Local veterans say leaving military service is difficult

Most military veterans will tell someone how their service shaped their life.

On Monday, the Vancouver Housing Authority and the Clark College Veterans Center of Excellence hosted a panel featuring six veterans who spoke about their service and how their call to serve hasn’t left them; it has just taken a different form.

Some on the panel said there are various obstacles veterans face when adjusting to civilian life after the military.

According to a National Institutes of Health report, veterans face an increased risk of homelessness after leaving the service due to financial instability, difficulty finding employment and challenges with physical or mental health.

“It’s just this feeling of loss of not having that camaraderie … and then trying to navigate housing and employment was the hardest part for me,” U.S. Navy veteran Duana Ricks-Johnson said.

Nathan Webster, founder of NW & Associates, said he enlisted in the Marine Corps straight out of high school. When he was preparing to transition out of the service, Webster was warned it would be the hardest time of his life. He didn’t believe it.

“But it was hard because you’re so used to being on the go. My battalion commander said it’s like you’re used to going 90 mph, but everyone else is going 30 mph,” Webster said.

The loss of community and having people around you who understand what it’s like to serve is an obstacle that many veterans must overcome, the panelists said. According to a 2022 report, about half of all U.S. veterans reported feeling a lack of belonging after leaving the military, citing loneliness and social isolation.

Janice Morales, a Clark College student and U.S. Army veteran, said she faced challenges in finding community after service. She was now living in a new state.

“I have found community with the college, and now I have a great group of veteran friends, and we have that connection that we were all looking for from our time serving,” Morales said.

Donna Larson, a U.S. Air Force veteran who is the associate director at Clark College’s Veterans Center of Excellence, said people form close friendships while serving with those on the base.

“Then, when you’re yanked out of that and you come back to the civilian world, … it’s tough to find people who you can identify with and strike up those same kinds of friendships with,” Larson said. “It makes for a lot of lonely days.”

But their time in the service and the challenges they overcame led many of the panelists to continue serving in other ways.

Larson said she was working at another community college when she met a woman who had just left the Coast Guard after 10 years. The veteran wanted to be a nurse, but her military training didn’t transfer to college-level credits.

“She said to me: ‘Why are you making this so hard? Why are you making me start all over again when I’ve been doing this for 10 years?’ I didn’t have an answer,” Larson said. “I am just trying to make sure that the civilian world values the education that our military folks get from all their training.”

Army veteran Gina Ochoa, who works as the housing diversion supervisor for the local nonprofit Council for the Homeless, said she went from being a soldier to becoming a parent. After being honorably discharged, Ochoa became pregnant with triplets. Then her partner, who was serving in Iraq, was hit with an improvised explosive device and permanently disabled.

“They discharged them, and we had nowhere to go. We were given very little money from the Army. … We were fortunate enough to have that family support at the time, but I saw how quickly someone’s life can unravel if they don’t have a support system.”

Ochoa said this experience helped influence her work in the homeless services sector.

“I was protecting something greater than myself — my country,” Ochoa said. “When I think of service now, it’s more personal … it’s knowing each person individually rather than the greater nation.”

Ricks-Johnson said she hopes the work this generation’s veterans are doing will help ease the way for the next. Other panelists said they hope the next generation will feel supported in their transition to civilian life and that there will be a community there to support them.

Panelists said there are many opportunities to support veterans beyond Veterans Day.

Webster said community members can support veterans all year round by checking in with them. He mentioned the Fourth of July as an example.

Larson said there are so many different occupations one can have while serving. She encouraged people to be genuinely curious and ask veterans questions about their role in the service.

“You don’t come out the same way you go into the military,” said Bonny Mbuya, a U.S. Army veteran and owner of RichlandHub Coffee. “Not to say it’s easy. It was the hardest thing you could ever (do), but it was worth it.”