BOWDOINHAM

He opened the doors of an outbuilding on the farmstead where he lives. Inside was the wooden sailboat he’s built with his own hands.

Inside the house is a twomast sailboat of his own design and rooms full of table saws and tools. Upstairs in the farmhouse he has a number of treasures he’s built or created on display — a large bird house for swallows, a bird cage and a wooden snow scoop. Delicate wood boxes occupy a shelf and he shows the jig contraption he invented for a table saw to make the tongue and groove joints for the boxes.

“I do a lot of design and problem-solving work,” said Robert Betjemann.

He has created a non-profit organization called Creative Flow Foundation and his vision is to help returning military veterans adjust. He’s looking for some help making his idea a reality and, of course, veterans who could benefit from the skill set he’s ready to share.

“This is a world that can provide therapy or it can provide play. It can be job training,” Betjemann said. “I feel very confident that some returnees with disabilities — with patience and determination — you could find the freedom and the setup for them to build anything they want to; anything they could dream up.”

If just a half a percent of veterans had an interest in this project, Betjemann said, that would still be a lot of people. It is a very personal matter for him, a Korean War veteran who didn’t see action. He recently had his heart broken, he said, after an issue with a Togus VAMC doctor, according to Betjemann, who said his subsequent complaints went unheard.

“When a person comes back and they’re having trouble getting adjusted — becoming human again — if they have children, there’s a real good chance that those children are going to end up also having difficulty,” Betjemann said.

No matter how you feel about the wars the U.S. has been in, he said, “if we didn’t have a strong military and people who were willing to do that, somebody else would be eating our lunch right now. This is a very rich country.”

There used to be a draft, so anyone could be called up, but now those in the military are a small portion of the population. He said 22 veterans a day are committing suicide. The politicians who send military personnel to war in the first place, he said, “need to speak up about it more.”

Many returning veterans suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, which can occur after someone goes through a traumatic event like combat, that can lead to substance abuse issues. PTSD is something Betjemann is thoroughly familiar with.

“There’s stuff happening to veterans that wouldn’t be allowed to happen in the civilian world,” he said, adding — with no disrespect intended, “The country uses its military like condoms.”

He envisions a school where he could have veterans stay and learn and even make marketable products. Living on a 14-acre farm on River Road, he sees lots of potential for programs. He doesn’t own the farm where he’s living, which the Maine Farmland Trust has been trying to sell, so he needs a long-term home for the program to take shape. He doesn’t have Internet or computer skills, which has added to the challenge of getting his vision off the ground. He hopes to join forces with people who can help with publicly, financing and other challenges he faces.

As he discusses his vision, he points to the film “Welcome to Lee Maine,” about the close-knit rural community, with a population of 845, “that must deal with devastating news that it has become the smallest community in America to lose two sons in the Iraqi War,” according to the synopsis.

“The town comes together and each person does what they can do,” Betjemann said. “They build a structure so to speak.”

He has no money but he has skills and a vision.

“This is what I know and this is what I have to offer,” Betjemann said.

People interested in helping make Betjemann’s vision a reality, or veterans interested in becoming students, can call him at 323-5736.