WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Battle continues at home for war veterans

October 7, 2011

Jennifer Crane's first day of Army basic training was Sept. 11, 2001. Two years later, the 20-year-old was on the ground in Afghanistan.

"You basically make the sign of the cross and just drive and pray and hope that you don't get blown up that day," Crane said.

The horrors of war quickly wore her down.

"We would see trucks of bodies just come back to base with brain matter out of their heads, missing limbs and a lot of blood," Crane said.

Crane came home with post-traumatic stress disorder. She became addicted to crack cocaine and lived in her car.

"I just wanted nothing to do with, anybody completely the opposite of what I used to be," she said.

A just-released survey finds she isn't alone; 1 percent of veterans said they had post-traumatic stress disorder.

"A trigger could be a sound, a smell, a sight will literally trigger an experience as if the person was once again in that horrific situation," said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, the president of Give a Hour.

Last year, 295 veterans committed suicide and a Department of Defense study found one-third of them had asked for help before taking their life.

Volunteer programs like Give an Hour aim to fill in the gaps of government programs.

"Over 6,000 mental health professionals around the country are now stepping up," Dahlen said.

"I spent three years using drugs, hurting myself, wanting to end my life and it didn't have to be that way," Crane said.

Now, the married mother of a young daughter, Crane is a spokesperson for Give an Hour, sharing her story to give hope that there is life after war.

Give an Hour also offers free services to the families of veterans.