In April of 2024 while in Ukraine I explored the idea of bringing Ukrainian veterans together with U.S. veterans. The many cases of Ukrainian combatants suffering from serious mental health issues took me back to another time when U.S. fighters experienced similar problems of reintegration back into civilian life.

In the late 1970s I worked in congress on finding ways to assist U.S. combatants who were suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many of our returning fighters had been exposed to traumatic events during the Vietnam War. They relived those horrific events through nightmares, flashbacks, noises, or smells that triggered memories of the event. They had more negative thoughts and feelings than before their combat exposure.

They felt numb forgetting parts of the traumatic events and being unable to talk about them. They developed feelings of guilt and shame. Feelings on edge or on alert to an extreme degree led to difficulty sleeping and concentrating, substance abuse and aggressive behavior.

Years later when Dr. Jim McDermott from Seattle was elected to congress, we worked to get these veterans and fighters the therapy they needed. Jim is a psychiatrist and Vietnam veteran who travelled with me, Father Peter Daly and Tanya Keppler to Ukraine in 2023, a year after the full Russian invasion of Ukraine. On another visit in April 2024, Ukrainian activist and Macomb County resident Emily Rutkowski, Psychiatrist Eric Trupin, and educator activist Brian Brady accompanied me to Ukraine. We visited organizations that provide therapeutic support to kids and combatants.

These included Save Ukraine, which works with rescued children who had been abducted and kidnapped by Russia. Over 20,000 Ukrainian children have been stolen and then fostered out to Russian families and then some adopted. We also met with the Veterans’ Hub in Lviv, Ukraine; Caritas with facilities and programs in 30 plus locations throughout Ukraine; and Ukrainian Catholic University which has an excellent psychology program and research department at their mental health institute and is now training priests in psychology.

Because our U.S. veterans had first-hand experience with the horrors of war and extreme violence, I thought that perhaps they would be empathetic with the struggles of Ukrainian combatants, our ally in the war of aggression waged against Ukraine.

Over the last year we have linked these veterans from both countries via Zoom calls. This fall I will lead a delegation of U.S. veterans to Ukraine to visit their fellow comrades in arms. We will also visit six programs that we have been working with in Ukraine that are providing therapy for these fighters as well as children who have been traumatized by the war.

This past week we paused on Memorial Day to honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and liberties.

Also, this past week witnessed an historical exchange of war prisoners between Russia and Ukraine—a thousand on each side were exchanged.

“We are bringing our people home. The first part of the agreement to exchange 1000 for 1000 has been implemented,” wrote President Zelensky of Ukraine in a post on social media.

Some of the Ukrainian fighter/veterans in our partnership were fighting in Mariupol before being captured by the Russians. They told us of the torture they received while in captivity. So, I was not surprised to read new reports documenting Russia’s systemic mistreatment and torture of soldiers, including reports by the United Nations investigators, nongovernmental agencies, and independent journalists.

The New York Times this week cited Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general of Ukraine, in estimating “some 90 percent of Ukrainians in Russian captivity reported having been subjected to torture, rape, threats of sexual violence or other forms of ill treatment. Ukraine has also faced accusations of mistreatment of Russian soldiers—but the cases are more isolated on the Ukrainian side, compared to the vast mistreatment on the Russian side.” The Ukrainians allow visits to prisoner of war camps by both the United Nations and Red Cross. Those organizations have largely been denied access in Russia and the Ukrainian territory it occupies. Ukrainians held captive by Russia were beaten routinely.

An appeal for support

Therapy makes a big difference in the lives of these children and Ukrainian veterans who suffer from trauma.

My wife Judy and I have kicked off a campaign to aid these organizations who are valiantly working to bring support to those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—children and veteran Ukrainian fighters. We are joined by Jan Scruggs and Robert Doubek, two Vietnam veterans who were the most responsible for building the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Also leaders in the Vietnam Veterans of America with 500 plus chapters throughout the U. S. including Gary Pursell president of VVA chapter 154 in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, and Randy Wright and Jack Devine of VVA chapter 9 in Detroit are joining us in this effort.

Our goal is to provide support to these six organizations that are overcoming great odds to treat PTSD.

The six organizations to benefit are:

• Veterans Hub at Teple Misto in Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine

• Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine

• Care Service in Odesa, Ukraine

• Misha’s Angels in Kyiv and Shelby Twp., Michigan

• Caritas Ukraine

• Save Ukraine

Ukrainians are fighting to save their democracy and hold Russia back from further invading western democracies in Europe. Ukraine and the United States are allies in standing against the Tyranny of Vladimir Putin and Russia. We must never give up!

David Bonior represented Macomb County and Michigan in the House of Representatives from 1977 to 2003. He served as Democratic whip from 1991 to 2002.