Stefanie Pelkey and Thomas Hart

Stefanie Pelkey is a former Army Captain. Her husband, Army Captain Michael Pelkey served in Iraq in 2003. He was diagnosed with PTSD a year after he returned.

Army Sergeant Thomas “TJ” Hart is also a veteran and struggles with PTSD. Stefanie and TJ became friends while volunteering at a Veteran’s Center in Houston, TX.

At StoryCorps, they talked about what happened when Stephanie’s husband came home from war.

The 2012 VA Suicide Data Report found that 22 veterans die every day by suicide. Visit the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America website for more info.

Originally aired January 31, 2015, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.