Column: Helping vulnerable vets transition to a post-service life – The Virginian

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Military life is a family mission anchored in shared purpose, sacrifice and service. Every deployment, relocation and empty chair at the dinner table reflects not only the service member’s duty to the country, but also the family’s quiet endurance. Together, they live a calling few outside the military will ever fully understand.

That calling often disappears the moment service ends. Nearly 250,000 service members leave active duty each year. Some walk away with decades behind them; others with only a few stripes. But regardless of rank, many face an identity crisis the moment they take off the uniform for the last time.

Behind every folded uniform lies quiet uncertainty — and for too many, that uncertainty turns tragic. Veterans are at the m