Lawmakers focus on veterans' needs

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina, like the rest of the nation, needs to do better for the servicemen and women returning home from war, especially those stricken with post-traumatic stress disorder, state Rep. Wendell Gilliard said in call for lawmakers to examine the issue.

Gilliard, D-Charleston, said he wants the House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee to immediately convene a panel of lawmakers and veterans' affairs officials to review the resources available to the military personnel and their families. Gilliard said he is especially concerned with whether the veterans' affairs medical centers are properly equipped to serve the men and women.

Gilliard said he was prompted to call for the examination after receiving calls from veterans about trouble they've had making a transition back to civilian life and the lack of resources available to them.

"If this goes unchecked and we don't do anything about it, can you imagine the domestic problems and the suicide rates?" Gilliard said. "This is an issue that no one wants to talk about."

Rep. Leon Howard, D-Columbia, said as chairman of the House medical, military and municipal committee he plans to investigate the matter. Howard said he has not set any dates for a review but he expects that work can get started in advance of the Legislature's January return.

Howard said providing services will take a joint effort between the state and federal governments. The main objective of the work would be to create a dialogue about what resources are lacking, he said.

The state Office of Veterans' Affairs exists to serve as an advocate for the state's 413,000 veterans, according to the agency's website. The office has representatives in all 46 counties to assist veterans and their families with information about benefits, free tuition and plots in the state's Veterans' Cemetery in Anderson, among other matters.

The Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center on Bee Street in Charleston provides services to the state's veterans. The main medical center provides acute medical, surgical and psychiatric inpatient care, as well as outpatient primary and mental health care to Lowcountry veterans.

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Tonya C. Lobbestael, public affairs officer for the Johnson medical center, said it provides veterans with access to more than 100 mental-health experts, part of a bolstered effort in the past three years to serve the men and women coming home from war. The VA also provides an outreach director in every community who helps veterans learn about the benefits available to them and how to navigate the system, as well as many other services, she said.

"Our men and women who have served have done so honorably and admirably and we, as a country, have a responsibility in my opinion to really do everything we can to wrap our arms around them and welcome them back," Lobbestael said.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.