lance Cpl. Ricardo Gutierrez Jr. of Bridgeport Township suffered two gunshot wounds as he tried to save a fellow Marine during a sniper attack in Fallujah, Iraq, in March 2007. Staff Sgt. Maurice A. Sears of Midland has served two tours of duty in Iraq with the Army and Army National Guard. When he returned home in August, he was using painkillers to help with a back injury that kept him from bending at the waist... The men are among the more than 500 veterans of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq whom doctors at Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Saginaw have treated so far in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, 2007, through the end of January. That number could reach 1,000 by Sept. 30, said Gabriel Perez, medical center director. "I had heard bad things from older veterans about the VA, but they've come a long way," said Gutierrez, 25, who has a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. "They have more to help us. They've put us from this war as their first priority." The Saginaw center and the entire Veterans Affairs system have spent the past five years meeting the needs of veterans -- especially in finding those with brain injury from blast waves and those needing mental health care for post-traumatic stress from combat experiences.   Officials say they are reaching out to this generation of veterans in ways they haven't in the past. "The Vietnam veterans didn't have this level of treatment," said Carrie Seward, public affairs officer at Lutz. "That's why the military and VA together are doing this. We don't want a repeat of what they went through." Getting help The Saginaw Veterans Affairs Vets Center opened in January at 4048 Bay in Saginaw Township to provide counseling and other readjustment services to combat veterans and their families, with staffing from fellow service members. It is one of five in the state. "We are a storefront operation," said team leader Ronald Hamden. "We like to be out in the community, as opposed to in the larger hospital, as a first stop. We can help families understand there are changes on both sides when a soldier returns home. If a veteran walks in here, they will be seen, and we can refer them to whatever service they need." Gutierrez and Sears have received counseling for combat stress. Gutierrez attended group sessions with veterans young and old dealing with post-traumatic stress. "They've helped calm me down," he said. "I've taken some medication for it. I didn't want to take anything, but it did the job. Being in the group helped. I knew I needed something." For Gutierrez, the stress reveals itself in nightmares about what he saw and did during battles and in ongoing sleeping problems. His body became used to sleeping three hours at a time in Iraq. "They told us about what could affect us when we got back," Gutierrez said. "They do screenings. But no one thinks they've got (stress). They think they come back perfectly fine. But they can't tell they have it, and it can happen six or seven months after you get home." Post-traumatic stress from the war changes veterans when they come home, he said. "I've heard stories of Marines coming back and getting into fights," Gutierrez said. "When I first got home, I drank every day for three months." Sears, 28, said his symptoms of combat stress -- nightmares and daydreams -- surfaced several months after he came home from his first tour of duty in 2003. In treatment with a private counselor, he learned methods to help protect himself from the worst of it, he said. "I use CDs with sounds of wildlife and lakes and streams and listen to them before bed to meditate. I write my thoughts in a notebook. I would tell any soldier who has a lot on their mind, these are things you can do. Most veterans don't talk about it," he said. | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | [ Compensation News ]