Soldier in famous photo never defeated 'demons'

[lligrd]

Source: Associated Press

PINEHURST, N.C. - Officers had been to the white ranch house at 560 W. Longleaf many times before over the past year to respond to a "barricade situation." Each had ended uneventfully, with Joseph Dwyer coming out or telling police in a calm voice through the window that he was OK.

But this time was different.

The Iraq War veteran had called a taxi service to take him to the emergency room. But when the driver arrived, Dwyer shouted that he was too weak to get up and open the door.

The officers asked Dwyer for permission to kick it in.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/military_the_enemy_within

[PassingFair]

1. R.I.P.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3136/2634997651_e8396db1...

Horrible.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Thanks for posting the pic. It was not in the article, and should have been.

[Radio_Lady]

21. The article is devastating. I've never seen that picture. RIP to him and what about that child?

[my2sense]

2. Preperations Troop Returns

I wonder if preparations are being made to help treat and assist our troops when it's time to bring them home or will we see more and more stories like this? Will the government be as willing to invest money in helping these troops if/when this war is over as they've been willing to invest in the war itself. Unfortunately, I think we all know the answer.

[fla nocount]

5. No, look at Nam

My dad did 3 tours over there and for the first several months after he would return we would wake him up with the end of a broom stick. My dad had a big and loving support system but it took quite awhile before you felt safe shaking him awake.

[Doremus]

7. Same with my brother in law. It was years before his nightmares stopped. n/t

[paparush]

12. My father never shook Vietnam

He went in at 22. Did two tours as a door gunner on a supply chopper. He came out a wreck. Alcohol and drug abuse took him at 53.

[fla nocount]

18. It's the corn fed boys we send that suffer the worst.

Pop was in his thirty's during his tours and the third was a voluntary deployment (maintenance officer at an R&R facility) he loved it over there if wasn't being shot at, he was a Sea Bee. It was his first two tours in construction battalions that messed with his head. He was fortunate in being older than most and he benefited from the mind control games that Native American children are taught to play to color their perceptions of the world around them. Still, it didn't take much to make him cry and 10 ft. was a minimum safe distance if he were startled awake. He retired at 55, dead at 60 from oat cell melanoma, Agent Orange got him.

He lost friends over there, I lost friends over there, I had friends who lost their Dads over there and many of those who did come back weren't friends anymore, weren't Dads anymore. I was lucky.

[duhneece]

45. I pray for you to be comforted

My late husband lost both legs at Chu Lai, never could quit pain pills and alcohol and all, committed suicide in 1998. Our son began a nosedive into destruction and is now in prison for non-violent, no stealing, pure drug related charges. I hurt for our nation, so much unnecessary hurt.

[FirstLight]

26. Yes...'Nam was a taste of what we will see here soon.

My cousin lost it when he returned. almost killed his wife and baby. I was only 7, but I remember hearing my famil talking about it. She woke up to him choking her, because he thought she was a gook that had infiltrated his camp - he thought that the baby in swaddling was a bomb she was going to use to blow him up, etc...

He sank into alcoholism, she divorced him and cut all ties with our family.
I guess he dried out eventually, because he is remarried, doing realy well and living in Florida now. But it took him at least a decade in the gutter to return to the land of the living.
...and he has never seen his daughter. wow, she'd be about 30 now...

I think the guys returning from Iraq will be worse off, because the battles didn;t hapen in the jungle, but in city ctreets and urban areas....which would mean that EVERYWHERE they go, would be a trigger. PTSD is an insidious and destructive illness, I weep for all these families. What's scary is that we also don't know how these poor soldiers have been psychologicaly "experimented" on. They could easily be programmed like Pavlov's dogs to go out and go after regular civilians with something as simple as a word or sound they hear on the TV. (We could have some scary times ahead as we bring these vets home, tots of potential for murders, serial torturers, vets abducting people who are brown because they look Iraqui, etc. who knows? And how many more mercenaries are just as fucked up by this war? hey, we have how many who have witnessed and performed atrocities in the name of the US in the past 5 years? that's scary that these guys will be walking our streets, shoping in our grocery stores, etc)


...and yes, I agree that this WAS a battle related death because he never really came home and off the battlefield.

