By Matt Leingang
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jack Johnson of Fairfield, pictured with his 6-year-old daughter, Alexandria, sought psychiatric help after his service in Iraq last year. The Cincinnati Enquirer/STEVEN M. HERPPICH

CORRYVILLE - Jack Johnson stops short of saying that he is traumatized by his combat experience in Iraq.

"But I think about it every day. It will be with me forever," said Johnson, a 29-year-old Fairfield resident who fought for six months in Iraq last year as a member of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.

There were times, Johnson said, when he barely escaped death, including an incident when his Humvee came under fire while stuck in civilian traffic in southern Baghdad.

Unable to talk with friends and family about his lingering memories, Johnson sought psychiatric help in March at the VA Medical Center in Cincinnati. The weekly sessions have allowed Johnson to manage his emotions, he said.

Doctors at the VA say they expect to see higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq compared to those who served in the first Gulf War in 1991. The rate then was about 6 percent, according to some estimates.

WHERE TO FIND HELP

Today's veterans are entitled to two years of free health care at VA facilities. Every county in Ohio has a VA service commission that links up veterans with health care and other services that they are entitled to. Kentucky has a statewide program. Butler: (513) 887-3600 Hamilton: (513) 946-3300 Clermont: (513) 732-7363 Warren: (513) 925-1345 Northern Kentucky: (859) 824-0940

This time around, soldiers have been deployed longer, the fighting has been more intense and there's been a greater reliance on reservists to fight, said Dr. Dewleen Baker, medical director of the Gulf War Clinic at the VA facility on Vine Street in Corryville.

All of the country's 159 VA medical centers will screen returning veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, Baker said. But the program only works if veterans take it upon themselves to seek help.

Of the 128,000 soldiers who have returned from Iraq, about 14 percent - or 18,000 - have sought care at VA health facilities, government officials reported at the end of March. A separate report issued in mid-April said 4,000 troops from the war in Afghanistan sought care.

The most common health issues have been musculoskeletal ailments, principally joint and back disorders, and dental problems.

Mental disorders were diagnosed in 16 percent of the Afghanistan veterans and 15 percent of the Iraqi veterans.

Locally, Baker is treating 11 veterans, including Johnson. Common symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks, anger, emotional withdrawal and depression.

Johnson, who was medically discharged from the Army this spring because of a back injury, won't reveal much about his symptoms. But at the same time, he doesn't want to give the impression that he is emotionally troubled. He agreed to an interview, hoping that it would spur other veterans to get care.

The father of two young daughters, Johnson said returning to civilian life after the intensity of combat wasn't easy. Televised images of the continued fighting in Iraq keep bad memories alive, he said.

"He's doing well for the most part," said his wife, Kara. "I think our family has bonded well. Do I think he's changed? Absolutely. But time has a way of healing a lot of wounds."

Jack Johnson said he sought help from the VA because "it was free, so why not take advantage of it?" Since returning home, Johnson is working on a business degree from Southern Ohio College in Glendale.

To better prepare for the new wave of veterans such as Johnson, the VA has hired 50 new outreach workers nationwide.

Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center in Washington, D.C., called that a good first step.

"But we need to double and redouble efforts to pursue these returning veterans and get them to talk to the VA," Robinson said.

Baker said Army soldiers who suffered the greatest combat stress might be bypassing the VA system in favor of a family doctor.

"Many veterans go to their private physician for a physical problem, but if that doctor doesn't specifically ask about mental health issues, then problems get completely missed," Baker said.

E-mail mleingang@enquirer.com