Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Kansas: Vietnam vets ask senators to back mental-health funding While numerous programs have been put in place in recent months to help soldiers still in uniform, the veterans said more must be done to help those who are now civilians.
Tim Saknit, leader of Pointman Ministries in Leavenworth, struggled for years with his own PTSD. He was in the Army and spent a year in Vietnam, starting in April 1969. Alcoholism and drug abuse caused him to lose contact with friends and family. His life changed when he went to the PTSD Center at Topeka Veterans Administration hospital, where he met LaFon. Though he said he still has relapses, support from fellow veterans and his ministry helps him get by, Saknit said. “If you don’t come in and get help with it, it gets worse. Trying to get these young guys to understand that is rough,” Saknit said. “I’ve got my ups and downs. I don’t have to drink anymore. I have my medication, breathing exercises, meditation, reading the Bible.” Gary Sanford, a retired Army colonel and chaplain and now pastor of Rock of Ages Chapel in Leavenworth, said increased federal funding for mental health programs is critical to help communities serve veterans of all wars. “We came home from ’Nam and got no support whatsoever. If we turn down and veto this bill, I’m telling you, we’re doing the same thing to our vets now that was done to us 30 some years ago,” said Sanford, who served 30 years in the Army, from Vietnam to Desert Storm. “Every day we’re asking for money to fight the war, and I support that 100 percent. But we need to put our money where our mouth is supporting those who are coming back.” 
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