The prison-based American Legion post helping incarcerated veterans rebuild lives

ST. GABRIEL, La. (InvestigateTV) - American Legion Veterans Memorial Post 432 at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center was the first prison-based American Legion post in Louisiana, helping incarcerated veterans heal and rebuild their lives.

The program is recognized for a zero percent recidivism rate. No one from the post comes back to prison.

The members of the American Legion Veterans Memorial Post 432 maintain their connection to the military and find camaraderie among other inmates who are veterans.

Veterans reconnect with service identity

These organized meetings at Elayn Hunt started in 2018 and give veterans who are serving time a chance to reconnect to the part of themselves that chose to serve their country.

“I ended up going to Germany, to where I was transferred from Germany to Iraq. And so, I spent time in Desert Storm for about a year, a little over a year,” said Daren Kitchen, a Hunt inmate and veteran.

Kitchen has now been at Elayn Hunt for nine years; an experience he said has saved his life that was once consumed by drugs and crime.

“PTSD was never explained to me. So, it wasn’t until I was incarcerated here at Hunt that I went through my first PTSD class. And for all of those years, nobody...I didn’t think anybody understood... or I didn’t have anybody to relate to,” Kitchen said.

It’s a story Elayn Hunt program manager Dr. Lawton Searcy has heard time and time again on the prison grounds.

“I was astounded that we had some 60 to 70 incarcerated veterans here at Hunt. There were 3,500 within the state of Louisiana that were either incarcerated or on active parole,” Searcy said.

Veterans mentor younger inmates

Hunt inmate Frederick Reed joined the Army National Guard at 18 to pay for college. He’s now 55 and behind bars.

“I made a mistake and I ended up coming to prison. Things happened. But I’ve been able to transfer those skills that I learned through the military,” Reed said.

As part of its veteran’s program, Hunt has created a veteran’s dorm where former service members help to mentor young inmates trying to turn their lives around. Their art covers the walls, and military structure is on display.

“Incarcerated veterans are just, in a lot of ways, very different than what you may call a typical inmate. Because they do understand discipline. They do understand respect. But in suffering with PTSD, most... they’re trying to self-medicate,” Searcy said.

“I was trained for war, but I wasn’t trained for life after war. So, when I exited the military, I bounced all around. The drugs, the alcohol, the addictions,” Kitchen said.

Kitchen has found stability, partly due to the other veterans and Post 432.

American Legion supports incarcerated veterans

“We stand for the veterans that are still incarcerated. Because no veteran will ever be left behind again for any reason in the United States,” said Byron Comeaux, who is on the American Legion national executive committee.

His goal is to make sure that when veterans leave prison, they don’t come back.

“The minute you get out. The door lets you out and you’re right back in. This program has stopped that door from opening back up for the individuals because they have a sense of pride,” Comeaux said.

Warden Travis Day, who took over the facility plagued with problems earlier this year, sees the veterans as a valuable resource.

“I go home every night. These mentors are here 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are in the dormitories. They are on the wall. They’re in the cafeteria,” Day said.

“We pretty much are doing what we... continuing the service that we have already started with our military service. We have just branched that over into helping those who are in our community,” Reed said.

“We know who’s being released from prison. And we can have an impact on who returns to our society, into our communities, around our families. So, I look forward to finding what’s the next thing that we can do to make this place better,” Kitchen said.

According to the American Legion, more than 107,000 veterans are currently incarcerated in the U.S. There are now more than 30 American Legion posts in correctional facilities.