A place for veterans to turn

By Joshua Bassett

The perception of a returning veteran does not always match the reality, says Butch Hurlburt, especially regarding the newest wave of veterans.

Hurlburt, commander of VFW Post 1653 in Granville, said the current war has been the worst for soldiers losing multiple limbs and that the returning veterans might be suffering psychological issues as well as physical.

“A lot of them are coming back with this,” said Hurlburt, pointing to his head.

He said that many of them are labeled with PTSD when they return home, which Hurlburt said “99 percent of the time is not the case.”

“What people do need to realize, just because someone might have PTSD, they’re not nuts,” Hurlburt said. He added that people tend to assume that PTSD is just related to soldiers, but people can develop PTSD as well based on things such as a sexual assault or automobile accident.

Hurlburt said he has helped two people who have PTSD and that anyone who has it should contact him because he knows the ways to help get them help.

“More times than not, they just have to talk about it,” Hurlburt said. “That’s where I want the opportunity to just talk to people.”

Hurlburt said that it’s nice for family members to call if they believe someone is suffering from PTSD and having mood changes because they tend to know them better and part of it is that veterans do not want to be labeled as someone who is crazy or nuts.

“Veterans are more apt to talk to a veteran than some doctor they don’t know,” he said.

He said that a lot of the Vietnam veterans are having difficulties related to Agent Orange, which he said was used as a defoliant in Vietnam and was double-strength DEET.

The VFW post commander for three years, Hurlburt said he served in Vietnam and got involved with the VFW because his uncle paid for his membership while he was in Vietnam.

He said he had no regrets about joining the military out of high school, because “it was a good career,” and enlisted along with his brother who was about to be drafted.

“Those kids had to become adults in hours,” Hurlburt said, adding that it was easier for him because he was the third oldest of 10 children.

He said that back in those days it was required that he wear his uniform when he was in Philadelphia traveling home on leave, and members of the Unification Church of the United States had a protest and “signs calling us baby killers to…” without completing the sentence.

“It’s so difficult to come back here and reprogram themselves,” Hurlburt said.

He said that for the first 10-15 years after he returned home he would wake up to almost any sound and even now whenever he goes out he sits with his back to a wall or away from a window and always watches what people are doing.

Hurlburt said his favorite thing now is to speak with children and tell them what it’s like to be a veteran, such as he did at the local Flag Day ceremonies.

“I love talking to kids, I don’t find anything better,” Hurlburt said.

He said that whenever he does, the first question is always the same: “Did you kill anybody?”

He said that’s a natural thing for a child to ask a veteran.

He said he tries to steer the conversation away from that, and “then they start asking the right questions.”

He said that some the questions are “How you lived when you came home?”, “How did you feel when you came home?”, “Any of your friends get killed?”

“A couple of times they put to me tears,” Hurlburt said.

He said another big thing for him is to let people know what being a veteran means and talking about the war with them since he fought in a war in a third-world country and today’s soldiers are fighting a war in a third-world country.

“They may get a meal every three days,” Hurlburt said, adding that it is usually rice.

Hurlburt said that as commander he does a lot of paperwork, including getting cemetery stones for veterans or their service records. He said that any veteran who can should join either the American Legion or VFW.

“My job and my wish is to help my veterans in any way I can,” he said.

He also does funerals for the VFW, no matter who the veteran is or how well he knew them.

“At the very least, it’s difficult,” he said, adding that he tears up every time he hears TAPS.