“No vet is left behind.” How military veterans in the metro are mentoring each other

At a Maple Grove restaurant Friday — a group of military veterans talked about their mission in the civilian world.

Service for those who served.

“We’re here to support one another, and no vet is left behind,” says Joe Durocher, the volunteer coordinator with the Hennepin County Veterans Court.

“Transitioning from the military back to civilian life, that’s a tough thing,” adds Tom McKnuckles, who served with the U.S. Marines in the Gulf War. “It’s very real.”

The Veterans Court is a way to help fellow vets in trouble.

“The goal of the court is to try to divert vets into a less traditional and consequential program where they would go to jail or prison and divert them into treatment,” Durocher says.

He explains his job is to train volunteer veteran mentors, who help vets with service-related trauma: those facing charges ranging from shoplifting to assault.

The idea is to help those vets treat their underlying issues instead of sitting in a jail cell.

“The triple threat talked about — anger, addiction, and PTSD. A lot of vets have served, a written a blank check when they served, and when they came back, many of them have struggles,” Durocher notes. “We just come together and support them and try to encourage vets to get the help they need to empower them to find their own path along the way.”

He says he’s trained 13 mentors, and paired them with nine veterans.

But after pandemic shutdowns and delays, Durocher says the need for more volunteers is urgent.

“That was one of my biggest struggles, just coming back and just trying to find work, never feeling satisfied with the things I was doing,” McKnuckles says.

Now a social worker, he says Durocher recruited him as a mentor in Veterans Court — in part because of his struggles after coming home.

“It’s about having people in your life to kind of tell you it’s okay to make mistakes, it’s okay to be human, ‘cos that’s what life is about,” McKnuckles declares.

But sometimes tragedy happens — even in a case where a veteran appears to be recovering.

“I’ve had people die in my life, but I’ve never known anybody who was murdered,” says Larry Fyten, a U.S. Army veteran who is also a mentor in the program. “I didn’t know how to process it.”

Fyten says he was mentoring a military veteran named Ross Wentz, who struggled with drugs and alcohol.

He adds he and Wentz became close, attending church together and praying together — and that about a month-and-a-half ago, Wentz called him to say he was clean of drugs and alcohol.

Then Fyten got word that Wentz had been murdered while staying in a sober recovery house.

“We have a relationship now with his mother and his daughter and his sister. So we have a memorial service for this next Saturday, a week from tomorrow,” he says quietly. “We need to love one another. I think it’s a basic message, love and serve. If we do that, we’re going to be okay.”

The struggle for veterans is a nationwide issue.  

The Council on Criminal Justice — a policy research group — says about a third of those who’ve served our country, go on to serve time behind bars.

Veterans Courts are an alternative.

“I’m cautiously optimistic anyway, that this is going to be a good thing for veterans in the long run,” says Judge Dale O. Harris, with the 6^th Judicial District.

He presides over a Veterans Court in Duluth.

Just last August, Governor Tim Walz signed into law the “Veterans Restorative Justice Act.”

While some Veterans Courts have been operating more than a decade, the measure makes the programs available statewide.

Harris says veterans have to work hard to prove they’re trying to make a change.

“Sometimes it seems like a very monumental task to get all of those pieces moving in the right direction,” he says. “But it’s some of the most rewarding work I’ve done in my legal career.”

The Veterans Restorative Justice Act is the first of its kind in the country.

Since being launched last year, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned at least 100 Minnesota veterans have taken part.

Meanwhile, Durocher says vets in his program meet about once a week, for up to a year-and-a-half.

After struggles with alcohol and a divorce, he says he’s living a sober life — and is very happy.

Just this week, a group of Hennepin County judges honored him for his mentoring work.

He calls it, paying it forward.

“This is an absolute honor and privilege, not only to coordinate volunteers, but to reach out to the vets that are in court,” Durocher says. “Try to inspire hope and let them know that the best is yet to come.”

You can find out more about the Hennepin County Veterans Court here.