Mike Missel served in the U.S. Navy and most recently, the National Guard until he was medically retired in 2015.

His service caused him to have mental and physical scars.

“We left on deployment and we come home and we’ve changed. Even my wife said that her husband is still in Iraq. I came home a different person,” Missel said.

Missel’s military career left him with physical injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He received services from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs but he said it’s not the best treatment.

“You know you go to the V.A., it’s like, okay. It’s 50-50 on how they are going to treat you today or are they going to care for you?”

He said his PTSD is triggered by fireworks, crowds and being surrounded by people he doesn’t know. Since receiving treatment, he doesn’t feel alone dealing with his daily struggles.

Missel received mental health services from UCLA Health’s Operation Mend. The program provides post- 9/11 veterans, like Missel, therapy for himself and caregivers like his wife.

“It helped me kind of take down some walls. Like I said, I’m kind of put myself in a… I block myself off from other people,” Missel said.

Dr. Jo Sornborger is the Director of Psychological Health Programs with UCLA Health’s Operation Mend. Since the start of the program in 2016, the program made a significant impact on veterans, Sornborger said.

That impact led the Wounded Warrior Project to contribute $20.1 million in grants over the next five years.

“The goal is really to help manage the symptoms that occur when we remember so with mike he will be able to use the skills that he has learned when he gets triggered,” Sornborger said.

Sornborger said the new funds will double the number veterans her staff can help, bringing the program closer to the goal of treating over 700 veterans. But their first step is to help veterans like Missel feel like they’re never going through this alone.