Three-Day Trek To Raise PTSD Awareness
By John Burton
HOLMDEL – It was a long, tough weekend for Mike Dowens but worth every step of the journey.
“I figure if I can help one person or maybe two, it would be a successful mission,” said Dowens this week, as he talked about three-day foot trek to Washington, D.C.
Dowens, who has been a Holmdel police patrolman for six years, is a 37-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who decided to walk continuously from the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in the township, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the nation’s capital over a period of three days.
Dowens undertook what became a pretty arduous endeavor for a dual purpose: to raise public awareness of the impact post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is having on scores of returned and returning military veterans and to raise money for The Refuge, an Ocklawaha, Florida, treatment facility specializing in caring for those dealing with PTSD and trauma.
Dowens was able to raise $26,000 for the facility through a GoFundMe campaign
Earlier this week Dowens was recovering from the effects of the 237-mile walk that began last Thursday morning and concluded at about 8:45 p.m. on Saturday. Upon returning to New Jersey, Dowens was admitted to Bayshore Community Hospital, in the township, to be treated for dehydration, exhaustion and what the walk did to his feet, hip, knee and the backpack straps to his back, he explained on Monday.
It was grueling,” he said, explaining he did not stop not even to sleep or for a severe rainstorm, stopping only to eat. “But I could barely eat anything,” he said, and opted to continue. “I was able to push through it.”
Dowens had begun the trip with two other veterans, but they wound up having to drop out after injuring themselves before making it out of New Jersey.
As tough as it was, “If I had to put myself through a small amount of discomfort and agony to realize what they go through,” with “they” referring to veterans who continue to suffer the lasting effects of PTSD—“You can’t compare the two.”
Post-traumatic stress syndrome- “It’s something that American public needs to know more about,” he said. Dowens said it qualifies as a disease and should be treated as such.
Dowens speaks from personal experience. From 2002 to 2006 he was a U.S. Navy search and rescue swimmer, having served in Liberia, Somalia and Haiti, where his service led to his PTSD which he was treated for at The Refuge.
He was honorably discharged as a disabled veteran, stemming from his diagnosis of asthma. He said he had tried to re-enlist on nine separate occasions, hoping to continue to serve, but was rejected because of his asthma. He acknowledged that led to a sense of guilt and loss of camaraderie and wanted to figure out some way to continue to serve.
“I thought what better way to serve again and help other veterans get the same help I did.”
He hopes his efforts will make people aware of what some returning veterans go through – the anxiety, depression, inability to adjust to civilian life; in some cases, alcohol and drug abuse – all of which can be as disabling as any physical combat wound.
“I just wish government-subsidized programs did more for veterans coming home,” he said. “Since they don’t, I figured I would take it on and help someone else who’s suffering from it.”
And this will be an ongoing effort. “I plan on doing it every year,” he vowed. “If it helps someone, I’ll do it as long as I can.”
