FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Earlier this month, Americans gathered beneath fireworks, raised flags and celebrated the Fourth of July.

This year, the holiday carried even greater meaning.

For 250 years, the United States has stood as a free nation—a freedom made possible generation after generation by the men and women willing to show up, step forward and fight for the country they love.

Some have fought on distant battlefields.

Others have answered emergencies in their own communities.

All have accepted that service may require sacrifice.

But while a deployment eventually ends and a uniform can be taken off, the fight does not always stay on the battlefield.

For many veterans and first responders, returning home does not mean the battle is over. The mission changes. The surroundings become familiar again. But the experiences carried home from service can continue to affect their health, relationships and sense of purpose long after the deployment ends.

Nicholas “Nick” Dunagan knows that journey personally.

He knows what it means to serve his country.

He knows what it means to return home struggling to understand the impact of that service.

And he knows how powerful it can be when someone is surrounded by the right community, connected to meaningful resources and given the tools to take control of their health.

That is why, under the arena lights in Fort Collins, Dunagan was recognized with the PBR Be Cowboy Award, presented by Horse Soldier Bourbon, for turning his own long road toward recovery into a mission dedicated to helping others.

Dunagan is the founder and CEO of Health4Heroes, a Northern Colorado organization that empowers veterans, first responders and their families to take command of their health, reduce the impact of service and increase longevity through community, connection and education.

But before Health4Heroes became a resource for others, its mission was taking shape through Dunagan’s own life.

Born in San Diego in 1988, Dunagan spent much of his childhood playing sports, riding bikes and motorcycles, going to the beach and getting into the kinds of adventures that often define growing up in Southern California.

At 15, however, his life changed suddenly when his mother, Janet, passed away unexpectedly.

Dunagan eventually dropped out of high school and began working in construction. In 2009, searching for direction and a better future, he enlisted in the United States Army.

Through the Army Preparatory School, he earned his GED before attending basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He graduated on Sept. 11, 2009—exactly eight years after watching the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, unfold as a child.

Private Dunagan was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division—the Big Red One—and later spent 12 months in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

After returning from deployment, Dunagan attended Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia, before being assigned to the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There, he reached a significant career milestone by becoming a noncommissioned officer.

His military career reflected discipline, achievement and a willingness to serve.

But approximately one year after returning from Afghanistan, Dunagan began experiencing mental health and relationship complications connected to combat exposure, post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.

Eventually, he sought mental health treatment on base.

Following a brief interaction with a unit psychiatrist, Dunagan was prescribed four powerful psychiatric medications. He chose not to fill the prescriptions, a decision he now considers one of the defining moments of his life.

Still, rejecting the medication did not immediately provide him with another path forward.

Dunagan had taken a stand for his health, but he had not yet discovered the positive habits, resources or support system he needed to manage what he was experiencing. His transition out of the Army became difficult and uncertain.

When he left the military in 2014 and moved across the country to Colorado Springs, he did not yet realize that he was beginning what would become a long road toward recovery.

For several years, Dunagan struggled with unhealthy behaviors and the mismanagement of his symptoms.

Then, slowly, the direction of his life began to change.

He found healing through healthy engagement with veterans organizations. He adopted a consistent exercise routine. He improved his diet. He began volunteering and discovered renewed purpose by helping fellow service members improve their health.

Dunagan later attended Colorado State University’s Health and Exercise Science program, working toward a degree in health promotion.

Through that process, he began identifying the principles that had made the greatest difference in his own recovery.

Community. Connection. Education.

Community meant being surrounded by people with shared experiences who understood the challenges of service and reintegration.

Connection meant gaining affordable access to beneficial health and wellness resources that might otherwise feel out of reach.

Education meant learning how to make informed decisions and build sustainable habits that could improve every aspect of a person’s life.

Those principles eventually became the foundation of Health4Heroes.

Today, the organization provides free and discounted health and wellness programs designed to improve the quality of life of military members, veterans, first responders and their families.

Health4Heroes hosts regular group activities and events that create a supportive community around those it serves. It connects members with free or reduced-cost products, programs and services intended to improve their overall wellness. When necessary, the organization provides financial assistance to encourage healthy habits and remove barriers to care.

It also offers educational workshops and retreats that equip participants with practical knowledge and tools to make informed behavioral and lifestyle changes.

Its five-day integrative retreat model gives veterans and first responders an opportunity to learn, process and heal from trauma, post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries and moral conflict.

The goal is not to dictate what recovery should look like.

It is to give each person the community, access and information needed to take command of their own health.

Dunagan understands that meaningful recovery rarely happens through one solution alone. It can be found in a workout, a hike or a conversation with someone who has faced a similar struggle. It can begin with better nutrition, a supportive organization or simply having somewhere to show up and feel understood.

It can begin when a person realizes they do not have to navigate the journey alone.

Through Health4Heroes, Dunagan has helped build the kind of support system he needed when he first left the Army.

His mission is deeply personal, but its reach extends far beyond his own story.

It supports the veteran searching for a renewed sense of purpose.

The first responder carrying the cumulative weight of years spent answering emergencies.

The family trying to understand and support a loved one whose service changed them.

And the individual who may not yet know where to begin but is ready to take the first step.

Dunagan’s Be Cowboy Award was presented by Vince Makela, a retired U.S. Army sergeant major, Green Beret, original Horse Soldier and co-founder of Horse Soldier Bourbon.

Makela was a member of Operational Detachment Alpha 595, the first U.S. Special Forces unit to enter Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Operating alongside Northern Alliance forces, the 12-man unit traveled through the rugged terrain of northern Afghanistan on horseback, coordinating military operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Their mission and remarkable achievements later inspired the book “Horse Soldiers” and the film “12 Strong.”

Years later, Makela and several fellow Green Berets carried the resilience, precision and leadership developed during their military service into another mission by founding Horse Soldier Bourbon.

The company’s identity is rooted in the legacy of the Horse Soldiers, with each bottle honoring the men who rode into Afghanistan in the earliest days of the war and the service members who never returned home.

That connection made Makela a fitting person to recognize Dunagan.

Both have transformed the values developed in uniform into missions that continue to support and honor the veteran community.

When Dunagan stepped forward to accept the award, the moment represented more than recognition for founding an organization.

It honored the decision to confront his own struggles honestly.

It honored the difficult work required to rebuild his health and sense of purpose.

And it honored his willingness to turn the lessons from that journey into a resource for others.

Being a cowboy is not always about charging forward without fear.

Sometimes, it means asking for help, changing direction and doing the work necessary to regain control.

And sometimes, it means returning to the difficult places you once traveled so others do not have to walk through them alone.

Nick Dunagan could not change the challenges he carried home from Afghanistan.

But he could decide what he would build from them.

He built community.

Most importantly, he built a place where veterans, first responders and their families can find the support and resources to take command of their health.

As America celebrates 250 years of freedom, Dunagan’s story is also a reminder of what that freedom has required—and what the country owes those who have fought to preserve it.

Their service may take place on a battlefield.

Their fight may continue at home.

But with the right community standing beside them, they do not have to face it alone.

From all of us at PBR and Horse Soldier Bourbon, thank you, Nick Dunagan, for reminding us what it truly means to Be Cowboy.

Photo courtesy of Nicholas Dunagan