$1 million donated to UWM for veterans mental health
Funds named in honor of husband who served in Vietnam as surgeon
Billie Kubly’s husband served a year in Vietnam as an orthopedic surgeon in the Army.
Her father was deployed to France during World War I and three of her brothers-in-law were World War II veterans.
She knows how war affects military members who frequently suffer from the invisible wounds of depression and post-traumatic stress connected to their service.
Kubly recently donated $1 million to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for mental health research and education for veterans. The Dr. Michael C. Kubly Military & Veterans Mental Health Endowment at UWM was named in honor of her husband, who died in January at the age of 82.
The Kublys’ 28-year-old son Charlie died by suicide in 2003 after suffering from depression. The Charles E. Kubly Foundation is a public charity that has raised $3 million for mental health research and programs.
“I name it the disease of depression because that’s really what it is,” Kubly said in a phone interview.
According to a 2013 Department of Veterans Affairs study, 22 veterans die by suicide each day.
“I hope that they can bring more veterans in and help student veterans, to make them realize it’s OK to have depression. It’s an acceptable disease and it can be treated,” said Kubly.
Almost 1,500 veterans attend UWM, more than any other four-year university in the Upper Midwest.
UWM has developed strong partnerships in the community with the VA and other veterans mental health providers, said Jayne Holland, interim director of the university’s military and veterans resource center.
“We’ve all been working together on veterans mental health issues, suicide prevention, trying to solve the stigma of veterans reaching out for help,” said Holland.
The sixth annual VA Mental Health Summit will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the UWM Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd. Speakers include the first woman and African-American national commander of Disabled American Veterans and the head docent of America’s Black Holocaust Museum. Sessions will focus on VA health care and benefits eligibility, racial trauma, chronic pain management and disparities in African-American health care.
Perhaps because of the warrior ethos, many veterans are reluctant to acknowledge or admit that they need help for depression, anxiety, PTSD and other mental health-related issues from their military service. Many face difficulties transitioning from the military to civilian life.
The resource center at UWM helps students who are veterans in a variety of ways — finding housing, helping them with VA health care and mental health services, helping those with hearing problems and knee and back injuries from serving in war zones, providing older students who need assistance with note- and test-taking. The center works to find mentors and internships through UWM’s corporate partners to help student veterans transition into the civilian workplace.
The Kubly endowment “will help us continue some of the research and expand it and hopefully develop more solutions to help veterans with mental health issues,” said Holland.
Kubly and her husband were high school sweethearts in Monroe, where Michael Kubly’s father started the Swiss Colony mail order company. He was in his orthopedic residency at Marquette when he was drafted and served in Vietnam 1967-’68.
“I don’t know how many amputations he did. He was there one year. When he came back, we were at the Army base in Augusta, Georgia, and he was able to see a lot of the patients he had worked on,” recalled Kubly.
Her husband was proud of his military service and combined with the couple’s passion for mental health awareness and research, the endowment is designed to help veterans with mental trauma.
“If we can prevent any more suicides, I would feel I have done my work in life,” said Kubly.