A Great Group Inside a Dark Place: Behind the Gates, Veterans of Incarcerated Chapter 195 Find Fellowship – and a Way to Serve Again

BY Paul Rogers

VVA chapters inside correctional institutions offer community, camaraderie, purpose, and positivity to veterans. A prime example is Incarcerated Chapter 195 at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution near Tampa, Florida. Last year the chapter was recognized as one of two VVA Incarcerated Chapters of the Year.

“Despite the fact that we’re incarcerated, we still manage to do a lot of things for the community,” said Roberta Troxell, one of Chapter 195’s sponsors outside of the institution who represents them on the Florida State Council and serves as chapter treasurer. “Their activities and their willingness to help is a tribute to their spirit of service that basically identified them as a veteran in the first place.”

Chapter 195 was founded in 1985 and today has some 80 members. After their release, members are free to join another VVA chapter, but many stay actively connected to Chapter 195, even though former veterans incarcerated may not visit ZCI until five years after their probation.

“We’re veterans first, right?” said Troxell, a former Army nurse who has been a Chapter 195 sponsor since 2019. “We shouldn’t forget their service to their country and, no matter what their crime is, they’re doing their time and they still are trying to serve their community. And they’re a big support for each other.”

Courtesy Chapter 195

Chapter 195 advocates for all veterans, supporting Troxell and inmate Service Officers who work with VSOs in Pasco and Hillsborough counties. The chapter holds annual events and ceremonies, including on National Vietnam War Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Pearl Harbor Day.

“The chapter is probably the best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time,” said Robert Sabine, who was a Chapter 195 board member from his arrival in 2017 until his release last year. “That’s what kept me going. I lost my mother during my stay and I’d lost a brother. The support the guys gave me meant everything.”

Chapter 195’s fundraising, which includes an annual Memorial Day Walk-a-thon, has purchased recreational equipment for ZCI and facilitates its Getting Ahead While Getting Out Program, which prepares inmates for their transition back into society upon their release. The chapter also contributes to the outside community, including supporting the JROTC Program at a local high school and donating to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and to area elementary schools.

The chapter also has supported wounded veterans and their families by donating to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. It helps Gold Star families by contributing to area memorials and by hosting an annual benefit concert featuring the chapter’s band, Sounds of Time, formed by Sabine in 2018.

“My morale was so much better being around the veterans than it was during my everyday daily life in prison. It made me want to show some sense of responsibility to help everybody else,” said Glen Hall, a Coast Guard veteran who was released in 2024 after serving 13 years.

Courtesy Chapter 195

Chapter 195 supports ZCI’s Getting Ahead While Getting Out Program, which helps veterans and others approaching their release dates with the challenges of transitioning into the wider community. Created and funded by Chapter 195 in partnership with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in nearby Dade City, it comprises 40 hours of classwork aimed at preparing inmates for reentry after incarceration.

“It made me realistic about the way that things are nowadays out here,” Sabine said, “because when I first went to prison, cell phones hadn’t been out that much and smartphones weren’t out at all. It brought me up to date on how things are, what to look for, and how to stay out of trouble. And on things I was going to have to do immediately, like report to my probation officer, register at the sheriff’s office, and get a bank account.”

Chapter 195 helps directly with clothing, shoes, toiletries, food, tents, bicycles, and rent for freshly released men in need.

“When I got out, most of my family had already passed away, so I had pretty much nothing,” said Michael Burton, an Army veteran who was released from ZCI last year after serving 17 years. “Roberta and Chapter 195 gave us clothes, and they paid my first month’s rent. That was huge—if not, I would have ended up homeless.”

Burton quickly landed a decent job, got his driver’s license, purchased a vehicle, and found a place to stay. “This success that I’m having now, I don’t think that would’ve been possible without Chapter 195’s contribution,” he said. “These people invested in me and if somebody is going to do that, then I’m going to work my hardest to make sure that I don’t fail.”

Courtesy Chapter 195

Chapter sponsors Troxell and John Yagelka continue to support former 195 members even after their release, with everything from providing a laptop and helping with VA disability claims, to taking a former inmate out to dinner or visiting when they’re sick.

In turn, released former Chapter 195 members support their comrades who’re still at ZCI. “I text them; I send them pictures just to let them know that there is life after prison,” said Sabine.

Roberta Troxell is “a special person and she’s also a big factor of why Chapter 195 is such an effective organization,” said Michael Burton.

“Without them, I would have had a really hard time. I’m grateful to Chapter 195. It’s a great group of men and bright spot inside of a dark place.”

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