South Carolina House Committee to Review Resources for Veterans

Steven Diaz knows all too well what the inside of a Veterans Affairs hospital looks like. He was a Marine in Iraq in March 2005 when his unarmored Humvee was hit by an improvised explosive device.

"A piece of shrapnel that went through my left eye bounced on the side of the skull and then went into my brain and broke apart into two pieces," he explains, showing a long, curved scar on the side of his head. The injury blinded his left eye and gave him a traumatic brain injury.

Another piece of shrapnel bounced around the inside of the Humvee before hitting his right foot. He's had more than 20 operations to put it back together.

"I was also diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD," he says.

He now works with a non-profit group called Hidden Wounds, which helps soldiers with PTSD and their families. He says he got great care in VA hospitals, but he did notice something when he was back in South Carolina and went to the Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia.

"They were having a little bit of trouble adjusting to the new veterans coming back from this war and the high cases of PTSD. And from what I understand, VAs nationwide were having trouble giving services to veterans who were coming back," he says.

That's why state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, called on the state House Medical, Military, Public & Municipal Affairs Committee to review the resources available to South Carolina veterans. Rep. Gilliard says the committee's chairman, Rep. Leon Howard, has agreed to call the meeting soon with veterans' affairs officials.

"Are we giving our soldiers, from past and present wars, the best care, the best health care possible? And I can almost assure you the answer would be no," Rep. Gilliard says.

When asked how many veterans he's heard from with problems or complaints, he says it's so many that he stopped counting two years ago.

"We're not talking about the issues so therefore we don't have solid solutions. And unless we bring these things to the forefront, things are going to get worse for our soldiers," he says.

Since Veterans Affairs is a federal agency, he says the meeting will be a fact-finding mission for state representatives so they can work with their colleagues in Washington to look for solutions.

Dr. Louise Will-Wallace, a psychologist who's been at the Dorn VA Medical Center for 20 years, says the VA has expanded tremendously in the last few years to deal with the huge influx of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. She says the hospital has more resources now than it's ever had.

"Five years ago, we had four psychologists. We now have 20 and two vacancies," she says. There's also a specialized PTSD team and a general out-patient clinic which also treats PTSD.

Rep. Gilliard says the committee will also look at what other resources are available to vets, including help with housing and job placement.