[JeanGrey]

36. I remember my good friend's husband (six years in 'Nam)

totally freaked out on 9/11. He was glued to the TV and had guns in every corner - and hardly slept or ate for three days.

[AwakeAtLast]

39. You are describing my Iraq War Vet to a tee

The article described how the guy would sit with his back to the wall at restaruants - same with Mr. WMU. 4th of July is not a celebration day, and the earthquake that hit us in April made him hit the floor!

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

edit to add - Sometimes you gotta love 'em back to health, but sometimes it's never enough.

[sce56]

16. When I was on my last tour of Germany in Bad Hersfeld

The locals really hated the 11th Cav. When they were redeployed from VietNam they went directly from fighting in the jungles to a new foreign land Germany and they were quite lawless lots of rapes murders and crap like that. The older Germans never forgave us for doing that to their town.

[Barack_America]

22. We'll see more and more.

I'm not even sure that the VA knows what it's preparing for.

With the soldiers coming home from Iraq with older soldiers losing their employer-based health insurance returning to the VA system, I'm afraid we have a crisis on our hands.

[stillcool]

41. I think the VA knows exactly..

what is coming. They've had more than 50 years of experience in not treating the mental injuries that war zones inflict. Whether it be 'shell shock', 'battle fatigue', the Vietnam Syndrome, the Gulf War Syndrome, or PTSD.

[Barack_America]

43. That's kind of my point...

So little research has been done into diagnosing, predicting and treating PTSD that the VA really has no grip on the situation.

It starts with soldiers feeling free to admit that they're even suffering. That's the only way we'll even be able to start to understand the true scope of the situation.

[stillcool]

44. check this out...

http://www.wfa-usa.org/new/shellshock.htm
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/library/randrep/marlowe_pap...

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Sadly, I am afraid this story, or something close to it, is happening more than we can imagine.

[Botany]

6. My dad who is 79 and a retired professor form a major university .....

.... was in combat in Korea ..... Naval gunfire against communist shore batteries ....
according to my mom still wakes in the middle of the night and thinks he has to
go to " the combat control room" on his ship.

bush and his needless war has made tens of thousands of "head cases" that
will strain our V.A. system.

[proReality]

9. My dad is an 87-year old WWII Navy vet...

He still has nightmares about serving on the bridge as "Captain's Talker" during raids by enemy planes, and he jumps a mile at the slightest half-loud sound. It gets worse with each passing year when there is no treatment available.

[Voice for Peace]

10. Warrior Transition Project

http://www.brainstatetech.com/projects.htm

[Botany]

17. I had an Iraqi vet break down and cry on my shoulder

in 2007 ... big guy .... marine combat medic ..... he had saved lives but now was a mess.
He was 25 to 30 going on 80. He came to anti war rally and we started talking and the stories
he told were chilling.

bush & Cheney should be in jail for what they have done.

[CoffeeCat]

30. That makes me so sad...

I have PTSD from childhood stuff. What you are describing are classic PTSD symptoms (nightmares, startles easily). When you endure
trauma, you adapt by becoming hyper-vigilant. You are constantly full of adrenaline. Until your body processes the trauma and lets
go of the pain, your mind and body will continue to behave as though the trauma is still happening.

It's as though the body waits for healing--before it drops the coping mechanisms.

Those coping mechanisms (hyper-vigilance, paranoia, constant panic, always on edge due to continual state of fear) are brilliant
and beautiful during a traumatic situation. They keep a person alive and they are adaptations made by clever, resilient and
brave people.

However, the mind needs to shut this stuff off--or else the person suffers greatly in normal circumstances. You just can't
be at peace or function if you're still in that traumatic state. It's so painful and just so complex and awful.

We need to be giving our soldiers so many resources. There should be support groups on every corner, meeting every day--with the
best PTSD experts. There should be spa-like oasises available to our solider, where they can go to relax, feel safe and let out
all of the rage, sorrow, loss, pain and suffering that they endured---so they can decompress and let those PTSD symptoms go.

