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Reboot program seeks to help vets

MIFFLINTOWN — Like an anchor tied to the ankle in a deep sea, many veterans are drowning in post-traumatic stress disorder.

For the second year in a row, the Reboot program will be offered in Mifflintown to help veterans recover from decades of PTSD.

Reboot is headquartered in Kentucky and founded by Dr. Jenny Owens and her husband Evan in 2011. It has a 95 percent satisfaction rate among those who graduate from the program.

Local coordinators are Bud Wagner and Nevin Fisher, combat war veterans who each underwent the program in recent years. Wagner served in Vietnam. Fisher served in Desert Storm.

The pair led a 12-week course last spring the resulted in 16 graduates. Reboot begins again Feb. 7 and runs through April 25 at the Central Juniata EMS building in Mifflintown. It takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. each Thursday with a meal provided.

Interested vets can start any time in the first two weeks, but must register.

The common response at first from veterans who have PTSD symptoms is “I’m fine,” Wagner said.

Symptoms include episodes of anger, angry outbursts, depression, detachment from others, flashbacks, nightmares, avoiding reminders of their time spent serving, memory loss, feeling “jumpy” or never completely at ease, and turning to alcohol or drugs to numb memories or pain.

“For me, when I realized I had PTSD in 2015, it was soul damage,” Wagner said, adding he spent 40 years suppressing the symptoms and convincing himself he was fine.

There was a specific, horrific battle he faced on Nov. 13, 1969 in Vietnam.

“When that battle was over, it was the numbest I have ever felt. I really believe (PTSD) is our way of protecting ourself,” Wagner said.

But it doesn’t stay inside forever. The traumatic response can come to a breaking point of tears.

The Reboot series has been so effective for the community so far and its first installment in 2018, that Wagner’s pastor is now leading a sermon series on impacts of trauma in lives. Wagner attends the River Church. His pastor, Bob Landis and wife Debbie Landis took the Reboot course in 2018 to better understand Bob’s late brother who dealt with PTSD.

PTSD is not limited to those who have been in actual warzones.

“If you were born on this earth, you’ve experienced trauma at some point in your life,” Wagner said, adding physical and emotional trauma both warrant a need for recovery.

“I personally think emotional recovery is the hardest,” Wagner said.

For many vets, men and women, they recall both forms, many of whom faced such trauma before they went off to war, simply from their childhood.

Wagner said he had seen a cartoon image on social media that really represented the battle. It was of a combat soldier with his weapon in hand, in deep water, with sharks all around him and an anchor around his ankle pulling him down. The soldier was saying to himself that he could handle anything because he was a combat soldier.

Meanwhile the words PTSD hovered over the sharks ready to devour the man who was anchored by his own pride.

To register, call Wagner at (717) 348-1105 or Fisher at (717) 348-8072.

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