PENDLETON — Retired U.S. Army Maj. Justin Fiew, 51, served four tours in Iraq and one in Kosovo between 1986 and 2008.
But it wasn’t until February 2018 that he realized he had injuries that had festered for a decade or more undetected, injuries he calls moral wounds.
And it wasn’t until he successfully dealt with these significant challenges through a program in California that he decided he wanted to offer people like him a similar opportunity in Pendleton.
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“I was at a pretty low point in my life; I was struggling,” the married father of four said, describing his life early last year. “I was about to lose everything. I almost lost my marriage of 30 years; my relationships with my children were strained.”
To halt the downward spiral, Fiew signed up for a program called Mighty Oaks, a program that helps military service members deal with challenges common in military life, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression.
The one-week program — set at Sky Rose Ranch in San Miguel, California, and featuring daily classes, group discussions, as well as time for recreation — helped put him on a path toward healing.
“You get tools” that help, Fiew said of the Christian faith-based program. “I came out of that course with a whole new outlook on life.”
Fiew, who has lived in Pendleton for 13 years, now is preparing to run a 12-week faith-based course called REBOOT, which provides help to service members, veterans, and their families in dealing with the moral injuries from combat trauma.
The course starts next month at Fall Creek Christian Church and is offered at no cost. A meal and child care are also provided.
REBOOT is a program affiliated with Mighty Oaks, which doesn’t operate in Indiana. REBOOT provided the materials for Fiew to offer the first session of the program for up to 25 participants.
Fiew, who is an operations manager at a distribution center for a large national retailer, said he believes his ReBoot program will be the first one in the state.
“Trauma affects different people differently,” Fiew said. “ReBoot believes that we’re all created by God, and that we have a soul, and God is the only one who can heal that soul.”
Fiew said people can find help for physical injury and psychological issues, but that ReBoot acknowledges that people have a spiritual side that can be seriously — even mortally — wounded.
“When people come to something like this … it’s usually because a lot of the other thing they’ve tried haven’t worked,” he said. “If what you’ve tried before isn’t working, why not try something different.”
Each week of the program has its own message — Week 1 is “A Wounded Soul” and Week 2 is “The Roots of Trauma” — with the aim of leading participants toward internal healing.
Fiew shared ReBoot literature, which states “our 12-week combat trauma healing course provides a unique blend of clinical insight with faith-based support for combat veterans and their loved ones seeking answers to defining questions about life, death, meaning and purpose. Our greatest value is offering education, affirmation and support in an environment of trust.
“REBOOT ‘communities’ are safe, private and mostly veteran-led.”
Fiew conducted an informational meeting on the program in July at Fall Creek Christian Church, where he attends and received permission to use its facilities for the program.
He said after the meeting, five people signed up; since then, he’s had more inquiries and a handful more people sign up.
One of those people is Josh Hall, 31, of Anderson, who also attends Fall Creek.
Hall — a former U.S. Marine lance corporal who served between 2008 and 2012, including tours in Afghanistan and Okinawa, Japan — said he’s “struggled quite a bit” with PTSD-type symptoms.
He said he noticed he has triggers, that “things that bothered me before (military service are) amplified” causing him to get “super-defensive and angry.” That anger would turn inward, he said, out of frustration with himself for his reactions.
Hall, who is married with two young children, said he’s “tried some things,” including talking to doctors and a chaplain, to no avail.
He said when Fall Creek Pastor Tom Wiles mentioned ReBoot during a service, it sounded like it would be worth a shot.
Hall said he’s looking forward to talking to other veterans and hearing their stories and how they’ve dealt with issues.
He said he’s also happy that the program includes families, providing a meal for everyone and on-site childcare.
Ultimately, he said, he hopes to learn how to deal with his issues and looks forward to “to being more how I was before.”
Clyde House, finance officer with the Anderson-based non-profit organization Disabled American Veterans, which is providing some funding for meals and other ReBoot costs, said he thinks the program will be good for those who served in combat, and not just recent conflicts.
He said scars from war can be deep and last a long time.
“You can be broken mentally and physically,” House said.
“Believe it or not, there are still World War II veterans going through things,” House said.
ReBoot will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays Sept. 10 through Nov. 26, at the church, 1102 W. County Road 700S, Pendleton.
For more details, call Fiew at 765-274-8131.
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WeeK 1 — A Wounded Soul
Introducing the concept of “soul wounds,” showing the connection that exists between our damaged spiritual “roots” (due to trauma, poor choices, loss, guilt, etc.) and toxic “fruit” in our lives (anxiety, anger, hypervigilance, etc.).
Week 2 The Roots of Trauma
Recognizing that adversity is common in this world and its roots are found in trauma that has been imposed on us by others or trauma we have brought on ourselves and others; understanding that we have a spiritual adversary and God is our ally.
Week 3 — A Restored Soul
How one cooperates with God to experience a restored and healed soul, contrasting the humility of David and the pride of Samson in the Bible.
Week 4 — Stop the Bleeding
Examines the consequences of wise and unwise choices we make seeking relief from trauma symptoms. Exposes the futility of our typical “go-to painkillers” (alcohol, drugs, self-isolation, sex, risk-taking, etc.).
Week 5 — Be Free
Understanding the therapeutic nature of conviction and true guilt, and the destructive nature of false guilt, and how we should respond to each when we recognize them in ourselves.
Week 6 — The Cost of Unforgiveness
How harboring unforgiveness of ourselves or of those who have hurt us can lead to bitterness and unhealed soul wounds, hurting ourselves the most; participation in an exercise that will facilitate forgiving ourselves or others.
Week 7 — When You’ve Loved and Lost
How to deal positively with loss and grief, shifting our questions from Why? to Who? Study the example of how Jesus dealt with the loss of His good friend Lazarus; how it is that God can allow us to suffer if He loves us.
Week 8 — Depression and Suicide
Understanding how depression can generate destructive, false self-talk which can lead to thoughts of suicide, and how to counter the lies with God’s truth.
Week 9 — Made on Purpose
Traumatic events tend to shake our self-identity to the core and destroy it, producing a negative self-image and lack of confidence. But we can rebuild a positive self image based on the truths from scripture, rather than the negative influences around us.
Week 10 — Going Through the Valley
Examines how fatigue, frustration and failure can cause discouragement in a person even when they are making progress; uses the Biblical example of Nehemiah to show how to counter these debilitating factors.
Week 11 — Share Your Story
Each participant spends the week prior to this class preparing a personal narrative of “their story,” describing some of the key stresses or traumas they have experienced in their lives; several members share their stories with the group.
Week 12 — Graduation
A ceremony recognizing each of the graduates for the efforts they put into the course, and celebrating their accomplishment with their families, friends and associates.
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