Yellow ribbons on car bumpers rally commuters to “Support Our Troops.” Deployed soldiers receive care packages of toothbrushes, socks and magazines. Wisconsin National Guard units overseas watch Green Bay Packers’ games on streaming video, and Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook travel to Baghdad to enliven soldiers with curves and crude humor.

But Simpson isn’t waiting when the soldiers return home.

“They have a big parade when they come back, but then they just fall off the grid,” says Elijah Jacobson, a 29-year-old Marine veteran and a Wisconsin State Advocate for the Iraq War Veterans Organization. “That’s one of the biggest things facing them today.”

Applauded for their patriotism as they serve, veterans face an uphill battle when they return home. Unemployment, mental health issues and the change in daily life can overwhelm these men and women, and many do not get the help they need.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 27,000 Wisconsinites have served in Iraq or Afghanistan as of June 2009. Furthermore, 88 Wisconsin soldiers have died in Iraq. Thousands come home to the open arms of family and friends, unprepared for the changes ahead.

Just as war experiences differ across branches, units and individual soldiers, so too do the challenges of coming home. For some, it’s the lack of structure back home, while for others it’s the struggle to abandon bad habits.

A big change in lifestyle

In late September 2009, Nate Toth met fellow veterans and members of Iraq Veterans Against the War at UW-Madison’s Art Lofts Building, the graduate art studios on campus. Toth and the other veterans, many of whom had never met before, took part in the Combat Paper Project.

Based out of Green Door Studio in Burlington, Vt., the project’s goal is to “utilize art as a means to help veterans reconcile their personal experiences” and find a non-traditional means to express the significance of their service.

Toth tore the buttons and badges from his Navy uniform and cut the fabric into one-inch squares. These scraps were then pulverized to a linty pulp and pressed to make thick, starchy paper. As he wrung out the wet paper on a hydraulic press, Toth discussed his time abroad and the transition back to civilian life.

“I had lots of recurring dreams of the bombing footage when I got home,” Toth says. “But I think it’s good to talk about.”

Toth served two combat tours in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Although the 29-year-old Minocqua native was glad to come home in 2003, he didn’t anticipate the tough adjustment.

“I was really depressed. It was a big change in lifestyle,” Toth says. “Life in the Navy is very consistent. You’re told when to eat, when to sleep, when to shower. And when you come back you’ve got all the concerns of being a normal adult.”

Toth is a sturdy man, with a lumberjack beard and dark eyes to match. Appearing shy at first, Toth is open about every aspect of his life, from post-war weight gain to money trouble.