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.

Kirk Sharp and Ryan Sharp

Sgt. Ryan Sharp (right) served two tours in Iraq with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

In 2008, when he returned to the States from his last tour, things weren’t the same. He had trouble thinking straight, he felt off and was deeply depressed.

Ryan and his father, Kirk Sharp (left), sat down for a StoryCorps conversation in Lincoln, Nebraska to talk about what happened when Ryan came home.

Originally aired November 8, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Hector Matascastillo and Trista Matascastillo

In 1998, Trista Matascastillo was in the Navy, when she was sexually assaulted by someone she had served with.

Trista told no one about the attack. She had a son as a result and raised him by herself.

Five years later, she met her husband, Army 1st Sergeant Hector Matascastillo. They recently talked about what Trista lived through.

Originally aired November 1, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Photo courtesy of Trista Matascastillo.

Kevin Powell and Shirley Parrello

Lance Corporal Brian Parrello (left) was the only member of his Marine platoon who didn’t make it home from Iraq.

They were patrolling near the Haditha Dam when Brian was killed by an IED. He was 19 years old.

Since then, Brian’s platoon has become close with his family. One of those Marines, Sergeant Kevin Powell (top left), sat down for a StoryCorps conversation with Brian’s mother, Shirley (top right).

Originally aired October 25, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Photos courtesy of Shirley Parrello.

Paul Braun and “Philip”

In 2009, Army Sergeant Paul Braun (right) was serving near Basra, Iraq with the 34th Military Police Company of the Minnesota National Guard. They were assigned an interpreter the American soldiers named “Philip” (left).

During the next nine months, Paul and Philip grew close—so close that upon returning to the U.S., Paul sponsored Philip’s visa. They now live together in Minnesota.

Philip’s wife and children were forced to stay behind in Iraq, and in October 2014, Philip returned to his home country to try to reach his family and bring them back to the U.S.

Before leaving, Philip and Paul sat down for a conversation at StoryCorps.

Originally aired October 18, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Kevin Lucey and Joyce Lucey

Marine Corporal Jeff Lucey was 23 when he was deployed to Iraq at the start of the war. Together with his unit, he drove truck convoys for three months at the beginning of the invasion.

He returned home safely. At first he appeared to be well, but like many veterans Jeff struggled with the invisible wounds of war.

Jeff’s parents, Kevin (left) and Joyce (right), came to StoryCorps in Wellesley, Massachusetts to remember the day their son got deployed.

Originally aired September 13, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday. 

Alton Yates and Toni Yates

As a teenager, Alton Yates (pictured above) did a job that helped send people into space.

In the mid-1950s, before NASA existed, Yates was part of a small group of Air Force volunteers who tested the effects of high speeds on the body. They were strapped to rocket-propelled sleds that hurtled down a track at more 600 miles per hour and stopped in a matter of seconds. These experiments helped prove that space travel was safe for humans.

At StoryCorps, Yates told his daughter, Toni (pictured together at left), that—for him—the story starts in high school, shortly after his mother died.

Originally aired August 29, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

After leaving the Air Force in 1959, Alton Yates became involved with the Civil Rights Movement in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. On August 27, 1960, he attended a sit-in that turned violent. It became known as Ax Handle Day.

Jon Meadows and Melissa Meadows

Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Jon Meadows has served two tours of duty, first to Iraq in 2006, then to Afghanistan in 2012.

Over the course of his service, he suffered multiple head injuries—which he didn’t report because he wanted to keep on serving.

Then, in an examination during his last tour, doctors found polyps in Jon’s throat. He was sent to a hospital in the States—and that’s when the brain damage was discovered.

Jon and his wife, Melissa (pictured in the player above), came to the White House for a day StoryCorps spent recording with Joining Forces, the national effort to support service members and their families, which is spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden.

In Washington, Jon told his wife about his life now, and remembered a friend and fallen soldier who served with him in Iraq.

Originally aired May 24, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Above: Photo of First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden courtesy of Lawrence Jackson for the White House.Staff Sergeant Jon Meadows, who suffered traumatic injuries during his last tour of duty in Afghanistan, remembers a fallen friend.

Barb Maglaqui and MaCherie Dunbar

Tech Sgt. MaCherie Dunbar was deployed twice to Iraq in 2007-2008. At StoryCorps, MaCherie told her then-girlfriend, Barb Maglaqui, about one of the hardest things she had to do while overseas.

Where are they now?

MaCherie retired from the Air Force in 2014 and went on to earn her BA in Communications from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Public about her own struggle with combat-related Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder (PTSD), MaCherie has become a fierce advocate for veterans, especially around issues of healthcare.

Photo: Barb Maglaqui (left) and retired Tech Sgt. MaCherie Dunbar at their StoryCorps interview in Fairbanks, AK. Photo by Daniel Sitts for StoryCorps.

Originally aired May 23, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

Drew Pham and Molly Pearl

Army Captain Drew Pham was 24 years old when he completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan in October 2011.

Since returning, Drew has had a hard time making sense of what he saw at war and adjusting to life at home.

At StoryCorps, Drew (left) spoke with his wife, Molly Pearl (right), about that transition and some of his most difficult combat memories.

Drew was honorably discharged from the Army in 2013.

Originally aired March 29, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.