A Smithfield man has self-published a book he hopes will help combat veterans like himself cope with their life after war.

Peace Foxx Jr. took more than a year to write “Twice A Warrior” because the emotions it brought back were almost too much for him, he said.

Foxx was a Marine and served in Vietnam in 1968-69. During that time, he wrote, he was traumatized by “rat patrol,” where he and others went out in Jeeps and patrolled in search of danger. He also saw a fellow Marine jump on a grenade to protect his comrades.

“There was no God to me after that,” Foxx said. “I lost all my faith. It changes your life forever.”

When he returned home, Foxx drifted away from his family, developed medical problems due to stress and started drinking in an attempt to self-medicate.

“The physical wounds are one thing, but the real big wound is the one to the soul,” Foxx said.

But he eventually found his faith again and began trying to help other veterans. He and two other veterans started a veterans center project in Boston, Mass., where they learned that a third of men in local homeless shelters were veterans, and even more were living on the streets.

The problem hit home when a veteran he knew was found dead of hypothermia. He hadn’t known the man was homeless.

“We were already traumatized, and all of a sudden here’s this other guy that died in the streets,” Foxx said.

So the group founded the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, acquiring a 10-story building in downtown Boston to use for the shelter. The center opened in 1989.

These days, the group houses about 350 veterans a night, and Foxx has served as a peer counselor and group leader at the center, as well as being a co-founder and on the board of directors.

Foxx decided to write down his experiences to get the message of healing to a wider audience, even though it caused him emotional pain.

“The reason I wrote it was to give it to people so they can grow from it,” he said. “I hope somebody will see it and pick it up.”

The book is available from xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

Contact Foxx at peacejr@charter.net.