"These are safe men. Not only will they not create conflict and violence in your community, they can help resolve it," says Jacques Verduin. His program in San Quentin prison is helping inmates deal with the emotional pain at the root of their criminal behavior.

"Soldiers carry all the moral weight of war, and we carry very little, and we need to share that moral burden by realizing that they are our surrogates," says the author of "The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers."