CHICAGO—
Thousands of American servicemen and women are returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan- only to be faced with a much more personal battle-- the fight against mental illness and post-traumatic stress. It's a problem too big for existing agencies to deal with. But now- WGN's Tom Negovan reports, reinforcements have arrived, and they've come from Chicago.(Video begins) sounds of gunfire from a helmet cam
An operation in Iraq quickly goes from everyday to ugly.
more war footage: "What are you shooting at?" "You see that **BEEP** there?" more gunfire
An insurgent opens fire from a house. The chaos is captured by a helmet-cam worn by a Chicago soldier.
nats-grenade explodes
It's fairly typical of what many of our soldiers face in Iraq and Afghanistan. So imagine going from this... to this. From the frantic pace of war, to the dull drumbeat of everyday life. Experts, like the ones at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, say it can be the toughest possible transition.
We asked Dr. Daniel Luchins, a psychiatrist at the Jesse Brown Veterans Administration Medical Center in Chicago to assess the need for additional mental health services.
"Many of them have a range of adjustment problems. These are busy, young adults so they've got school, work, family on top of whatever psychological damage they bring back from the war."
He's talking about combat stress, depression, substance abuse. The VA's here to help. But these days, it's simply not enough. As of today, there's something more, a made-in-Chicago business called "Vets Prevail," veterans helping veterans get through and get on with civilian life.
Rich Gengler is the Chief Executive Officer of Prevail Health Solutions. "Upwards of a third of veterans are coming back with issues related to combat stress so it's a really large problem and less than a quarter of them go in and receive care."
The company's CEO knows that first-hand. Rich Gengler was a navy pilot fighting from the air during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
US Marine Corp Corporal Angel Montes was on the ground. And he's still trying to get the things he saw out of his mind, like civilians used as human shields by Iraqi soldiers.
"It basically involved a woman and a small child they were pushed out of a house during the middle of a firefight. I didn't have time to stop shooting basically."
They're the horrible memories that paralyzed Angel, until he connected -on-line- with Vets Prevail.
"I felt alone, like stranger basically, you see people on the street and you know you're different than they are because they never been in combat and you know that just the way they act the way they talk.."
Vets Prevail website audio: "Making it through the Vets Prevail site is your official welcome back."
On the other end of the internet are fellow veterans trained to listen, understand and help, the way only another soldier could.
"PTSD , anxiety, depression they're all really debilitating. They can shut you down and we have activities we have reminders reaching out to these guys and veterans behind it that really make it personal. It's not just an online class. It comes alive when another veteran's behind it."
more computer sound "So here's today's Mission Objective."
In short, they've got each other's backs, at war, and at home."
Angel says, "Try it. If it feels funny at first, try it anyway. Going to war is something abnormal you can't expect to come over there and come back without a scratch."
Angel Montes is now the first veteran to complete the training to become a veteran peer. Vets Prevail is free and they guarantee anonymity. Click here for more information. And if you'd like to E-mail this story to a vet, we'll send you the video link if you text the word "Cover" for Cover Story to 97999.
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