As soon as a veteran walks in the door at the VFW Post 969 in Tacoma, bartender Melissa Gilman is already getting started preparing his drink.

The cheerful Gilman greets him by name while mixing the Malibu rum with an orange fruit juice concoction. She's always quick with a smile and often one step ahead when it comes to preparing regulars' drinks.

"Melissa is very well-loved in here," said Phylis Huseby, an auxiliary post member who's been coming to Post 969 for nearly 10 years.

Gilman has a close relationship with many veterans she sees every day she tends bar.

"It's a little different here," said Gilman, who started working at the post part-time as a cocktail waitress before being hired on full time about a year ago. "A lot of people in here are from this neighborhood. There is nothing we all wouldn't do for each other."

That includes giving veterans a ride to or home from a doctor's appointment or even coming over and doing small household chores to help out.

Researchers in Ohio are studying the close link that VFW bartenders, many of them women, have with veterans.

In a pilot study released last year titled The Healing Tonic, Ohio State University researchers surveyed VFW bartenders about their interactions with veterans and whether they could, especially with a little training, notice signs of illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Bartenders have naturally been thought of as these de facto counselors over time. So people often tell their troubles to bartenders," Keith Anderson, lead author and an assistant professor of social work at Ohio State, told USA Today. "What we found, as anticipated, was that (VFW) bartenders were very close to the veterans, often referring to them as similar to family."

A mailed survey conducted by OSU confirmed that veterans often pour out their hearts about personal problems. With a little training, most bartenders told the paper, they would be willing to recommend mental health programs.

While Gilman has never personally had an interaction where she came across a customer with obvious PTSD symptoms, she has plenty of experience being a good listener.

"Sometimes I don't know what to say to them so all I do is listen - and that's what they need," said Gilman, whose grandfather and father are veterans.

The Ohio researchers say they hope to approach the VFW and possibly the Department of Veterans Affairs to discuss preparing a 20-minute online training tool for bartenders. The 112-year-old VFW has 1.5 million members, including 130,000 who are Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. There are 3,500 VFW bars among all the posts.

Gilman said she would definitely be interested in utilizing the training tool, and the VFW leadership believes the plan might be worth considering, a spokesman told USA Today.

While Gilman is arguably the most constant and bright face of the post's informal support network, many other regulars all embrace the familial atmosphere the facility provides.

"It's a home away from home for many," Huseby said. "It's a good support system for many coming in here. They may not have many people at home - this is like their family."

And it's a family that knows what many other veterans are dealing with on a daily basis.

"Other places that veterans go to might be filled with people that don't know where they've been and what they've been through," said Frank Stackhouse, a Navy veteran who's been coming to Post 969 for seven years. "When you go to the VFW, everybody has been where you are."