n general, the rate of suicide among male Veterans Administration clients connected to care with the El Paso Veteran Affairs Health Care System has remained stable, according to Dr. Donna Nesbit-Veltri. (Camilo Jimenez/Borderzine.com)

More younger military veterans are committing suicide despite available VA programs

EL PASO — As he sits at a faded-black dining room table, a man in his mid-twenties stares at the front door, his reflection visible from the dirty tabletop where a brown paper bag holding his lunch rests. His eyes dart focusing from one end of the room to the other as if he’s never been there before, sitting upright, inspecting the room. He specifically chose the seat with the best view of the front door, which he never stops looking at for more than a moment, because he says he is hardwired that way. He seems uneasy even though he has been here hundreds, if not, thousands of times, only four doors down from his childhood home. Esteban, 26, served four years in the United States Marine Corps and did two tours in Iraq.

Homeless veterans in El Paso are estimated to be around 200 according to Casa Vida de Salud.

Unable to adjust to civilian life, some Army veterans end up living on the street

EL PASO – Nicolas Charles Damico, a veteran of both of America’s longest wars, shuffles through papers on the kitchen table of the homeless shelter where he lives until he finds the Army patch he promises to live by – “This we’ll defend.”

He does this at the Veterans Transitional Living Center, a shelter for homeless veterans who have the potential to return to normal life soon. “I am now homeless for many reasons. The one benefit I got, I messed up. I used up my G.I. Bill very quickly. I only had 36 months to complete my education.

William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC) on Ft. Bliss. (Joshua Gutierrez/Borderzine.com)

Many soldiers return from war only to face post-traumatic stress

EL PASO — When Marine Sgt. Miguel Marquez returned home from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan he realized that post-traumatic stress disorder was preventing him from adjusting to civilian life. “I started drinking heavily to help deal with life back at home because I didn’t know what else to do,” said Marquez, 28. Thousands of soldiers coming home with mental and physical injuries from the wars of the last decade suffer from PTSD. According to the United States Army Medical Department about 10 percent to 15 percent of soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) suffer from PTSD.