Casey Frank’s Story

Casey felt kinship with those who served in the military services, ever since marching in solidarity with “Vietnam Veterans Against the War” decades ago. Fast forward to 9/11, when he had become a trial lawyer. Because deployments to the Middle East stressed Colorado military families, he offered his pro bono help to Fort Carson Family Services, an army base which had the largest deployments overseas since WWII.

For 15 years he took helped active duty servicemembers for free with legal issues that involved court appearances, one case at a time. The last such representation was for a large, turbulent Army recruiter’s family that lasted nine years, through hearings, mediations, and interventions. Around a decade ago he switched to free veterans’ walk-in clinics.

The 370,000 military veterans in Colorado are much more likely to be disabled or commit suicide, and are older and sicker than other citizens. Over 60,000 suffer from diagnosed PTSD, which severely reduces their ability to solve problems without special attention. That is why Casey got certified in Mental Health First Aid, and has also taken the VA suicide prevention training called S.A.V.E.

He cherishes working with veterans, not because he supports, or opposes, America’s foreign wars, but because we all benefit from their protection of this land of plenty, while veterans are too often left behind, disproportionately hurt as a result of their service. This is especially true of those who walk-in to the free clinics.