OHIO – Former members of the U.S. Armed Forces are finding renewed hope through Ohio-based services designed to help them confront trauma and reconnect with themselves and their communities.
Joe Robb, a U.S. Army veteran who served 15 months in a combat role in Iraq, said he had reached a breaking point before entering the Save a Warrior program. Despite getting sober in 2017 after years of alcoholism and substance abuse, Robb struggled with daily suicidal thoughts and had a plan to act on them.
During that time, he was also pursuing a master’s degree in social work with a focus on veterans, driven by his own inability to find effective help. At the suggestion of two professors, he attended a 2019 presentation by Save a Warrior — a turning point that changed everything.
“I had never heard anyone speak the truth and have an understanding of what I was actually going through,” Robb said. He soon applied and was accepted into the organization’s intensive healing program.
Save a Warrior — which serves veterans, active-duty servicemembers, and first responders experiencing suicidal thoughts — offered Robb a level of safety and acceptance he had never found elsewhere. While he had spent years in Alcoholics Anonymous, he said the program didn’t address his decades of self-hatred or his feelings of unworthiness. At Save a Warrior, that began to change.
The people in his group didn’t weaponize the experiences he had kept hidden. Instead, they offered love, care, and acceptance.
“No one judges or shames you,” Robb said. “They said, ‘Keep going. What else do you have?’”
Adam Carr, executive vice president of Save a Warrior, said the organization works closely not only with veterans statewide, but also with several Ohio courts to assist veterans who find themselves in the justice system. Veterans can reach the group through an email, call, or text — and Ohio’s judicial system has helped open those pathways.
Nearly 30 veterans-centered specialized dockets, certified by the Supreme Court of Ohio, help connect veterans to treatment rather than punishment.
“Ohio’s courts have been deliberate in creating a true alternative path for veterans,” said Carr, who will speak at the Supreme Court’s Lean Forward Veterans Summit this month. “Ohio shows real leadership in ensuring veterans receive treatment, mentorship, and restoration instead of punishment.”
Save a Warrior works intensely with each veteran who enters the program. Leaders recognize that beneath suicidal thoughts are often traumatic experiences from childhood, military service, or both. They also understand the troubling statistics: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported in 2024 that 17 veterans die by suicide every day. Additional research from Operation Deep Dive suggests the number could be even higher — 24 suicides daily, with 20 additional overdose-related deaths classified as accidental or undetermined.
With those numbers in mind, Save a Warrior staff travel anywhere in Ohio to share information about their services, said Robb, who now serves as the organization’s director of culture. The group regularly visits the veterans’ specialized dockets in Delaware and Montgomery counties, meeting mentors and speaking directly to veterans in the program.
“We make it clear that we’re not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Robb said. “We are all about the veterans taking responsibility for themselves.”
