43
Seek help with transition to civilian life, veteran urges fellow vets
BOARDMAN
An Iraq War veteran, who now coordinates veterans’ services at Rutgers University in New Jersey, urges veterans not to hesitate to seek help with the challenges they face in making the transition to civilian life.
Bryan Adams was shot during an ambush while on patrol in Tikrit, Iraq, in 2008. Adams struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder as he successfully made the transition to academia and the civilian workforce.
“From Combat to Campus to Career” was the title of a Wednesday workshop, at which Adams was the keynote speaker. Among the 110 people attending were numerous local mental-health professionals and veterans’ service officials.
“Have a plan ready for when you get out of the military,” in terms of an educational or career path, Adams urged active-duty military personnel. “Seeking help for what’s going on in your life is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength,” he added.
Sources of assistance can include the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which operates medical clinics in many local communities, including Youngstown, and various veterans’ organizations.
Adams earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Rutgers, and he has been active with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Student Veterans of America.
Based at Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus, the Purple Heart recipient now advocates tirelessly for veterans’ rights. Rutgers has 5,500 veterans among its students.
“We all have a responsibility as community members to pay attention to those who’ve sacrificed so much,” because of their military service, said Thom Craig, director of the mental health program for the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation of Hudson, Ohio, a workshop sponsor.
Other workshop speakers were Tracy Plouck, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and Carolyn Givens, executive director of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.
Help Hotline Crisis Center, the Youngstown-based 24-hour telephone crisis intervention, information and referral center covering five counties, presented the workshop at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center on South Avenue.
During his visit here, Adams was scheduled to tour the newly opened veterans’ resource center at Youngstown State University that serves more than 350 veterans who are students.