It has been five years since Alexis Werner, 20, of Etna, sought counseling to cope with her stepfather’s “really emotional highs and lows,” as she described his behavior.
Werner was 15 when her mother’s husband came home from military service in Afghanistan.
“We would find him crying in a closet. … One day he ran away from home,” Werner said before the lights dimmed at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland for the premier of “Our Way Home,” Werner’s new documentary on post-traumatic stress disorder.
Werner, a 2014 graduate of Shaler Area High School, produced the film with director Kris Veenis, 34, of West View for about $12,000.
She hopes to screen the documentary at schools, universities and auditoriums across the United States.
“Our Way Home” immerses viewers in the homecoming memories of 12 veterans who served in World War II, the Vietnam War and conflicts in the Middle East.
Army veteran Albert Zimmerman of Hampton cries as he recalls finding box cars of dead bodies in Germany’s Dachau concentration camp during World War II.
“I didn’t leave my basement for a month. … It was my safe place,” another veteran recalls after coming home from Iraq.
“When I got back in 1968, I didn’t tell anybody that I was in Vietnam,” says Marine veteran Gregg Dietz, now a youth advocate and school counselor employed by the University of Pittsburgh.
About 150 people attended the free, first screening of “Our Way Home.” They gave the 54-minute movie a standing ovation.
“I am so amazed at how many people came out, and their reaction,” said Werner, now a sophomore at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Werner hopes to help veterans escape the cycle of poverty and homelessness that can beset veterans with untreated PTSD.
“The issue is that people don’t want to talk about it,” Werner said.
PTSD is a health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event, according to the Mayo Clinic’s online definition of PTSD.
Five years ago, Vietnam War veteran Dietz of Pitt counseled Werner at Shaler Area High School and suggested the Seeds of Home nonprofit organization that Werner founded to help veterans with PTSD. Dietz said Werner’s dedication personally inspires him.
“I have never encountered such a sense of giving to others, compassion for others, empathy for others, and sense of selflessness, which is rare today,” Dietz said.
Werner launched Seeds of Hope — as an antidote to her own stepfather’s bout with PTSD — by planting community gardens to grow vegetables for veterans.
Werner said she found the veterans filmed in “Our Way Home” through word-of-mouth connections.
“I think this movie is going to take away a lot of the shame for those who have fought in wars that people want to forget about,” said Darla Gerlach of Shaler, one of Werner’s former teachers.
Gerlach attended the “Our Way Home” premier with Air Force veteran Howard Conley of Hampton.
“I thought the movie was very good and informative, and gives people a perspective of what really goes on,” Conley said.
Werner is the daughter of Nicole Zottola of Etna and Shawn Werner of Shaler, and the stepdaughter of Army veteran Greg Zottola of Etna.
Zottola, 35, spent six weeks as an inpatient at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs hospital in Oakland to cope with his PTSD. He now works at the Oakland hospital.
“Our Way Home” closes with Zottola’s advice to any veteran who thinks he or she may have PTSD: “Take the time you need to get help for it. Don’t wait.”
Source: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yournorthhills/yournorthhillsmore/9423066-74/werner-veteran-ptsd
