Holding a flag, wearing his uniform and some trusted boots, retired Army Staff Sergeant Daniel Santiago walked from Port Jervis to Saugerties last Thursday, Veterans Day, to highlight the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its effects on our veterans.

Walking 72 miles, Ellenville native Santiago, who graduated in 2000, spoke movingly of the fact that, on average, about 22 veterans kill themselves every day.

“They come back with scars that you don’t see,” he said.

Santiago served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He noted that he struggles with the mental toll of PTSD every day. “Some days I don’t want to get out of bed. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

Most veterans know exactly what he’s talking about. Many studies have shown that veterans who experienced combat, and the anxiety of just moving around in the dangerous terrain of Iraq or Afghanistan, when an IED explosion could go off at any moment, are left with long running issues. These can include panic attacks at sudden noises that can remind them of explosions. Anger and extreme emotions can be triggered as well, even at simple things like a report on the evening news.

This can get extreme for some, with heart palpitations and black moods of deep depression. Interrupted on his march along Route 209 in Accord, he spoke of what he hopes will come. “We have to find a new normal. What was normal before is not normal anymore to any one of us who served there.”

We salute Sergeant Santiago and pray for him and all the veterans of those missions as they struggle to cope with the issues of PTSD.