Dean Sauls, Wayne County Public Schools assistant superintendent for support services and athletics, is retiring June 30, after a 41 and one-half-year career in education. Sauls began his teaching career at Central Academic School in Raleigh in 1976. The
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on June 17, 2018 3:05 AM
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Tony Hughes on graduation day in May from Wayne Community College, earning his associate degree in human services.
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Tony Hughes and his wife, Johanna Vega-Hughes, after a recent ceremony where he was named to Who's Who Among Students at Wayne Community College.
Tony Hughes has always had a warrior spirit, and not just because that was the mascot when he attended Eastern Wayne High School.
As a Native American, it was also in his genes, he says.
"As the first-born in my family, you carry a tradition -- you take care of family," he said.
His plan was to enlist in the military, but when his father became ill, his journey took a slight detour. He worked and attended night classes at Wayne Community College. He still graduated with his class in 1987, except his diploma came from the Adult High School at WCC.
In 1991, he made good on his plans to serve his country, becoming a decorated Army veteran during a stint that included special operations in Somalia and Haiti.
It was an intense time, but an honorable one as he learned another meaning of family.
"I enjoyed the team, the camaraderie," he said. "To me, it's like when you're with a group of men -- at the time it was only men -- you eat and sleep and do everything together. You know about their wives and family, what they like and what they dislike.
"The biggest thing I learned from my first experience being in the military, especially in combat, was how people from all over the world can come together for the same cause and the same purpose and fulfill the mission -- at any cost."
The connections also led him to the woman who would become his wife.
He met her through one of his roommates, after having seen her picture in a high school yearbook. And initially, their only communication was through letters. The caveat, though, turned out to be a language barrier, as she was from Puerto Rico.
"I didn't know how to speak Spanish and she didn't know how to speak English," he said. "Over 11 months, I wrote letters in English and her mom was reading them to her. My roommate would read her letters to me.
"So, I don't know what was true and what wasn't true," he said, smiling at the recollection. "I wrote letters on the cardboard boxes for the MRE (meals ready to eat)."
The correspondences sustained him through the toughest times of battle, he said, and led to a big decision.
"For a year and four months we wrote letters, kind of like a pen pal, and the very day that I went to see her in Puerto Rico, March 27, 1992, the very day that I landed, her mom and dad picked me up. That night I proposed, and we had never dated," he said, smiling.
The trend continued, with him whisked away again by his military commitments.
"I landed and I proposed. I was gone for nine months, and she didn't know where I was. I went back and we got married, on Dec. 8, 1994," he said, summing up their relationship in 30 words or less.
The separations continued after they wed, with him departing a couple days later and being in Haiti for 129 days.
This time, when he returned, he decided it was time to come to the U.S. with this bride, Johanna Vega-Hughes. In December, they will celebrate their 25th anniversary.
They never had children, he said, but she has always been his biggest supporter, during the toughest times as well as the occasions when he was recognized with such honors as the combat infantry medal, three Army achievement medals for leading men into combat and the Ranger Tab.
"She always tells me, 'People may not know what you have done and what you have done for this country but you have always been my hero,'" he said.
The transition to civilian life was tough, coupled by post traumatic stress disorder. He decided to attend college, taking classes at Wayne Community College.
Education proved beneficial, such as when he had to do a case study and chose to use himself as the subject.
"It helped me cope with things. It helped me open up doors, about a part of my life I didn't want to talk about," he said, crediting instructor Susan Lambert with encouraging him along the way.
"I talked about the crisis that veterans have -- the biggest problem is not us going but coming home," Hughes said. "In the returning home process, there needs to be 'how to return' classes and how to be with your family."
Another course also proved life-changing, and not just because the topic was health and wellness.
Hughes said he entered Mary Garrett's class determined to improve his own health.
"I was the oldest one in the class," he said. "I thought, there's no way I'm going to go to this health class and hear her talking about this food plate and not lose some weight.
"My goal was 50 pounds. By the end of her class, I had lost 30 of it by her being persistent about sugars and carbs."
Ironically, the weight loss actually triggered cancer. Somehow, by eating more healthfully, his body started shutting down.
At age 48, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.
"(The cancer) had hid for so long, until I stopped feeding it," he said. "The class saved my life because I had determined I was not going to finish this class without losing some weight."
Now cancer-free, he went on to be named to Who's Who Among Students at WCC and graduated from the Human Services program with an associate degree in May. He is also grateful for several internship opportunities he had, including the Soup Kitchen, where he continues to volunteer.
While there, he said he has met "so many veterans," some homeless, some lacking direction or unaware of benefits they might be entitled to receive.
"So many veterans, right after they get out, they end up in prison," Hughes said. "There needs to be something set up for this transition out of the military.
"I have run across so many that just because they got out of the military, they didn't tell anybody they were struggling with anger, with PTSD. They ended up on the streets and back in prison."
He plans to attend Wesleyan College in the fall and recently turned down a job offer with the Veterans Administration in Durham recently, even though it was lucrative and appealing.
"I feel like my place is right here in Wayne County because I can see the need," he said. "I say that to my wife a lot -- it's not always about the money. It has to be about the people.
"You have to be willing to pay the price to see people changed, even if it's you."
Hughes says he is among the fortunate, thankful to have the freedom to follow his passions and dreams.
Others may not be in that position, and he has a message for them.
"Someone on the streets or out of prison or who just felt like they have been forgotten, I have been where you're at, but there's good news -- the help is there. Resources are there," he said. "I'm not an expert. I'm still like a junior expert, connecting those resources."
His ideal job, he says, would be to "just talk" to people who might benefit from the encouragement and hope he has to offer.
"I'd like to have small group meetings with veterans," he said. "Just to talk -- they ain't got to pay me just to talk, talk about the past and enjoy the future that we're going into."
And it doesn't have to be limited to veterans, he said. It may be as simple as giving someone else a little help to get over hurdles.
"Once I was diagnosed with cancer, it wakened me up to a lot of hidden stories that I have had and to share, like, a cup of hope or a bowl of hope," he said. "It's not the end. This is not the final word."
From a college class that saved his life, to the love of a good woman by his side through sickness and in health, Hughes looks forward to turning every adversity into a way to help others.
He said even though he had a great military career, turns out that was "just the beginning" of his destiny.
"I'm not looking to leave a legacy or anything like that," he said. "If I can just leave people changed, give them hope, that's worth it all."
"I think it was Mark Twain who said, the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out what it is you were supposed to do. I have discovered what I'm supposed to be doing, and I'm enjoying life."