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Newman on a mission to improve veterans’ lives

Tierney Harvey
Posted 7/19/17

ORANGE PARK – After a year of battle in Vietnam, Gary Newman boarded a flight home, forbidden from wearing his Navy uniform. He was scheduled to arrive at 2 a.m., yet no one even knew he was coming …

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Newman on a mission to improve veterans’ lives


Posted

ORANGE PARK – After a year of battle in Vietnam, Gary Newman boarded a flight home, forbidden from wearing his Navy uniform. He was scheduled to arrive at 2 a.m., yet no one even knew he was coming home.

Veterans were plucked from the battlefield and flown back to the United States within a day, where they were judged and avoided due to widespread public opposition of the war.

“Six hours before my flight, mortar rounds dropped down right through the roof, right in the passenger terminal,” he said. “You went from that type of situation and they dropped you right back into society.”

Some veterans had as little as two weeks leave to adjust to civilian life, Newman said. They received no counseling and had not even heard of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We were scorned by our own military,” he said. “So that kind of forced us to go into a clamshell. And we remained that way for probably the next 25, 30 years.”

Today, Newman carries the title of Vietnam veteran proudly and is dedicated to helping veterans who have been forgotten. That goal led him to establish two Vietnam Veterans of America chapters. He is currently president of Clay County Chapter 1059 and acts as an advisor for Chapter 1080, located within the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Fla. The chapter at UCI is the only one in Florida in a maximum-security prison.

“We provide resources for veterans, including our own members, for PTSD, alcohol, drug problems, traumatic brain injuries, any need that they may have,” he said. “We have provided food, we provide health articles like shaving cream and stuff like that.”

VVA helps all veterans, Newman said, but membership is restricted to Vietnam vets. He said no one was addressing the issues and illnesses faced by Vietnam veterans, and in 1978, activists banded together and formed VVA.

He said veterans returning today have information about mental illnesses. But when he came home from Vietnam in 1968, PTSD was known simply as combat fatigue.

“Our motto is, ‘Never again will one generation of veterans leave another behind,’” he said. “We felt that we were left behind by the other veterans’ organizations because they didn’t care about us.”

VVA encourages members to bring their spouses and family members to meetings where they share their military experiences.

“We now have our Vietnam veterans opening up and telling their family members things that they kept inside for many years,” he said. “It’s been a healing process for them.”

Fellow Chapter 1059 member Robert Phillips said many Vietnam veterans developed a bad attitude, but they used it to push for change in the military to avoid a repeat of their experience.

Phillips said it can be a challenge to lead a group of rowdy Vietnam vets, but Newman does it well, despite health issues faced by the 75-year-old.

“He’s a go-getter,” Phillips said. “We probably wouldn’t have a VVA without Gary.”

Newman said the group has also donated items to Salvation Army and the Clay House, a home in Green Cove Springs where participants from Veterans Treatment Court can live while they get on their feet.

Veterans Treatment Court is a pre-trial diversion program that allows veterans to avoid criminal conviction if they agree to treatment for issues such as substance abuse and mental health. VTC provides vets with a volunteer veteran who helps walk them through the court system. So far, the program has helped about 30 people in Clay County, Phillips said, and at the end of the program, participants can have their records expunged.

Newman seeks out forgotten veterans. When an inmate from UCI reached out to Newman, he realized how many veterans were serving sentences there and launched his plan for a VVA prison chapter there. Many of its 108 members are serving life sentences.

“They served their country,” he said. “When their country called, they were there.”

The group has the same healing effect within the prison. The inmates often reassume the structure of their lives in the military, Newman said.

“They hunger for structure,” Phillips said.

Newman also has plans to identify veterans in the cemetery on site at UCI. Inmates from around the state who die in prison and whose families make no arrangements are buried there, Newman said. Graves are marked only with a small stone and a motorcycle license plate – which are made at the prison – attached, showing the name, inmate number and date of death.

Newman wants to restore the rusted, old license plates and add markers that identify their military service, something he has been working on with the Florida Department of Corrections for a year and a half. While dealing with any government agency takes time, Newman said, prison officials have been receptive to the idea.

“I’ve been very successful in dealing with FDOC,” Newman said. “They are concerned about their veterans’ community.”

Newman said many incarcerated veterans say they would not be in prison if they had all the programs and opportunities given to veterans today.

Phillips said many veterans tried to self-medicate instead of getting the help they needed for mental health issues or traumatic brain injuries, often resulting in substance abuse or alcoholism. No one tells people how to get help after leaving the military, he said.

Newman started the Veterans Interactive Program, where he pairs veterans at UCI with those taking part in Veterans Treatment Court. They visit the incarcerated veterans, who discuss their experiences and mentor the Veterans Treatment Court participants. For many, Newman said, the visit motivates treatment court vets to complete the program and avoid a prison sentence.

And it’s changing the inmate as well. Newman said the veteran inmates have been working to improve their communication skills and even started a club where they help each other hone public speaking skills to become better mentors.

There has been great support for the Veterans Interactive Program, Newman said, but it requires Veterans Treatment Court programs in the same areas as prison chapters, which is not always the case. Newman said he has been asked to start additional chapters and while he is currently busy with other projects, he hopes to reach more veterans in prison in the future.

“They want to talk to these young guys,” Phillips said.

Newman said he is motivated by his love for veterans. Veterans inside the prison system are often forgotten.

“They served,” Newman said. “They earned the name, veteran.”