Dan Hanson and two of his brothers joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2004. They were sent off on an intense deployment to Iraq where their unit lost 35 guys—including one to suicide.

“We came back and didn’t really talk about it,” said Hanson, now a veterans advocate and member of the Lake Elmo Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program. “We kept moving forward and got ready for the next deployment.”

They went on their next deployment and when Hanson got out of the Marine Corps in 2007, his brother, a fellow Marine, killed himself. One of Hanson’s good buddies followed suit.

“I was at the point where I just shut everything off,” Hanson said. “I dove into drugs and alcohol pretty deep, got in trouble with the law, spent some time in and out of jail and eventually tried killing myself.”

His story is what Veterans Court is all about, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said. The new Veterans' Program "is designed to take care of—in the right way—our brothers and sisters and our sons and daughters."

Hanson said he ended up at the St. Cloud VA where “nobody really reached out a helping hand, but that’s not a negative, because I didn’t want help at the time.”

Eventually, Hanson found himself back in the Hastings jail for another DUI just days before he was supposed to pick up his child for a trip to Wisconsin Dells.

“I got down on my knees and said, ‘God, I can’t do this any more. Either kill me or use me,’” Hanson said.

That was a Thursday morning—and the following Monday was President’s Day—so Hanson was told he could expect to spend an extended period of time in jail. He should get comfortable, he was told, because a judge wasn’t going to set bail.

“But two hours later, one of the sheriffs came by and said, ‘Hanson, you posted bail. Get out of here.’”

It turns out that someone saw his name on the jail roster and posted his bail.

“The guy said thanks for serving our country and posted my bail. He gave me his card and took off,” Hanson said. “After that day—and I’m not making this up, because it sounds like the show Touched By an Angel—I checked into rehab, was there for a year and changed my life around.”

Now Hanson is a Transition Assistance Advisor with the National Guard office in Cottage Grove. He works as a volunteer with the Hennepin County Veterans Mentor Program.

“I just thank God I’m able to help others out,” he said.

And in giving back as a mentor, following the chances he was given, Hanson has seen firsthand how the Hennepin County Veterans Court works.

“When you come back from combat, you don’t know how to deal with some of those feelings and emotions—you make poor decisions—and sometimes, you break the law,” Hanson said. “For a veteran to get thrown in jail or prison because they didn’t know what to do, this program says let’s get them better before we send them to prison. Let’s help them out before we sign their life away for five years.

“I’ve seen it with the guys I’ve worked with—getting that grace and getting that help at the VA has really steered them in the right direction. Instead of sending them away for four years and not doing anything with their mental health.”

The diversion program is designed with veterans mentoring veterans throughout the process, serving as advocates to judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, community corrections officers and to members of the Minnesota VA.

And it’s critical to have veterans in those roles of helping other veterans who have stumbled, Hanson said.

“The No. 1 thing about that is being able to relate,” Hanson said. “If I would have had somebody who stepped in—and knew what I went through—say to me, ‘Pull your head out of your butt, I get it, I’ve been there,' it would have helped tremendously.”

Instead of going to jail, here’s a program that allows veterans do this together, Hanson said.

“It’s huge,” he said. “A veteran can say he knows what I’m going through and I’m going to listen to what he has to say.”