Operation Recovery in the Killeen Daily Herald

This article was published yesterday by the Killeen Daily Herald. The article has since been taken down. Lori, the Under the Hood Manager, is reaching out to the writer and editor to find out more about why the article was taken down.

Iraq Veterans Against the War aims to help troops with PTSD

Despite the war in Iraq being over, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, operating in Killeen at Under the Hood Cafe, said there is still work to be done.

"The impacts of the war in Iraq and the Afghanistan War are continuing to ripple through the community and our country," said Lori Hurlebaus, the nonprofit's lone paid employee. " The impacts of that will be long withstanding."

Nestled into a house just north of the railroad tracks on College Street, Hurlebaus, a civilian, manages the physical space for Killeen's "pro-soldier, anti-war" group, which has been supported by private donations in Killeen since February 2009.

Members of the chapter have been seen around town protesting deployments and marching in the Veterans Day parade. They have mailed more than 1,000 postcards to Fort Hood's commander citing facts about post-traumatic stress disorder through an online campaign.

Although members of Under the Hood said they are happy to see soldiers leaving Iraq, they immediately pointed to the number of contractors still in the country and the several thousand 1st Cavalry Division soldiers repositioned to Kuwait.

"I'm happy that they're coming home," said Kyle Wesolowski, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and former manager of Under the Hood. "I don't feel like it's complete closure to me, but it's comforting to know that the next step has come in ending the war." 

Hurlebaus is concerned that as people close the book on the Iraq War, discussions of its impact will end, too.

"Now it's over and that's the story," she said. "That's only one part of the story and people won't be interested in hearing other parts of the story because it's over now."

So Under the Hood is holding strong in 2012 and continuing forward with Operation Recovery, a campaign to end the deployment of traumatized troops and get servicemembers and veterans the proper medical and mental health care they need.

"The overall goal is policy change," said Spc. Curtis Sirmans, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. "If soldiers have issues, they don't need to be deployed. Right now it's like a quota system. 

They don't care what kind of issues the soldier already has. That has to change immediately."

Sirmans was deployed in 2009 to Iraq with the same unit as Pfc. Carl T. Stovall III, who shot and killed a Hungarian contractor digging a hole at Camp Taji. During his September court-martial, military mental health officers testified that Stovall was a paranoid schizophrenic who believed the contractor was a terrorist digging a hole. Other members of Stovall's unit testified they tried to prevent Stovall from deploying, but commanders signed off on it anyway. 

"I saw things in Iraq that opened my eyes to a lot of different things about what war is really about," said Sirmans. 

The main focus of Operation Recovery is to meet with Lt. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr., commander of III Corps and Fort Hood, said Wesolowski.

"We are trying to have open communication with the general in hopes that he will set up a town hall meeting," he said. "We hear it in the news all the time, the stigma issue. Asking the general what exactly are you doing to fix the stigma thing, other than just going on stage and saying, 'Hey, we need to fix the stigma issue,' because it doesn't seem like anything is really happening. So asking those questions and allowing the general to explain how those things are happening."

Soldiers' responses

These ideas and goals have brought an average of 10 soldiers each week to the cafe, according to figures from the nonprofit, in hopes of either helping spread the message, or just to find a place of respite.

"I kind of ran into them at a really pivotal time (in my life)," said Pfc. Chris Mays, 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, who is awaiting a response to his conscientious objector application. "I had been struggling with my morals and beliefs of being in the military. At the very least, there's other people."

Mays said he sees Under the Hood as more of a community effort. "I do want this to become a space, not just where soldiers feel like they can come and have some kind of release ... but where it's stronger for all people — whether military or family members, or even just the civilian community — can come and participate."

As more soldiers return home and Fort Hood prepares for some of its highest troop levels in eight years, Wesolowski's not quite sure what that will mean for Under the Hood. 

"I'm curious myself. I don't really know. I think there's a chance we might see some new faces coming in here," he said.

Hurlebaus said the only thing that will change is that Under the Hood will be working harder.

"We're continuing to do our work with the commitment and passion that we've always had," she said. "The war being over doesn't change our work, but part of our plans are already to continue to develop our resources to offer people."