Walt Piatt, CEO of Wounder Warrior Project Interview

Walter Piatt joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about Mental Health Awareness month and how important it is to take care of our veterans dealing with mental health issues.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, I am so proud to have in the studio
General Walt Pyat, who is the CEO of the Wounded
Warrior Project. Guy's really humble. It's funny. I said to him,
do I call you General? And he said, no, just Walt.
And I'm thinking to myself, who says that? I mean, seriously,
if I was in general, I'd be wearing it on

(00:20):
my shirt. I'd be insisting everybody if somebody called me Walter,
go no, no, no, General. But thank you. I thank
you for being here. Thank you for your service not
only in the Armed forces, but for your service with
Wounded Warrior. It's such a noble project. So let's talk
about the study that you had. It is kind of stunning.

(00:42):
You release data from a survey from the veteran population
and it shows three in four veterans are living with
symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. That is incredible. I
never ever would have assumed those numbers. Is enough not
being done to treat them?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well, a lot is being done, but you know, sadly,
just think about it. It shouldn't be harder to come
home for more than it is to go to war,
but it is because you take a young man and
a woman from America, the United States great values, and
they get sent off in service of this country, often
seeing the worst of humanity. And that's what war is.
It's the worst of humanity. But it takes brave young

(01:24):
men and women to do it because the alternative is unacceptable. Right,
We're not going to give away our freedom. But to
them that in transition from what they've actually seen or
done or had experience to them or things they couldn't
prevent from happening, it sticks with you. And they come
home and you get the parades, and you feel good
and you're back home, and then all of a sudden,
you know things just aren't right. You don't feel you
don't feel comfortable in crowds, you're isolating from your spouse

(01:47):
or or your family. You get a little aggravated and angered.
So it's not something you wake up in the morning
and say, oh, I've got a fever. I might be sick.
So sometimes this happens over time, and so it takes
a while for a warrior to realize, well, I'm suffering.
And some we like to get them before while they're
transitioning from a military. So there's a lot of treatment
out there a lot of studies. We've let up a

(02:08):
lot of research and postmat a stress disorder, traumatic brain injury,
other anxiety issues, substance abuse issues from trauma calls, bisexual
assault within the military, all these factors and sometimes it's
just hard for the warrior to take that first step.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
But three of four is what is stunning, which means
they're not to me. That means they're not being treated.
Is in time or maybe ever that they're lasting with
this is it because they don't want to admit it.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
There's a lot of factors, but the first saying yeah,
most warriors will do two things consistently that I'm trying.
They won't ask for help and they won't take help.
So breaking that barrier to having someone understand that they
can connect. Once we get that connection, then we get them.
Then then they're starting a journey home and they understand
it and they understand what they went through, and they
know there's treatment and they know they're normal again. But

(02:56):
sometimes for warriors, the hardest part of surviving combat is
living and think about it. They come back home and
you think that you're safe, you're away from that danger.
It should be fine, but they have the guilt of
friends who didn't make at home, people they lost in combat,
or things that they had to do that they didn't
feel that that was really ahu main thing to do
of you know, in the rules of war, certainly what

(03:19):
the warriors were required to do. But it sticks with them.
It's hard. So we're there to help bring them home.
There was a lot of treatment, a lot of research.
Once a warrior is identified and once they come forward,
the help is there. Some of it's as easy as
just getting outside and getting them uncomfortable. Lots of our
programs do that, so it's not like take a pill,
You're not gonna have PTSD anymore. There's a wide range

(03:39):
of treatments that you have to do. A lot of
it is you got to you know, you got to learn,
you know, hold down the job again, you know your
finances again. But you got to get outside, get connected
with the people you serve with, because when they come
back home, a lot of times they lose that connection.
They're on their own, they're in the basement by playing
video games, maybe smoking marijuana or using some other substance

(04:00):
self medicating. But once they take that first step, and
I say, the path of healing begins with movement, and
once they start to move and many of our programs
we do, we get them outside. We do a great
Soldier right here in New York City, because New York
City has never forgotten nine to eleven, and they honor
the warriors that have served since. We get them outside
in some very remote areas, off grid, mountain climbing, kayaking,

(04:21):
and they get to do the things that make them
feel alive again, and then that's they get their journey home,
as I call it.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Well, general, I could talk to you forever about this.
Unfortunately we're out of time. But I know our audience
and I know there are people out there who would
love to help. How do they get more information?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, just go to our website Woundedwarriorproject dot org, and
we welcome that help because we can't do it. We're
one hundred percent warriors don't pay for anything. We're one
hundredercent donor supported because America cares. It's a grateful nation
and they want to help those who help keep this
country free. So Wounded Warrior Project dot org.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, God bless you, thank you for what you do
and it was a pleasure to meet you. Thank you,
Thank you very much. General Walt Pyett, I wanted to
make I'm not going to call you Walt CEO of
Wounded Warrior Project. Thanks a lot, General, I really appreciate
your time keep the promise.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Thank you,