Finding peace after war — An Iraq veteran’s path to sobriety
Cranberry Township resident and Iraq War veteran Joseph Maguire has spent his life trying to do the right thing.
From serving his country to helping fellow veterans who have fallen on difficult times through his own nonprofit, Maguire has tried to represent his values in everything he does.
“I’ve always been driven to help people,” he said. “It’s what keeps me sober.”
Maguire was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stemming from his combat tour in Iraq, which resulted in him developing a substance abuse disorder with alcohol. His path to sobriety was not easy, filled with despair and hopelessness. Like many veterans, especially those suffering from substance abuse disorder, the path to peace was riddled with obstacles.
Maguire signed up for active duty service just a month before the 9/11 terrorist attacks where he joined the 2nd Battalion 5th Field Artillery that supplied direct support for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He also had training in biological and chemical warfare.
His unit was part of the initial invasion into Iraq, where the Department of Defense estimates 4,431 service members died as a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I was 22 years old,” Maguire said. “I didn’t know what to expect. It definitely wasn’t easy.”
Although Maguire did not sustain any lasting physical injures during the war, he had deep wounds under the surface.
On Oct. 2, 2003, a CH-47 Chinook military helicopter — often used in air assault missions, inserting troops into fire bases and resupplies — was struck by enemy fire, killing 16 soldiers and wounding 20.
Maguire was scheduled to be on that flight, a memory the combat vet said haunted him. He recalled how the soldier who took his seat was supposed to go home and christen his baby.
“He never made it. I should have been on that flight,” Maguire said.
After his deployment, Maguire was honorably discharged from the military and worked as delivery driver, until one day he while doing a delivery he experienced a flashback.
“I was in the truck, and all I saw was desert,” Maguire said. “ I could not see where I was, and I had this overwhelming flashback that took me back to the desert.”
Due to the flashback, Maguire wrecked his work truck, resulting in him taking a leave of absence to check himself into the VA’s post-traumatic stress disorder programs.
As a result, Maguire would end up receiving 100% disability through the VA. A short while later, Maguire and his wife would move to Cranberry Township.
Being medically retired from the military allowed Maguire to spend time with his family. He said one of the ways he managed his PTSD was getting involved as much as possible with his children’s activities.
“I threw myself into volunteering,” Maguire said. “Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, PTA — whatever I could do to stay busy.”
Thomas Perka, of Buffalo Township, met Maguire 14 years ago when their sons were in Cub Scouts together. He remembers Maguire always being present for camping trips and other activities when his son was a Scout.
“He was there for everything,” Perka said.
As part of his PTSD diagnosis, Maguire tried to continue his treatment with the VA but described the treatment as not effective and “nothing to write home about.”
“I went through counselors like most people go through socks,” Maguire said. “So I finally got to a point where I said, ‘Screw it, I’m not going there anymore. It’s not worth it.’”
As a way to compensate for treatment, Magure found himself consumed with activities to keep his mind off the war.
“I just pushed it down, deeper and deeper,” he said.
However, as Maguire’s children got older, there were less opportunities available for him to distract his mind. He said could feel his mental health deteriorate.
“When volunteering essentially went away, things got quiet,” He said. “That’s when my PTSD got out of hand.”
Without an outlet, Maguire found himself doing what many veterans with PTSD do: self-medicating with alcohol.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, one out of every three veterans seeking treatment for substance use disorder also has PTSD.
“The funny thing about it is I really didn’t drink before I went in the military,” he said. “I didn’t like the taste of beer, I just didn’t drink. But the PTSD got the best of me.”
Drinking became an every day habit for the veteran, who used alcohol to relieve his symptoms of anxiety, irritability and depression.
“I used it as a crutch, to dull the pain, if you will,” he said. “It got to the point where it was out of hand.”
Drinking made Maguire “angry” and “mean,” and he said he often woke up with intense feelings of regret from things he’d said the night before. But he never got into legal trouble.
His clean record would, however, prove to be an inconvenience once he decided he needed to get help due to the strain he had put on his family.
Before being allowed to enter a veteran-backed rehab, Maguire was required to go through detox, a task that ended up being much harder than he anticipated.
Maguire remembers telling counselors he consumed about a fifth of vodka a week, but he was turned away from detox.
“(The counselors) told me that it wasn’t enough,” he said. “They told me ‘you’re not an alcoholic.’”
After visiting multiple facilities, Maguire was told to head to the VA Oakland emergency room in Pittsburgh. Desperate to get help, Maguire did something he said is out of character: He lied.
“I had to say I was feeling sick; I was feeling tremors,” he said. “If I wanted to get help, this is what I needed to do, which is absolutely ridiculous.”
The amount of effort Maguire had to put in to get treatment is an issue he believes many other veterans also face when seeking treatment.
“If I wasn’t as persistent as I was, I wouldn’t have gotten the help I needed,” Maguire said. “How many veterans out there are not as persistent as I am on fixing their lives and get lost by the wayside and end up in jail?”
During his time in treatment, Maguire said he was able to “dry out” and focus on fixing his life.
Wanting to get back into serving his community and helping out, Maguire found an opportunity for his next chapter in life to unfold.
“My roommates (at the facility) were getting out, and one of them didn’t have a driver’s license,” he said. “He was moving to an apartment and had no means of getting furniture or even getting around … There was no one out there for him.”
Maguire helped his two roommates pick up furniture and move them into their apartments.
Realizing care for veterans is often scarce or ill-funded, Maguire launched his own nonprofit organization, Veteran Overwatch Foundation, to help “fill the gaps” veterans may encounter while getting treatment for PTSD and substance abuse disorder.
“Helping veterans is my road to recovery,” Maguire said. “Veterans who are on the carousel and can’t get off, they don’t have two things that are extremely crucial: the resources and support to get off the carousel.
“You can have one or the other and maybe survive, but if you don’t have either one of them, you don’t have a shot.”
