A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans

A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans
A military man and support expert outlines problems in a meeting with area care providers.
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com

NANTICOKE – When U.S. Army Col. David W. Sutherland enters a building, part of him can’t help but think how he and a team of armed soldiers might take it over.


Standing telephone poles and working street lights sometimes leave him bewildered.

Sutherland, a veteran of both Iraq wars, has been shot at, bombed and not long ago witnessed a suicide bomber kill 20 people before his eyes, less than 10 feet away. Normal life isn’t quite normal for him any more.

At Luzerne County Community College on Friday, Sutherland commanded the attention of more than 80 representatives of organizations and agencies in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties about how they can better aid returning military and veterans’ transition to civilian life.

The symposium was part of a new collaborative initiative called the Tri-Vets Community Task Force aimed at doing just that.

Sutherland is now the special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the principal focus on Warrior and Family Support. He has served in the military for 28 years and in 2008 and 2009 was regional division chief in the J5 Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, making him responsible for strategic planning and advising the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on issues relating to the Middle East.
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A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans