Runners compete in 5K race to benefit veterans

John Green, a thick-bodied man of 62, was not troubled by his slow pace in Saturday's 5-kilometer race at Long Island-MacArthur Airport.

The Sayville man ambled along in the morning heat with thoughts of veterans such as his father, who for decades suffered nightmares after being shot down twice over Europe in World War II. "They had lost their tail gunner whom they called 'Smitty,' " Green recalled. "And he would wake up screaming, 'Smitty, Smitty!' "

Green was among 1,250 participants who paid $25 to register for Saturday's charity race.

The event raised $30,000 for 9-1-1 Veterans, an organization that aids local veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems, including homelessness and unemployment.

Stephen Clark, a Navy reservist who cofounded 9-1-1 Veterans two years ago, said he became particularly concerned about veterans' plight while working with a unit in Kuwait that handled U.S. vehicles destroyed during combat in Iraq.

"I didn't realize the extent of the need," he said of returning soldiers. "But with the repeated tours - they are going over three and four times - a lot are coming back with PTSD. And it's not just Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot of the Vietnam vets are just coming to grips with it."

Several participants said the military still has not developed a strategy for coping with growing numbers of veterans returning with PTSD, a psychological disorder often brought on by stress of battlefield threats.

"Grab any of these Vietnam guys and you'll find someone who has gone through it," said Chris Delaney, 36, a Coast Guard reservist from Lindenhurst. Delaney ran in 50 pounds of battle gear in memory of Joseph Dwyer, 31, a family friend from Mount Sinai who struggled with PTSD, spiraled into drug abuse and died in 2008.

One veteran helped by 9-1-1 Veterans was Nicole Porzse, 25, an unemployed nursing student at Suffolk County Community College whose father had suffered a stroke while living in Mexico. The group gave Porzse $400 for an airline ticket to fly her father to receive medical treatment on Long Island.

"It may not sound like a lot, but for us it meant a lot," said Porzse, a former Navy corpsman who ran Saturday's race.

"I offered to show them the itinerary, but they didn't even ask for proof," she said. "They just knew I was a vet and my father was a vet and that was enough for them."