Sgt. Roy Daugherty was deployed for the U.S. Army in 2003 for the Iraq War when his combat patrol came under direct enemy fire. During the engagement, Daugherty was shot by incoming enemy fire.

“We were able to eliminate the enemy threat,” Daugherty said, “enabling the squad to overcome the hostile area without any further injuries.”

For his service and being wounded in the service of his country, Daugherty was awarded the Purple Heart. 

He was born at the Fort Brooke U.S. Army Outpost in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His father was a gunnery sergeant there, and his mother a social worker for the Commonwealth. He grew up on the island and graduated high school there.

Members of Daugherty’s family have served in all branches of the U.S. Military since World War II, so the young man knew what we wanted to do with his life.

“I grew up around the military, law enforcement, and public servants, so my upbringing and my personal motivation were around that,” Daugherty said. “It was very clear to me from the beginning to do my best in public service.”

In 1985, he became a police officer for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Police Department’s Organized Crime Bureau. He served for 13 years in “state and federal law enforcement,” while also in the National Guard. 

“I was assigned to several narcotics, organized crime units, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, Caribbean field’s Division Enforcement Group 2 as a task force agent, which was my last assignment,” Daugherty said. 

 In 1998, he retired as a sergeant detective and transitioned to active duty in the Army.

“For me, it has always been pretty simple. I truly believe that we are on this earth to serve others, to represent and defend our nation. That’s the path, the approach I took,” Daugherty said.

He attended Military Police School in McClellan, Alabama, and was deployed for the First Gulf War, to Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of Task Force Eagle, and for the Iraq War. All in all, Daugherty served for nearly 12 years.

In Orlando, Daugherty quickly went back to school for the next phase of his career. From 2014-2016, he received his bachelor’s and master’s in Business Administration, as well as a graduate-level human resource certification from the University of Phoenix. From there, he began to do work for veterans like himself.

“I started working for the VA as a volunteer, Oct. 2016 through Dec. 2017, and have served 2,586 volunteer hours as a ‘WOC,’ a worker without compensation for the OVAMC Voluntary Service while my son was deployed to Iraq,” Daughtery said. 

His son currently serves in the Army in Richardson, Alaska. He was deployed to Iraq in 2017.  

Since the end of 2017, Daughtery has been assistant to program manager Teresa Turner at the VA’s Fisher House – a nonprofit that helps both veterans and those in active duty. In his free time, he likes to bowl, fish, and restore cars.

Daughtery’s story is indisputably impressive, but to him, it’s all about the people he’s been able to serve.

“I am blessed to be alive,”  Daughtery told me over text as we discussed his profile. “[I] lost many friends, but I want to pay it forward to as many of my fellow veterans [and] our people as I can. It’s not about fame or amount of medals; it’s about sacrifice, honor, and service [for the] U.S.A. flag.”