Inside every marine is a relentless fighting spirit. The motto of the marines, and what Ryan McVey who lives in Green Bay now, says he lived by.
"They train us to kill, to do what we need to do to survive, we're very highly trained, we're really good at doing that, we're the best," said McVey.
Before joining the military, McVey didn't think about the journey outside of the uniform.
"I dealt with a lot of things in Iraq that a person shouldn't have to deal with, I did a lot of self medicating, instead of seeking help," he said.
From 2002 to 2005 he served in Iraq.
"I saw like children getting shot, pretty hard things to deal with, little child's life taken or killing someone just two feet from you it's very hard to process," said McVey.
He was homeless, and eventually was arrested.
"I kind of had a flash back of a situation in Iraq, where I was a prisoner of war, in Iraq and I had to shoot one, and I snapped on a police and pushed one, I got tased, and I was arrested for attacking a police" he said.
He was diagnosed with PTSD, nightmares, social anxiety, plagued his daily life.
Mike Beno started a program to help our struggling veterans.
Northeast Wisconsin Veterans treatment court, began six years ago, to give veterans guidelines and rules to be followed to a tee at the Brown County Courthouse.
A vet is partnered with a mentor, and has a support system with daily or weekly check ups, drug checks, and a report on their struggles and progress.
The program also gives these men and women, tools to transition back into society.
The court has 45 graduates, and only 2 have been unsuccessful.
Christopher McNulty, is a mentor and graduate, he served in the army from 1989-2010. He said he loves helping fellow brothers and sisters.
"I'm able to honor my commitments, give back to the community by being there for any of the participants, especially the guys I'm mentoring," said Christpher McNulty.
For more information visit the Northeast Wisconsin Veterans Treatment Court, here.
