“I didn’t have any personal values - life was just off track,” Hooper said.

Now as peer support counselor at the domiciliary for three years, Hooper said he offers guidance to other veterans.

Bobby Zimmerman, domiciliary administrative officer, said Hooper, 59, can relate to the residents and they can relate to him.

Hooper was 45 when he entered the Temple VA domiciliary rehabilitation program.

“I was struggling with life,” he said. “I had PTSD, which at the time I didn’t know. I did have a substance abuse problem I was dealing with.”

Hooper served in the Army from 1974 to ’78, spending most of his time training people to go to Vietnam.

“I spent time in Germany, which was probably worst than Vietnam,” he said. “It was Cold War duty on the Czechoslovakian border. Terrorists were getting bad and you had a life expectancy, if anything took place, from six to eight hours.”

The stress of constantly being on alert and out in the field took its toll, he said.

“The Cold War was ugly depending on where you were and the Czech border was not a good place,” Hooper said.

After serving in the Army, Hooper became a band director of a highly successful high school program in San Antonio.

Then his house caught fire and he was burned. Hooper said he had to stay away from work for a while and when he returned, his band did not win a competition that it had the five previous years.

Listening to the students cry during the bus ride back to San Antonio from Houston, on top of the dulling effect of the medication he was on for his burns, finally got to him.

Hooper said he initially went to the VA’s Austin clinic to get help and find out what was wrong.

“They mainly wanted to just address my substance-abuse problem, but I thought there was more,” he said. “I just kept pressing until they sent me here.”

The domiciliary provided Hooper with the tools to make changes.

“It took me a few years to acknowledge that I had to make some changes,” he said. “The domiciliary gave me support and stability. I wouldn’t be here today if it hadn’t been for this place. It gave me the opportunity to regain my own self-esteem. It gave me life. It gave me hope.”

Hooper said he felt defeated, and having the classes offered at the domiciliary and a clean place to live with three meals a day gave him the structure he desperately needed.

“The staff and other residents made everything possible,” he said.

Hooper said peer support counseling is probably the most rewarding job he’s ever had. He spends a lot of time with the veterans helping them find solutions to their problems.

As a peer counselor, Hooper also advocates for the veteran, who might find it difficult to communicate his or her problems or needs.

The domiciliary staff does a good job treating the total vet, he said. The veteran may be admitted for one problem, but Hooper will work with the resident to determine if there are underlying issues that need to be addressed.

There is no set definition of peer support.

“I’d probably be very offended if they tried to come up with a set description and tried to box me in what I could do,” Hooper said.

Keeping the confidences of the veterans is part of his job, but he talks to and tries to point them in the right direction and give them the opportunity to speak for themselves.

Hooper has not lost touch with his musical roots and now mainly plays the trombone.

As a resident, Hooper was given an incentive therapy position in the music therapy room. He taught music and participated in the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival about 15 times. This year, he will attend the festival and provide musical accompaniment for dorm residents.

Music remains therapeutic for Hooper, who said whenever the domiciliary veterans are performing he makes every attempt to be there to support them.