one-on-one with these veterans and say, you know what, you were a hero, you may be at zero right now but we are going to get you back there. melissa: you say on this memorial day there are a lot of people watching who would like do something. you have a very simple action item for people who are watching, what they can do, tell us about it. that s right. i really just encourage everyone on this special memorial day to just go up to a veteran and simply ask how they are doing. all the training and interventions that i ve gotten through the years of education, it s fascinating because the most effective way that we can support a veteran is simply to be there as empathic and caring, loving, compassionate friends, and that was what got me through this journey and i really encourage others to do the same. melissa: it is the very least that we could do for our men and women who have served this country. kevin, thank you so much. thank you for coming on tonight
some of our nation s finest especially hard. the number of veterans addicted to opioids has risen more than 50% between 2010 and 2015. it s a problem that my next guest knows all too well. kevin was serving with the marines in iraq when he was hit by an ied and severely injured. the road to healing was long, requiring 32 surgeries. kevin soon found himself struggling with opioid addiction, but it is a battle that kevin is now winning. he is in long-term recovery and has made it his life s work to help his fellow veterans combat opioid abuse. here now is kevin remley, marine combat veteran, purple heart recipient and coordinator of veterans treatment court. thank you so much for your service. it has been far and wide. talk to me a little bit about you were in there for two years, you had 32 surgeries. you made it through all of that, but then you re stuck with with an addiction. how did you overcome that?