The Gloucester NAACP held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, Veterans Day, at the Woodville Rosenwald School, Ordinary. Monday’s speaker was the Rev. Ward Warren, pastor at First Baptist Church, which is located across Route 17 from Woodville. Warren shared his experiences of having served as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam in the late 1960s and the difficulties of coming home to a hostile environment while being black. The understanding of PTSD was limited at that time and the care was minimal. During those years, one had to prove that their mental health issues were related to their experiences in a war zone. It wasn’t accepted as a product of war as it is today, he said. Warren strongly advocated for veterans to seek mental health interventions, noting that 22 veterans a day commit suicide. Despite the hardships encountered he encourages young people to serve in the military as it teaches many lessons of discipline and organization that can carry one through their life and create frien...