Oregon Public Broadcasting

Across the nation, states and non-profits are stepping up to fill gaps in care for returning soldiers and sailors.  One program under the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs uses nature to help heal the wounds of war. 

The Veterans Conservation Corps attempts to unite two different public goals. 

One is to help returning vets with PTSD and other issues.  The other, to help the environment.

Tom Banse caught up with a group of recently discharged soldiers and sailors.  They were hacking away at a hillside choked with brambles near Nisqually, Washington.  Here they are in their own words.

Army veteran Michael Farnum digs out blackberry root balls.

Michael Farnum: "My name is Michael Farnum.  I'm retired from the United States Army.  For 22 years, I was a cavalry scout, reconnaissance soldier.

"We're doing some invasive species removal in an area in the Nisqually Indian tribe lands.  It is just a giant blackberry patch.  We're really close to the highway as you probably can hear.

"Over 22 years, I got beat up, banged up, blown up several times. Things don't work as well as they used to.  It kind of hurts to get up in the morning.  I eat Motrin like it's going out of style and try to get through the day. This helps loosen me up, keeps me somewhat fresh, works my muscles. I'm not stuck behind a computer just yet.

"I was lucky enough to stumble onto the Veterans Conservation Corps, the program put together where they help veterans make it through school by offering them a little extra cash in return for some restoration work.  Another piece of this is they call it eco-therapy.  I think a good majority of combat veterans -- and non-combat veterans -- when they get out, they want some solace, they want some peace."

Jeremy Grisham: "My name is Jeremy Grisham.  I served in the Navy for 12 years as a hospital corpsman.  Eight of those years I served with the Marine Corps.  I was medically retired in 2005 after my deployment to Iraq.

"I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder.  I guess they're intertwined.

"Before I was working with the VCC I would stay at home all the time.  I was in a pattern of kind of self hate and stuff like that. I was in self destructive behavior I guess.

"Doing this sort of thing, like this sort of labor, gives me a chance to get exercise -- a little workout -- kind of let some aggression go, let some steam off. It's helpful.  Because when I'm having a bad day, instead of cutting myself or thinking suicide or something, I have an outlet.  Maybe I'll go chop blackberries and vent some frustration, you know, or maybe just go for a walk.  It helps me think of other options."

Phil Hansen: "My name is Phil Hansen.  I served in the U.S. Army for 10 years.

"I was in the airborne infantry and then the infantry for about 10 years.  I got medically discharged in 2006.

"Finding a support group like the Veterans Conservation Corps has been immensely helpful.  Creating a bond with the group of people here will be a lifelong bond like I had with the brothers I served with in Iraq.

"Being in a third world country and seeing how they live and then coming back and worrying about your Starbucks in the morning or something, then you kind of realize how petty and insignificant that is to living.  That's been a big hurdle for me and a lot of people I know.  Yeah, it just puts life in a different context for you.

"Coming through, removing invasives, planting natural shrubs and wildflowers and trees and things like that that belong here in the first place, having that there's kind of an instant gratification you get from knowing you're creating something that has destroyed by us in the past. It's therapeutical."

That was Army veteran Phil Hansen ending a piece about the Veterans Conservation Corps.  Other states including Oregon are looking at copying the program for returning vets.  About one thousand veterans have worked on restoration projects since the Washington state program started five years ago.

Online:

Veterans Conservation Corps