Will County Man, One Of Seven To Graduate Veterans Court Program
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 48-year-old Will County man is in the process of turning his life around, thanks, in part, to veterans court.
Dan Miller was a police officer for 20 years and spent almost 30 years in the Marines, active and reserve.
Almost three years ago, his life took a turn. WBBM's Steve Miller reports.
"There's a ring at the door and I get served divorce papers. Everything that I had bottled up, from what had happened in Iraq, from what I'd seen on the street, from all the fears - a lot of guys call them demons, that were inside, everything came out," Miller said. "I felt that I'd lost my world."
So, Miller drank.
"I ended up on the side of the road with my service weapon buried in the side of my head," he said. "And I was ready to call it a day."
But he drove home instead, where there was an incident with police officers.
Months later Miller said he was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm.
Then, he was admitted into a special part of the Will County system: veterans court, which, as the name implies, helps veterans and is really a program, rather than just a court of law.
"I entered that court, very much not wanting to be there," Miller said. "Very much feeling I had been wronged by the same system, that I had worked for for so many years."
But Miller and six others graduated from the veterans court program this week.
"Everybody came together and rallied together to help me save myself."
Miller now travels the country on behalf of wounded warriors.