The mortar that exploded in Iraq in 2006 didn't hit Schofield Barracks soldier Sfc. Darin Landry, but scrambling for cover cost him two ruptured discs in his back.

That was the physical damage. The 40-year-old soldier didn't notice the post-traumatic stress until much later. Part of it was associated with the death in combat of a family friend, 1st Lt. Joshua Deese.

"It took me almost a year and a half before I even recognized it," Landry said of the PTSD. At first, he thought it was related to pain from his back injury.

Sleep bedevils the Massachusetts man, transporting him back to combat.

"Last night, my kids told me, 'Dad, you were screaming in the middle of the night,' " said Landry, who was relying on a cane to help him walk.

The stories of combat, and its consequences, spanned more than six decades yesterday at the O'ahu Veterans Center.

Three days before the official day set aside to thank veterans for their service to the nation, the center in Foster Village — not wanting to step on the toes of Tuesday's ceremonies — held a Veterans Appreciation Day and fundraiser.

The food and fun — with comedy by Frank De Lima and music by the Tradewinds, among others — was in part intended to raise money so soldiers and Marines in "wounded warrior" programs on O'ahu can get together with veterans from past wars to help with the readjustment problems multiple generations have faced.

In his 2008 Veterans Day message, Defense Secretary Robert Gates stressed the importance of recognizing service members for their contribution — as well as making sure they get the care, benefits and compensation they deserve.

The well-being of wounded warriors and their families has been singled out as one of the Pentagon's highest priorities, and November has been designated "Warrior Care Month" to bring attention to issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

The number of troops with new cases of PTSD jumped by about 50 percent in 2007, and records show that about 40,000 service members have been diagnosed with the illness since 2003 and the start of the Iraq war.

SECRETLY SUFFERING

Many more are believed to be keeping their PTSD secret.

Combat stress and long separations from family have led to a spike in suicides, divorces and domestic abuse.

Some of the soldiers in the Warrior Transition Battalion at Schofield Barracks who were at the appreciation day yesterday said the Army has been doing a good job in increasing its services for wounded warriors.

Lt. Col. Harry Xenitelis, who commands the unit, said he has 268 soldiers in the unit, with some receiving in-patient treatment at Tripler Army Medical Center, some living in housing at Tripler, and some living at Schofield Barracks.

Between 50 and 60 have PTSD, he said.

Xenitelis noted that Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. has made the wounded warrior program his top priority after combat operations.

"We're getting the money and the support to back it up," Xenitelis said.

Landry, one of those soldiers struggling with PTSD, said the creation of the program itself was a good thing — and not something available when he was injured in 2006.

"When I got medevaced out, I got off the plane and went to my unit and waited for surgery," he said. "They didn't have this."

Sgt. Darrell Brandt, 39, a Reservist from American Samoa who served a year in Iraq in 2004, said he got into the wounded warrior program for PTSD at the urging of his family.

"To me, I didn't change. To my wife and kids, they said I changed," said the soft-spoken Brandt. "(They told me I was) treating my kids like they were my troops."

Brandt, who was temporarily returned to active duty and has been in the program since January, said it's been beneficial.

"They taught us how we've got to put a stop on our combat mode," he said.

Rene Berthiaume, 64, who served with the Marines as a forward air controller in parts of 1964, 1965 and 1966 in Vietnam, also said the military has come a long way in recognizing and treating PTSD.

Berthiaume said he worked covertly with teams of several other Marines and four to eight indigenous Montagnard people to spot enemy traffic on the Ho Chi Minh trail.

"PTSD wasn't even recognized as a legitimate medical health diagnosis (at the time)," he said. "We've gotten better. Certainly gotten better from the Vietnam time, but there's more that we can do."

INVISIBLE INJURIES

Housing assistance for veterans with PTSD is something that Berthiaume said can be improved.

The issue is now high on the radar of lawmakers.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, who addressed the several hundred veterans at yesterday's appreciation day, said he is focusing on the invisible injuries such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury, as well as the physical costs of war.

Akaka congratulated the O'ahu Veterans Council for its efforts — including yesterday's fundraiser.

"You are already doing some of these things we want to do," Akaka said. "And you are doing it on the homefront, helping families and helping veterans."

Fred Ballard, a Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman and secretary for the O'ahu Veterans Council, said a barbecue recently was held bringing together former Special Forces soldiers and service members in a residential PTSD treatment program run by the VA here.

"It was kind of cool to see these old guys that parachuted in two or three wars talking to these youngsters, and telling them, 'Hey, I've been there. I'm getting through it, and by God, you can too,' " Ballard said.

Ballard said he'd like to host more such get-togethers.

Officials acknowledge a big problem remains in getting service members past the stigma of PTSD for warriors who are trained to overcome adversity.

The effects of combat have long been documented, meanwhile, even if there wasn't the understanding of today or treatment for it.

Landry, the soldier who has had trouble sleeping since the 2006 combat tour, remembered that his grandfather, who was on a ship in Pearl Harbor at the time of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, never came back for a visit — even though his grandmother did five times.

"You can't say that didn't affect him," Landry said. "He said, 'I left too many friends there,' and left it at that."

Landry leaves the numbers and percentages of PTSD cases to others, but he says this: "You have to be rock hard not to be affected by war."