He spent years not getting better alone. Now, his nonprofit helps veterans face PTSD together

Caption

Joe LaBranche

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB

His military service ended in 1967, but U.S. Marine Corps veteran Joe LaBranche carries traumatic experiences that outweigh the awards he brought home from Vietnam. 

That's part of why he started AboutFace-USA to help support the many other military veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

But it was a long road to get to this point.

"I told my children, my biggest wound I never received a Purple Heart for, and it didn't happen in Vietnam," he said. "It happened back here in the States when we came back."

One day during his final semester of college, LaBranche noticed military recruiters and protesters as he walked through the student union. When a friend called out his name, students quickly surrounded LaBranche, shouting and cursing. The anti-war protesters knew LaBranche's name because the proud Marine had let a media outlet photograph him.

A young woman stepped to the front of the line and stood a foot away from the young man's face.

"You are nothing but a murderer and a baby killer," she told LaBranche before clearing her throat and spitting at his face, hitting him above his right eye.

"And my mind went flashback to an incident in Vietnam where I was instructed to throw a hand grenade into a cave," LaBranche said. He protested three times before following the order that killed a young woman who appeared in her mid to late 20s, and a little girl who was no older than 5 or 6 years old. 

"'She's right,'" LaBranche told himself at the time. "I was a murderer and a baby killer."

Instead of finishing his degree, LaBranche turned around, walked back to his room, packed up all his stuff, got on a Greyhound bus, went home, and became an alcoholic and a drug user. 

His wife of now 50 years, Carol LaBranche, convinced Joe to find professional help.

"I recognized there were some health issues," she said. "But, you know, you got to remember, they didn't even call it post-traumatic stress until 1985. He got out in, you know, the mid-'60s."

Twenty years passed without discussing mental health issues as Carol LaBranche and the couple's children walked on eggshells around Joe LaBranche as he vacillated from amiable to irritable. 

"I could be happy one minute and, next minute, something would trigger me," he said. In those moments, the dedicated husband and father became more like a soldier on high alert.

His wife learned not to take things personally, even through Joe's traumatic personal attacks caused secondary post-traumatic stress. 

"When he talks about 'walking on eggshells,' that's the family being hyper-vigilant," which is what the veterans go through," she said.

His family saw him as controlling when Joe LaBranche thought he was protecting his family. "I didn't realize that for a long time — until they actually told me," he said. 

When veterans return from service, they tend to treat their family members like their former troops, and that required much patience on Carol's part. "It caused problems because when you deal with somebody with post-traumatic stress, it's not always an easy situation to handle," she said.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs helped Joe LaBranche find counseling.

"We learned that therapy does work," his wife said. "Medications, they work. We want all veterans to know support is available. We want to raise the mental health awareness in general."

And that led Joe LaBranche to start AboutFace-USA in 2009 to help support the many others living with PTSD. The nonprofit helps fill some of the gaps in care by providing mental health services, peer support, suicide prevention, family care, and hope for veterans in North Georgia. 

"It's a nice place for veterans to just pop in," Joe LaBranche said. They don't necessarily need to have, want help or need help. They just, you know, it's open to the public.

AboutFace-USA also has a community center in Cumming where veterans can drop by to connect with peers and find mental health support.