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Veterans have suggestions for VA ad campaign

Three Iraq war veterans told a House subcommittee Tuesday that they like the idea of the government advertising available benefits to veterans, but they hope for a few changes.

Some changes they seek are complicated, like placing ads different places for maximum effect. Some changes are simpler, like increasing the size of the print on those ads so they are easier to read. The veterans spoke during a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations hearing about a new Veterans Affairs Department advertising program.

Carolyn Schapper, an Iraq war veteran testifying on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said widely spreading the word about veterans’ programs — especially mental health counseling — could help people like her.

“When I came home I dealt with a wide range of adjustment issues/PTSD symptoms: rage, anger, seeking revenge, increased alcohol use, withdrawal from friends and family, depression, high anxiety, agitation, nightmares and hyper-vigilance. My symptoms altered and grew over time. I was not the person I used to be and I knew it,” said Schapper, who was a member of the Georgia National Guard.

Schapper said she was happy to see the VA had posters in the Washington, D.C., subway system, known as the Metro, but she thinks they could be more effective.

“I thought it was fantastic that they were finally reaching out to veterans, instead of waiting for us to come to them,” she said. But the ads need to be redesigned: “The phone number is hard to read. A veteran in a crowded Metro car is not going to want to draw attention to themselves by getting up and walking across to a poster. If they can sit far from the poster and still see the number, it would be much more effective,” she said.

Brian Hawthorne, an Army Reserve medic who has served two tours in Iraq, said he is pleased the Army is placing more emphasis on the mental health of its soldiers, but “this fight does not stop upon leaving the battlefield.”

“Even more important than the availability of mental health care in theater is the availability and usage of such care at home,” Hawthorne said.

Army culture, and the urge of soldiers leaving the military to process out as quickly as possible, mean that some combat veterans are leaving without being identified as having mental health issues and have not paid attention to how to get help, he said. “After all, he just wants to get home. He doesn’t want to stay away from his family any longer, or hold up his buddies’ demobilization, so he skimps on details with the health care provider and goes on home,” Hawthorne said.

Hawthorne suggested “there should be no limit to the creativity” applied to advertising VA services, targeted at both veterans and their families. “While it could be argued that a veteran is not likely to be sitting at home at noon on a Tuesday watching soap operas, it is very possible that his mother or grandmother could be, and — having just had a conversation with him about his difficulties — has been empowered with information that could save his life,” he said.

Wade Spann, a Marine veteran injured on the second of three tours in Iraq, said he received a benefits briefing when he was discharged in 2005, but “it was difficult to fully understand what paperwork needed to be sent where, who needed to be contacted, while simultaneously preparing to move across the country,” he said.

Spann said he did not really realize he needed help until after he got out. “Only a few short weeks after my discharge from active duty, I began my first college classes and quickly learned that there were going to be obstacles to face due to my head injury in Iraq. It became clear as time went by, that my short-term memory loss had dramatic effects on my abilities to retain information and that I was going to need everyday assistance from professors and tutors,” he said.

Span said most of what he learned about benefits was from other veterans “who have already gone through this process.”

“We are considered a young and technologically savvy generation,” Spann said. “We depend on online mediums for information as much as television, or other media types. Great effort should be made to have the VA to come to me; I should not have to spend the day calling numbers and extensions to receive information on my benefits.”