Vietnam Vet Turns Cancer, PTSD Into 3 Charity Groups

Lt. Col. Robert Hess didn't wait for his wounds to stop hurting before he started helping others heal. Instead, the Vietnam veteran turned his darkest moments into lifelines for thousands.

Hess served two combat tours in Vietnam before retiring from the Army in 1992. He built a successful second career in business, earning his MBA and co-founding a software company.

Then in 2004, at 58, doctors found two prostate tumors. Caught early, Hess beat the cancer, but the experience changed him. Two years later, he founded the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project and created Prostate Tracker, a free online early detection system that has since evolved into the Cancer Journeys Foundation.

The foundation now provides knowledge, support, and community to cancer survivors navigating their own difficult journeys. Hess made sure no one would face those scary doctor visits feeling alone.

But Hess wasn't done confronting his past. In 2014, more than 40 years after his last combat tour, a VA psychologist diagnosed him with PTSD. The process of writing out every combat action from both tours took three weeks.

"It was like lifting this weight off my shoulders," Hess said. For him, naming the pain became part of the cure.

So he created another organization. The Disabled Veteran Empowerment Network (DVEN) connects veterans and families to VA resources and vetted charities, including Rally4Vets, a motorsports program that brings servicemembers together for racing competitions.

The genius of Rally4Vets isn't just the adrenaline of competition. It's creating a space where veterans can talk about emotional struggles while doing something they love, helping reduce the annual veteran suicide toll.

This summer, Hess drove 6,500 miles across America in a Rally4Vets car, stopping in nearly two dozen cities during a 37-day tour honoring the nation's 250th birthday. Each stop spread awareness about veterans' issues and the resources available to help.

The Ripple Effect

Hess's three organizations now form an interconnected safety net. Cancer survivors find community through his foundation. Veterans discover crucial resources through DVEN. And Rally4Vets creates the kind of brotherhood that saves lives, one race at a time.

What started as one man processing his trauma has become a nationwide movement. Thousands of cancer patients now use Prostate Tracker for early detection. Veterans across the country connect to life-changing resources through DVEN.

"After serving two tours in Vietnam and then going through cancer, I looked at myself and said: 'The universe is leaving me here for a reason,'" Hess explained. He chose to make that reason count.

His work proves that our greatest struggles can become our most powerful gifts to others.