WEST ALLIS, Wis. — As we celebrate this Independence Day, one Wisconsin veterans’ organization wants people to remember the cost of freedom is not free.
Wisconsin Veterans Network says there are veterans struggling right now with a variety of issues in part because of the service they gave this country.
“One thing that's always made me weary, was looking into my veteran resources because of… having anxiety and dealing with the whole thing. And at the same time my pride, I didn’t really want to expose what I was going through,” said Jermaine Blackmon, an Army veteran.
He is from West Allis and left the military in 2008. Blackmon says when he started experiencing financial problems, he didn’t know where to turn at first. A feeling Quentin Hatfield, executive director of Wisconsin Veterans Network, knows all too well.
“When I came back from Vietnam it was 12 months before I could get my feet on the ground. What am I going to do? I struggled with that,” said Hatfield.
He says when veterans call more often they need another veteran who understands what they are struggling with. He says food insecurity, finances, and housing are often at the top of the list.
As we were talking to Hatfield, he was trying to find a veteran and their family a hotel to live in after they lost their housing while he looked for a more permanent solution.
Reports from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development show that even though veterans make up 6 percent of the population in the U.S., they account for 8 percent of the homeless population.
Veterans are 15 times more likely than civilians to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health, and five times more likely to have depression. And during the pandemic the leading cause of death among veterans was suicide.
“It is a broad range of issues that we are dealing with every day,” said Hatfield. “We had 410 veterans we served in over 40 counties and over half were low income.”
Blackmon’s message to other veterans who are out there feeling like there is no solution, there are other veterans out there like Hatfield who understand and can help.
“You know he's been a great start to this new journey in my life,” said Blackmon.
Besides helping veterans years after their military service has ended, Wisconsin Veterans Network is offering a new program to connect people just leaving the service to mentors and resources to help make the transition back to civilian life easier. Learn more at wisvetnet.org.
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