Veterans helping others after war

They served each other during combat and then they serve after. They are heroes after war.

Benton City man connects generations of vets
BY JOHN TRUMBO, HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published: 12/07/1012:50 am

BENTON CITY — Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbor, Vietnam and Afghanistan are thousands of miles apart, but Spencer Oland of Benton City sees important connections between all of them.

The 63-year-old ex-Marine, who is disabled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because of his Vietnam War experiences, understands that war can be hell long after combat ends.

That's why he connects to veterans much younger, and to those a lot older, who have continued the fight to live normal lives long after leaving the military.

He discovered that connection 1 1/2 years ago after he attended a weekly group therapy session in Richland with other veterans.

"I was sitting next to a guy who landed at Omaha Beach (on D-Day during World War II), and on one side of me was a Vietnam veteran, while across from me were veterans from Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan," Oland recalls. It was a room filled with several generations of PTSD veterans -- with older guys helping younger guys.

"I thought how helpful it was to help the younger veterans, showing them what happens when you don't do something about (PTSD," he said. Oland thought about it on his way home that night, then wrote it down and consulted with some military buddies.

Generations of Warriors Project, an educational nonprofit organization, is the result.



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