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Veterans Share Stories as Work Starts on Mental Health Bills
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"Those statistics paint a tragic picture, but they're only a corner of the canvas," Brown said, adding that mental illness is an "invisible injury" for veterans.
In Maryland, many veterans return home to such rural towns as Leonardtown, Crisfield and Cumberland, where mental health services for them can be hours away, Adkins said.
"They're not coming home to places like Fort Meade and Aberdeen, where they have services available," Adkins said.
Colmers said the proposed program would help veterans find the services they need. "The quicker you treat someone, the more likely you will be successful," Colmers said. "That is especially true for these soldiers with" post-traumatic stress disorder.
The administration's bill received enthusiastic support from the House panel yesterday.
"For 20 years, we've Band-Aided the mental health system in this state," said Del. James W. Hubbard (D-Prince George's). "Your goal is laudable, and I support it wholeheartedly."
Del. Joanne C. Benson (D-Prince George's) became emotional as she told her colleagues that after her husband returned from combat in the Vietnam War, he became a chain smoker and alcoholic, which, she said, led to his death six years ago at 57.
"He went to Vietnam as one person and came back as somebody different," Benson said. "He pretty much gave up on his life.
"Somehow we've got to work with the VA and other agencies that are responsible for helping us with these veterans that come back broken and torn. . . . It's unbelievable. It really is. If we don't do anything for anybody else, we've got to do something for our veterans," she said.
