Only a small percentage of American join the military, and a small percentage of those who enlist end up experiencing combat.
Those who do often struggle with the return to civilian life.
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) wants those vets to know they can help.
[Hear the KRMG In Depth Report on Brendan O’Bryant’s story and OESC’s programs for veterans HERE]
They don’t have a budget to advertise, so they rely on word of mouth and news coverage to get the word out.
Recently, they contacted KRMG with the story of a veteran who was on the verge of losing everything - and now, helps his fellow warriors deal with their own struggles.
His name is Brendan O’Bryant, he’s served eight tours as a U.S. Marine, including four combat tours, and he tells KRMG that struggle to feel “normal” is real.
“You feel more at home when you’re in Iraq or Afghanistan than you do when you’re here, because you feel like an outsider when you’re back here in the United States,” O’Bryant said. “When you’re over there, you know your task, you know your purpose, you know the people that you’re working with - it’s all familiar. So it becomes more comfortable to be on a deployment, with guys that you know, than it does to be at home with your own wife or kids, or around your family - that seems foreign to you.”
That’s how it was for him, he says, though he also told us that he knows other combat veterans who are “super resilient,” including some who lost limbs - every veteran’s story is unique.
For those who do struggle - as O’Bryant does - with PTSD and substance abuse, the road can be long and difficult.
It was through OESC that he met Shane Braig, Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialist with OESC.
His job is to help veterans overcome serious obstacles to employment, which could include physical, mental, emotional hurdles like those O’Bryant has faced.
Braig told KRMG the work means a lot to him - and it also keeps him on the right path.
“I’ve got 13 years of sobriety, but seeing Brendan walk through his journey, and struggle with similar things - but I can’t give him the answers, he’s got to figure it out, all I can do there is be there to support my brother - he has shown me and reminded me of where I’ve come from, and has helped me keep another day sober. So for that, I tip my hat to a damned good friend.”
David Crow is External Communications Manager for OESC.
He hopes other veterans will hear O’Bryant’s story and realize that his agency can help, no matter when or how they served.
“It could have been in 1975, it could have been in 2005, it doesn’t matter,” Crow told KRMG. “They’re going to get priority of service when they come into one of our centers, and we’re going to make sure they’re paired with someone like Shane, so that (they) get connected to resources, they get connected to people that can help them.”
OESC has 27 American Job Centers across the state of Oklahoma.
To connect directly with the agency’s programs for veterans, visit the OESC Veterans website, or call 405-525-1500.