A group of local combat veterans traveled recently to Washington, D.C., and it wasn’t an ordinary sightseeing trip.

These particular veterans are determined to come to grips with the experiences that have haunted them for decades.

In Washington, they had a chance to visit some of the people and places where the war-fighting decisions are made. They met with the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee – their own Santa Clarita congressman, Howard “Buck” McKeon. They placed a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and spent time reflecting at the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

Dick Jeffrey

Dick Jeffrey is president of the nonprofit organization, Back to the War Zone. The group is organizing trips to former combat zones including Vietnam to help heal veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other lingering, combat-related horrors.

“The whole idea is to bring them face-to-face with some of the things that happened over there and clear up the fog of war, which is just tormenting,” Jeffrey said.

“At first you don’t remember what happened. And then you can’t remember what happened. It makes it very, very tough on them throughout the years,” he said.

To learn about upcoming trips abroad, visit BackToTheWarZone.org. See this topic featured in an SCV NewsBreak here: http://scvnews.com/?p=19742.