Casey Frank felt kinship with they who served since marching in solidarity with “Vietnam Veterans Against the War.”Starting in 2001, as deployments stressed military families, he offered his pro bono help for Family Services at Ft. Carson Army Base (which had the largest deployments since WWII).

He took regular referrals from the “Thursday Night Bar “and later the “Military Law Committee,” one free case at a time, the last being a single-parent recruiter with five young girls that lasted nine years through many hearings and interventions. Around a decade ago he switched to the free walk-in clinics.

The 340,000 military veterans in Colorado are twice as likely to be disabled or commit suicide, plus are older and sicker than other citizens. Over 50,000 suffer from diagnosed PTSD, which severely reduces their ability to solve problems without special attention.

He cherishes working with veterans, not because he supports, or opposes, America’s foreign interventions, 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.