Opportunities such as counseling and college are offered to military members to better improve life after service.
War has been a part of the United States since its inception.
Veterans range from young to old, from the Army to the Marines and with differing levels of skill.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates there were 22 million military veterans in the United States as of 2014.
Many veterans today have jobs and are students within universities around the U.S., including Ohio University.
“I served in the United States Army for 23 years,” Terry St. Peter, the coordinator for Veterans Services and an academic advisor at OU, said. “I was in military intelligence. My last assignment was here at OU with the Army ROTC for the last four years. I loved the Athens community and the college experience. … I was fortunate to be selected to be the coordinator.”
Tyler Daniels, a military veteran, said transitioning from military to civilian life is hard for most veterans at first.
“It was difficult going outside or out in public at all,” Daniels, also a senior studying political science and war and peace studies, said. “Just being around people and socializing was hard. Ohio University really helped me to transition back into civilian life.”
Mike Straw, a computer programmer and retired Air Force officer, said the U.S. has multiple programs to help vets go to college, transition back into civilian life and get the medical help they need.
“For all the flak it takes and all the bureaucratic problems the VA has, they do a really good job of reaching out to help veterans that are struggling,” Straw said. “They do everything they can do to help you transition.”
Tuition is also compensated for most active-duty and retired vets as a part of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Daniel said he is very happy with the benefit because it allows him to cover basic bills and tuition. The amount of money vets receive depends on how long and where they served, he added.
“It has made college very accessible to me,” Daniels said. “If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have gone to college otherwise.”
Straw and Daniels both said even though most veterans are back in civilian life and have jobs and a family, they still think about their time in service every day.
“Overall I look back on it, and there’s a lot of happy memories,” Straw said. “It’s primarily the people I worked with. They were some of the best people I’ve ever worked with. The group I served with in Afghanistan I still keep in contact with. There’s some things I think about that are not so pleasant, like the stress from the threat of being attacked. But other than that I consider myself fortunate.”
Daniels said he also thinks about his time in Iraq. As a part of human intelligence, one of his duties was to terminate employment for locals that were working on the base with them during the withdrawal from Iraq.
“What sticks with me was their reaction to us leaving,” he said. “I grew up seeing what the news told me about what these people from other countries thought about us. Being on the ground, it’s different. I had grown men hugging me and crying because they were going to lose the protection that was keeping them alive.”
But, one thing that seems to be true of veterans is the love of the camaraderie and their time in service in general.
“I miss it. Everything was very simple,” Daniels said. “You only had to do what you were told and when to do it. Now I feel like I have a million decisions to make every day. I miss the simplicity and the friends I’ve lost since I’ve come out. But I don’t miss waking up at 5 a.m. to go running every day.”
Along with programs from the VA, OU helps vets transition and find classes and jobs in the university.
“It was an easy decision to stay here,” St. Peter said. “The university, President McDavis and the administration has been very supportive. It’s greatly appreciated.”
As for the Athens community, St. Peter said he has stayed here longer than anywhere he’s ever called home before, and he’s making the community his permanent home.
“As a recent retiree, I’m not that far removed from (the military),” St. Peter said. “I miss being involved in the Army ROTC here and passing on my experiences and helping shape the younger generation.”
