LANSING, Mich. — We all know the meaning of Memorial Day, but for Brian Daniels, the last Monday of May each year hits closer to home.
“I think it’s really important for me to make sure their names and their legacies are never forgotten,” Daniels said.
Those names Daniels is talking about are the men he watched die right in front of his eyes while serving in the Army on Nov. 15, 2005.
"We were on a route in Iraq, and there was a bomb explosion killing everyone else in my truck,” he said.
Daniels was injured in the explosion and had to undergo 12 surgeries to learn how to walk again, and even though it has been 17 years since the tragedy, Daniels feels a sense of guilt that he says won’t go away.
“Anyone with survival guilt would tell you, you can’t really rationalize it, you feel guilty that you’re still here and they’re not,” he said.
And the mental health struggles Daniels deals with is fight he battles every day.
“PTSD is real, anyone who says it isn’t probably never dealt with anything traumatic. The things I saw that day, I still see in dreams on a regular basis,” Daniels said.
Mental health struggles among veterans are becoming more and more common. According to a study done by by the Department of Veteran Affairs, 41% of vets deal with mental health challenges.
"We’re losing between 20 to 22 a day to suicide,” said Susan Muinch.
Muinch is a Michigan-based, licensed professional counselor who has spent years working with veterans. She said the trauma that veterans see while serving is something that is hard to cope with, but there is a way to do it.
“If you find a competent therapist, you go to them, and you work through things,” Muinch said. “When things start to get tough, you don’t give up, and some trauma you’ll never get over, but you can put it in its place for when it starts to creep back up.”
And while agreeing with Muinch, Daniels is spending this Memorial Day remembering his fellow veterans and encouraging everyone to do the same.
“Go out, grill, ride your boat, but just take a moment to remember those who sacrificed their lives for us,” he said.
