(Long Island, NY) On April 25, 2013, Senator Lee M. Zeldin (R,C,I-Shirley) participated in the announcement of the Nassau County PFC Joseph Dwyer PTSD Peer-to-Peer Veterans Counseling Program.
Pictured (from left to right) David Nemiroff, LCSW Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of Nassau County, John Miller, Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross of Long Island, Joseph Pascarella, Executive Director for Veterans Services in Nassau County, Joe Ingino, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 82, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano, L.W. Murphy, Chairman of the John P. Jennings Veterans Advisory Panel, Walter Schmidt, Oyster Bay Veterans Service Officer, Senator Charles Fuschillo, Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, Thomas Ronayne Director Veterans Service Agency for Suffolk County,Christine Dwyer, sister of PFC Joseph Dwyer, James Dolan, Nassau County Mental Health Commissioner, Chris Delaney, 9-1-1 Veterans and was also a friend of PFC Dwyer, and Scott Castillo, former Army Ranger and Deputy Director of Veterans Services for Nassau County.
The Dwyer Program provides “peer-to-peer” counseling between veterans who personally understand the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Federal Veterans Administration statistics show that up to 20 percent of Iraq and Afghan war veterans, 10 percent of Gulf War (Desert Storm), and 30 percent of Vietnam veterans experience PTSD.
