Family that's seen aftermath of war offering aid

Iraq war veteran Paul Taylor, right, and his wife, Lauren, holding baby, have started a support group for veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome. This photo was taken in January 2008, before Paul was admitted to a Veterans Affairs facility in February. He was discharged in April. Taylor has been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Courtesy photo

New support group reaches out to war veterans
Family that's seen aftermath offering aid
By Karen Dandurant
kdandurant@seacoastonline.com
August 08, 2008 6:00 AM
It's hard for the average person to understand the severe emotional stress that some military veterans feel after being deployed to a war zone.

The person returning home can be changed forever, scarred by what he or she experienced.


That's why a couple with local ties — he a veteran of the war in Iraq, she the mother of four — are starting a support group for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. They say one way to help is for those going through it to be able to talk to people who understand.

Paul and Lauren Taylor live in Lunenburg, Mass. They chose to live in Massachusetts because, they said, the state's benefits and help extended to returning veterans are considered among the best in the country.

Paul was a roofer in Portsmouth; Lauren grew up in Kingston. The couple had a duplex in Dover where they lived with their four children, Warren, now 1; Austin, 2; Keira, 10; and Ashlyn, 11.

The family's downward spiral, as recounted by Lauren, is one the Taylors and their children are feeling to this day. Paul is receiving help but Lauren said he's still not quite the happy, loving man he was before he left.

"We're starting to get back on our feet," Paul said. "I'm thankful for all the help we received. Without it, things would be devastating."

Paul was deployed to Iraq with the Army National Guard from 2005 to 2006.

"I didn't really think anything of it when he went overseas," Lauren said. "But the Army told us wives they would be different when they returned."

Lauren volunteered to start a family support group for the wives and families waiting for the loved one to return home.
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