They change the suit and tie, for a brown and green uniform. They change the briefcase for a rucksack and fancy shoes for jungle boots.

They won’t wake up by the alarm of their phones, but by the call of duty. 

They exchange the warmth of their homes for the cold of the war. They made the decision, for their families, or maybe for themselves. 

They went to a place where the sound of gunfire, the screams of the wounded and the bombs, shout down their thoughts; a place where fear is not allowed and death is pronounced every day.

So many think that the best scenario is when a soldier comes back from war and they are reunited with their families. Many people think that the journey ends here, but what they don’t know is that a new battle is just starting.   

Every 65 minutes, to be precise, a military veteran commits suicide, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

SEAN DAUGHERTY

Sean Daugherty is a veteran student at Ashland University with a major in business management and ethics. He is happily married and has four children.

But not everything was easy for Daugherty. He enrolled in the Air Force as an answer to his financial problems.  With a newborn coming, he knew that the Air Force was the best choice.

He enrolled in the Air Force on September 12, 2001, one day after the Twin Towers came down at the hands of Al-Queda. The conflicts of his country motivated him to go into the military.

“I wanted to kill as many people as I could, so I enlisted to be a combat controller,” he said. “I kinda have a lot of hatred in my heart for the terrorists.” 

He didn’t know that he would end up doing just the opposite.

He was stationed in Indonesia. His crew was responsible for getting supplies into the country after a tsunami hit in 2001.

“I worked with these people,” he said. “I got to see and live among these people, be around them and actually helped them rebuild their society, feed them and things that take place in giving relief.” 

Instead of killing people, he changed people’s lives, and his too.

“It was that trip that gave me that huge shift in life,” he said. “I thought I knew what was wrong, what was right, but after this trip my heart got softer and I started thinking about what really mattered and what was right. I knew that I didn’t want to kill people anymore and I wanted to save as many lives as I could.” 

The military opened Daugherty’s eyes, but he had to pay a high price for it. 

Daugherty was not immune to the struggles that war can cause. He was seriously injured and couldn’t stay in the military. To date, he’s had 17 surgeries.

“I was not an athlete anymore. I was gaining weight. I was not longer strong. I was weak as a kitten,” he said. “I couldn’t do the simplest jobs. I was useless to the Air Force.” 

He was done with the military and now he was coming back home. He stayed in his house while his wife worked. This didn’t make sense to Daugherty in any way. He was trying to find his roll again in society.

“When I was in my darkest hour, I didn’t know what I was going to do, how I was going to take care of my family,” he said. 

He realized that the real battle was just starting.

“It was rough. I was in a lot of pain. I was on a lot of different medications. I didn’t know which way was up, which way was down,” Daugherty said.

He was taking antidepressants, antianxiety medication, sleeping pills, a pain killer and ADHD medication.

The emotional and physical frustration made for daily struggles in Daugherty’s life.

“I almost lost my marriage,” he said. “I didn’t feel anymore. I didn’t love anymore. I was numb. I am talking about apathy, you know nothing. I didn’t hate things, I didn’t love things, and everything just existed. Love was not there anymore it was just gone.” 

There was a point, where he couldn’t fall deeper and he realized that something needed to be done.

“So I knew two things, that I was going to have a daughter and that I needed to go back to school so I started looking at both,” Daugherty said.

He stopped taking his medication and decided to enroll in college, which is completely paid for by the military.

All these bad moments just made Daugherty appreciate everything more and realize that he had the chance for a new beginning.

“I love my wife ten times more than I did before. We have our baby, my son in school, everything was great,” he said.

Daugherty transformed as a person. War took away a huge part of his life, but gave him the chance to discover a new one.

“I don’t look at myself as an American,” he said. “I see myself as a human. You are as much my neighbor, a Russian is as much my neighbor, an Arab is as much my neighbor as anyone else to me.”

He set up his goals and is ready to accomplish them.

“My goal ultimately is to take care of my family and have the money for my kids to serve their mission in life,” he said.

DANIEL STACKHOUSE

Nobody comes back from war unchanged and Daniel Stackhouse knows that this statement is a reality.  

Stackhouse joined the Army in 2005, and he served two tours in Iraq.

He chose one of the most dangerous jobs. He was in charge of bomb clearance, looking for road side bombs.

“I drove out 100 yards in front of everyone with no gun, relaying to everybody behind me. I was intentionally looking to get blown,” Stackhouse said jokingly.

He knew that every step he took was a step closer to the end. 

Stackhouse was on a mission where he went through a stretch of about five miles long and every part of it was meant to blow up.

“Before we left, everyone walked up to me, shook my hand and said it didn’t matter what happened, that it was a pleasure serving with you,” he said. “You know, they didn’t expect me to make it back.” 

After surviving the war, Stackhouse came back to Ashland in October 2011. He came back home to a welcoming family, his wife and two step sons. He was glad to be home, but anxious for how everything would turn out.

Stackhouse had a hard time adapting to big crowds. His body tells him that he needs to be on guard, that everybody is a possible enemy. 

“You get used to large crowds making you nervous,” he said. 

Once, he was with his family at the Cheesecake Factory. After five minutes in the restaurant, he had to walk outside.

“I just smoked,” he said. “It was like, ‘you have to take me out of here now.’”

He was overwhelmed by his surroundings, by all these different skills that his new life demanded from him.

It was a surrounding where helmets or guns were not required to protect yourself, and that’s what scared him the most. This battle had to be fought with armor he didn’t have.

“My wife complains that there are a lot of things that I don’t talk about. Building those emotional connections,” he said. “My two step sons get frustrated with me sometimes because they said I am mean because when I say something I don’t expect being questioned.”

It is hard to try to look forward when your memories force you to look back.

But life keeps moving, and he has to do the same. He loves his family more than anything, so he has to keep moving, even when days get hard. Life doesn’t stop.

Stackhouse goes to counseling and he is currently taking medication in order to keep on with his life. He is a current student at AU, majoring in business administration and a minor in supply chain management. 

While war had a tremendous impact on him, not everything was negative. His perspective about life changed.

“Joining the military has had a lot of benefits,” he said. “You hear a lot of people talk about the vets, people come home injured, and they cannot make certain connections, but there are a lot of people that come home, they pick up leadership skills, they pick up more knowledge about themselves, they put themselves in positions that only better their life.”  

Stackhouse is motivated by his little girl. Harper Stackhouse will be born in the summer. 

“I want her to understand who I am. I don’t want her to think that I am a grumpy old man. I want to her to know that she is loved,” he said. “I want my wife, and I want my step kids to know that they are loved and I want to be able to take care of them.”