Serving one’s country can be an enriching and life-changing experience, but for many veterans, it also can be a source of trauma.

U.S. Army veteran Melanie McCummiskey, of Kankakee, counts herself as one of those afflicted by post-traumatic stress disorder.

But make no mistake, she hasn’t resigned herself to simply being a victim.

After turning her life around, McCummiskey made it her life’s work to help others who have been through similar experiences.

“One day, I had that awakening,” she reflected. “I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ It very quickly ended up turning into helping other people, and I can say, it’s much better than being selfish.”

As a licensed professional counselor, McCummiskey specializes in supporting veterans and individuals with complex PTSD.

Her dedication extends beyond her job.

She is a board member of local veterans’ advocacy nonprofit Project Headspace and Timing, through which she established the Veiled Valor support group for female veterans.

She helps with the nonprofit’s Spartan Shield veterans support initiative as well.

She also has been a guest on Project Headspace and Timing’s “I’m F.I.N.E. Podcast” and hosts its “Mental Health Mondays” online video series.

Her journey

Originally from England, McCummiskey’s family moved to South Carolina when she was 9 and to Wisconsin when she was 14 because of her dad’s job with a pharmaceutical company.

After graduating from high school, McCummiskey was unsure what direction she was going with her life.

The Army recruiters she met had made an impression.

A little over a month after turning 18, she enlisted.

Part of her motivation to serve stemmed from wanting to go to college, as she knew the GI Bill would pay for school.

She was on active duty in the Army from 2005 to 2007 and was stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia. In 2012, she joined the Army Reserve unit in Kankakee, then was medically discharged after about a year.

Unfortunately, her reflections of her military service are clouded and darkened by the traumatic circumstances she endured.

She was sexually assaulted on her first day in the military, and the assaults continued over the course of two years.

“I had a very upsetting, traumatic, drawn-out experience during my time in service, which is why I try to help other people now who have been through similar stuff,” she said.

Veiled Valor

McCummiskey decided to get involved with Project Headspace and Timing when she kept seeing photos of the group’s founder and CEO Eric Peterson in the newspaper.

He always seemed to be unloading trucks of donations for veterans by himself.

“I was like, ‘This guy looks like he can use some help,’” she said.

So, she reached out to Peterson, introduced herself and has been involved ever since.

“Eric has turned into a friend on top of it,” she noted.

In addition to being a board member for the nonprofit, she also started Veiled Valor so that female veterans would have a safe space to discuss their shared experiences.

“It was the group I needed when I got out that didn’t exist,” McCummiskey said.

Once a week, the group gathers for a night of crafts and talking. They also attend social events together.

Veiled Valor has held two annual summer retreats, which invite veterans from all over the country to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking to connect with nature.

“It’s really cool to just be together with female veterans and get to kind of therapeutically process through [things],” she said.

Taking the right path

When McCummiskey left the military, she was yet again at a point in her life where she had no sense of direction.

For years, she struggled with her health and felt she was making selfish choices; finally, she realized she had only two options forward.

“I’m at that fork in the road, and I can either go left and I can keep ruining my life and things are not going to end well, or I can try and get some resilience here, and I can maybe try and help other people,” she said.

McCummiskey became a licensed therapist in December of 2021.

She practices a kind of trauma-informed therapy called EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and works with many veterans, first responders and others with traumatic backgrounds.

The dual nature of the kinds of support veterans need was exemplified by how McCummiskey spent the evening prior to her morning interview with the Daily Journal.

After attending a dinner show in Chicago with Veiled Valor, she responded to a call and was at Riverside Hospital from around 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the side of a veteran who had attempted to end their life.

Sometimes, her job as a volunteer is to share resources.

Sometimes it is to provide hope for the future, a sense of community, or to listen to someone vent.

Other times, it is to be there with someone during their darkest hour, to be a physical presence and sit in silence for as long as needed.

“Just keep going,” she said as a message to fellow veterans. “Just keep trying; advocate for the help that you need, and know that, if you can’t get it through some of the more official channels, turn to nonprofits. That’s what we’re there for.”