Vets Tackle Transition Home

New Battlefield: Vets Tackle Transition Home
by Jeff St. Clair


August 23, 2010 from WKSU
In the military, 12 weeks of basic training can make someone a soldier. But it may take years, even decades, for many veterans to readjust to home life.

While much of the responsibility for guiding the transition falls to the Department of Veterans Affairs, community-based groups are playing a key role in helping veterans transition to civilian life. One such group, based in Ohio, is being held up as a national model.

A Warrior's Journey Home

Dustin Szarell was one of those veterans who needed help after coming home from Iraq. He tells of seeing comrades killed, and of killing in blind rage. He suffered a traumatic brain injury in an explosion, relearned how to walk and talk, and was returned to duty. When he came home to Ohio, Szarell faced a different set of challenges.

"I had such a frustrating time. You know, I finished my time in the military — six years ... and I was like, 'What am I going to do?' " he says.

Szarell married and soon divorced. He drank and struggled to find work.

Eventually the VA found him a room in a homeless veterans' shelter, where Szarell's transition began in earnest.
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