Veterans transitioning from military service to civilian life often struggle with even the most ordinary situations.

And those challenges can persist for years, even decades after their service.

Well, the Salvation Army here in New Jersey has organized an event to help veterans and their families enjoy a summer activity that may often be too stressful for the vets.

A family vacation.

It's a sleepaway summer camp that offers many of the activities you might think of at camp, from fishing to sports to arts and crafts.

And it's meant to be both fun and healing for those who have given so much of themselves, for others.

Raven Santana has more.

A lot of World War II Vietnam, Iraq, people who have served our country.

Twelve-Year-Old Julian Branco has been coming to Camp Tecumseh with his family for the past five years.

He's one of more than 200 people that are with family members who are veterans.

So here at our vets camp, all of our veterans are in compliance with their outpatient treatment programs at the VA, primarily mental health outpatient treatment programs.

Heather Green is the state director of Human Services for the Salvation Army New Jersey Division.

For the past 30 years, a Salvation Army in New Jersey partnered with the East Orange and Lyons VA Hospitals to host vets and their families for five days and four nights around the third week of August.

The goal is to help connect vets with friends and family in a stress free environment.

This year, we started a game of bumper ball where we put everyone in giant hamster balls and played soccer.

For the nearly 17 million veterans in our country, transitioning from the military to civilian life can be a difficult adjustment.

Some struggled to connect with friends and family, and typically vacations and trips generally aren't a possibility.

And the camp doesn't just offer fun activities like basketball and fishing.

Veterans and their families are also offered peer support meetings that they say have been critical to their recovery.

It's called spiritual awakening, and this is the first thing that they do 7:00 in the morning is to address, you know, your spirituality and also, you know, some of the challenges that you may have with substance abuse or mental health.

And we have 30, 35 people sitting in a group early in the morning before breakfast.

Someone asked me, Did you talk to anybody?

I said, No, there's nothing wrong with me.

And what really got me is a friend.

She says she had to talk to somebody about me.

Right.

And I've said, she went that far to talk to somebody about me.

Then they seeing something I'm not seeing.

And that's why I started going back to help.

United States Marine Corps veteran Eugene Mizell was recruited by another veteran years ago.

The 68 year old who suffers from PTSD now looks forward to the camp each year and credits the camp's meetings for his recovery.

When I found how far some of the other guys was coming, I had no excuse.

I was coming every week.

You know, I, I look forward to it.

You know, and I think that's the hardest thing for a lot of veterans showing their vulnerability or showing that you have is you have issues just like anybody else.

United States Air Force veteran Tracy Gillian says the greatest lesson he and so many have taken away from camp has been the ability to talk in a safe and non-judgmental environment.

He now has made it his mission to recruit more veterans like himself to the camp.

At my worst.

The slightest thing was set me off.

So instead of me talking to my kids, I was screaming, Hollering at them.

Stay well, you'll get over it.

And it's not that easy.

You know, no one wants to be where.

It's okay to take the time.

I don't think anybody wants to be where we are.

You know, mentally.

This is something for me.

That I'm going to have to deal with the rest of my life.

I'm okay with it.

I wasn't always okay with it.

I'm all right with it now.

I understand.

And I also understand.

I understand.

I have a mission.

My mission is to make sure those that come after me know that there's help out there.

For NJ Spotlight News.

I'm Raven Santana.