From being helped, to helping others: the journey of Joe Goniea.

When he came in to see us at the courthouse that first time in 1990, I would say we probably prevented a suicide; that's my opinion," said Ronald R. Schrieber, Michigan Department Service Officer (DSO) and Hospital Service Coordinator (HSC).

"It seemed like somewhere along the way, something took away his motivation, and he just needed a chance and some motivation to get going again. I asked him to come back because I was convinced he really needed some help," Schrieber said.

The man Schrieber was describing is Michigan Department Service Officer and Hospital Service Coordinator Joseph D. Goniea, a disabled veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1973-75) and the U.S. Army (1985-88).

Looking back, Goniea considered himself "basically a hermit and homeless" in 1990. He returned to see Schrieber, sparking a friendship that has lasted more than 15 years and, with the help of the DAV, a new beginning for Joe Goniea.

Goniea recalled it was about 1989 when he first heard that if he went to the county court house in Grayling, Mich., he might get a $50 food voucher. He was hesitant to do so because he was already receiving approximately $84 a month in service-connected disability compensation from the VA, which normally was enough money for the lifestyle he was living.

At the time, he was living in a tent on 40 acres of land he owned with his brothers. There was no plumbing and no public sanitation. It was a harsh lifestyle in what could be a bitterly cold area of Michigan. But it was hunger that eventually sent him to town.

"Finally, in 1990, I went for a food voucher," Goniea said.

"Sharing the office with the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund Agent and another county official was Ronald R. Schrieber. He primarily launched my training and the other provided assistance," Goniea said.

In addition to helping Goniea obtain a food voucher, Schrieber contacted a local lumbar yard which supplied a barn kit that was paid for by the trust fund and the local DAV Chapter. Goniea soon had a roof over his head on his property. Schrieber also assisted Goniea with his compensation claim, which was increased to 20 percent, and helped him secure vocational rehabilitation and get into college. And yes, he signed Goniea up as a life member of DAV Chapter 23 in Iron Mountain, Mich.

Goniea served as one of Schrieber's volunteer drivers while in college and was supervised in a VA vocational rehabilitation work study program by Schrieber.

He also became active in the DAV. Within a few years he was elected Chapter Commander, and was later elected to the DAV State Administrative Board. Then came the summer of 1998, which was a milestone in Goniea's DAV career.

"Shortly before he was due to graduate, a DSO/HSC job opening came up, and he put in for it. We hired him on July 20, 1998," Schrieber said. "He finished his college and went to work for the DAV at the VA medical center (VAMC) in Battle Creek."

At the Battle Creek VAMC Goniea helped start a new van program for the Benton Harbor area with excellent support from medical center director Mike Wheeler (now Director at the Detroit VAMC) and Deborah Peters at the Berrien County Veterans Office. He also began advocating for a new program for the Niles, Mich., area to be based out of the Battle Creek VAMC. A van now serves veterans in the area. Toward the end of 1999, Goniea was transferred to the VAMC at Iron Mountain, Mich. Already blessed with a large transportation program, and a progressive and cooperative VAMC staff, Goniea went to work to make the program even better. In the years since 1999, he has been instrumental in adding vans to three new areas and recruiting volunteer drivers to operate them with the help of excellent local van coordinators.

"We now have Transportation Network vans serving Ironwood, South Range, Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, Menominee, Ontanagon and Escanaba, Mich.; and Rhinelander, Wisc.," Goniea said, with a note of pride in his voice. "I also turn in hours of the drivers from Green Bay, Wisc., when they take veterans to Iron Mountain."

When Goniea arrived at Iron Mountain, he noted some drivers, including some husband and wife driver teams, covering distances as great as 500 miles per day and long hours. With cooperation from Medical Center Director Deborah Thompson, changes were made to improve the work environment for volunteer drivers. They include additional meals as needed; a volunteer drivers lounge; and outstanding cooperation scheduling medical appointments for veterans riding vans. The new scheduling accounts for time zone changes and permits most drivers to be home by 9 p.m., instead of after midnight as had happened previously.

Always on the lookout for volunteer drivers, Goniea discusses the possibility of being a volunteer driver with veterans to serve in the areas where they live when he is doing claims work. He also takes an opportunity to recruit when Supervisory NSO Donald R. Crull presents the annual Upper Peninsula informational seminars in conjunction with the Department Commander's tour, which includes Past National Commander and Department Adjutant Thomas A. McMasters, III.

Last year Goniea married and is building a new life with his wife, Adee. As busy as a new marriage is, Goniea still finds time to manage eight vans and more than 300 volunteer drivers with the help of local coordinators, as well as provide assistance to veterans as a Department Service Officer. And like many notable leaders he seeks no praise and praises others willingly.

"I received outstanding training from the leadership we in Michigan are so fortunate to have," Goniea said. "From leaders in the DAV to, perhaps most importantly, the volunteer drivers, I am surrounded by greatness."

When Joe Goniea made his way into Grayling many years ago to seek a food voucher, he had no idea how far his journey would take him. Today, with help from the DAV, Goniea has built a better life for himself and now dedicates himself to building better lives for America's disabled veterans and their families.