All four men joined the military for varying reasons.
Lowe, who served in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1997 to 2003, has spent two different tours in Iraq.
"I joined the Marine Corps Reserve on a dare," he laughingly said. "I had some friends who said I couldn't do it, and I took it as a dare."
After getting out of the reserves, a couple years past before Lowe and Case decided to join the Kentucky National Guard.
"Jeremy was thinking about joining," Case, a captain with the NFD, said. "And he asked, 'Why don't you go over there and talk with them with me?' I said, 'I'll go, but I'm not joining.'"
"He ended up signing up before I did," laughed Lowe.
Iraq proved to be different for each man.
"We were very busy over there," Wayne, an Army National Guard lieutenant, said. "We had some contact with the locals, but our missions included convoy escorts and route security."
Campbell spent much of his time overseas in Kuwait.
"Our unit got split up a little bit," Campbell said. "They (Case and Lowe) went to Iraq, and I went to the command staff in Kuwait.
"We all hooked up in Kuwait (before Case and Lowe went to Iraq). We sent a picture to the Journal, as a matter of fact," Campbell added.
Campbell's unit ran a base camp that supported units in Iraq.
"We were like the infrastructure for the 12,000 guys getting ready to deploy in the country," Campbell said.
While overseas, the men had their share of dangerous experiences including firefights and land mines.
"Here and there," Case quipped.
Lowe added, "We'd be in a convoy mission and we'd have 30 tractor trailers and three gun trucks and three armored humvees escorting these trucks to the different bases," Lowe added. "You'd hear them on the radio every night about the IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) going off at different check points."
Four soldiers from Wayne's unit were wounded during his time in Iraq.
The men found that their civilian occupations proved to be useful while overseas.
"We've talked about this several times," Case said. "Being on the fire department, we've been called out to wrecks several times, and it's a high stress situation."
Because of this, they weren't overwhelmed in Iraq.
"A lot of guys have never been overseas, much less been out of Kentucky," Lowe said. "It would tear these guys up, but with us, as medics, we went over (to a victim) to see what was wrong and what we could do for them."
"After you got over the initial shock of what happened, it was a regular trauma for us," Case added.
Reflecting on their service time, the men are proud of what they did for their country.
"I think veterans all over take personal responsibility for the security of our country and for the freedoms," Lowe said. "I think they appreciate everything more."
Having served during an armed conflict gives a veteran a unique perspective on freedom.
"Everybody here (in America) has the right to voice their opinion," Campbell said. "I just happened to have earned my right. I look at it that way. There's nobody more qualified to speak their mind than a veteran."