They all deserve that AND more. I ache for all of our soldiers, from all of the wars who experience this.

It is so unfair and it is a crime of epic proportions that any soldier suffer like this.

Bless them all.

[bronxiteforever]

8. "When will they ever learn?when will they ever learn?"

[Voice for Peace]

11. Warrior Transition Project

http://www.brainstatetech.com/projects.htm

Returning troops get help for PTSD


Scottsdale, Arizona, October 2, 2007 Brain State Technologies™, along with its participating affiliate offices worldwide announced today free help for returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VA has seen a tenfold increase in PTSD cases in the last year. According to the VA, more than 37,000 Vets of Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from Mental Health disorders, and more than 16,000 have already been diagnosed with PTSD.

“After training with Brain State Technologies™ (BST) I’m sleeping better than ever and my irritability/anger has decreased significantly,” says SGT. Dan F., U.S. Army 10th Mtn. Div. “The best thing about this technology is that I never had to mention a thing about my combat experiences as BST is not a ‘talk’ solution.” BST™ provides individual clients a structured, personalized approach to help create positive life change and overcome symptoms of PTSD, such as depression, flashbacks, difficulty sleeping, and chemical/alcohol dependency.

Over 4,000 people have found Brain State Conditioning™ helpful in eliminating or drastically reducing their physical and emotional difficulties. Clients have also reported positive results with sports performance, ADD, pain mitigation, sleep disorders, stress relief, and more.

Participation is completely confidential and participants will receive a free assessment and up to sixteen free training sessions through August 31, 2008. To be eligible participants must have returned from either Afghanistan or Iraq within the past 24 months and have served in a combat or in a rear echelon support unit.

[paparush]

13. If Gulf War I gave us Tim MCVeigh and the DC Sniper..

How will the current crop of ruined lives respond to living in post(?) Bush** America, where opportunities are dwindling; where its clear to anyone with eyes and ears that they were sent to fight a war for profit.

[MadMaddie]

23. Damn good point!

The leaders of the VA should be investigated along with the * cabal. Absolutely no reason after 7 years that these men and women are receiving less than Third World mental care.

[ramapo]

14. Thank you George W Bush

Here's just one more horrible story that that sorry excuse for a man is responsible for.

[Omaha Steve]

15. I found this to go with the photo K&R

This photo was taken on March 25, 2003.

Snapped by AP and published in newspapers and magazines world-wide a week following the invasion, Army medic Pfc. Joseph Dwyer carries an injured Iraqi boy to safety.

Caught in the crossfire in a fierce battle near the village of Al Faysaliyah, the lines of hero and victim appear to be well-defined, not blurred.


October 7, 2005.
Dwyer arrested after a 3 hour standoff with police in which he discharged 'volley after volley' of gunfire in his apartment.



Dwyer (who'd joined the military 2 days after the September 11th terrorist attacks) returned home to accolades -- and to dealing with his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He had an apparently strong safety net of family, friends, and neighbors. He was well-liked and welcomed home as a hero. Yet, he slid into the horror of PTSD washing over 70,000 of our nation's returning veterans.

Pfc. Joseph Dwyer's family wishes to draw attention to the plight of returning vets dealing with PTSD as a result of the war in Iraq. His story, gravely, is one of far too many.

[fla nocount]

19. Look at the earnest, candid and innocent expression on that boy's face

and yes, Pfc. Dwyer was a boy, a corn-fed, bespectacled, innocent young boy. I've seen this photo many times but never looked at the young mans face, it's got me crying. This is no goth punk, no high school Lothario, this is someone's kid who knew right from wrong, if not shit from Shinola. Nothing in his short life could have prepared him for what he saw, what he was exposed to and how to deal with it, nothing.

Parents, just tell them no, they're not going. This country's policies are not worth dying for, not a quick death nor a slow one.

[Javaman]

20. as a nation our soul is dying. One uncared for vet at a time. nt

[Kaleko]

24. It's always the same story. When will the people finally wake up???

-"Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy."

- Henry Kissinger

[Catch22Dem]

25. What a sad story

And it's happening all over right now.

[Duke Newcombe]

27. Once more, with feeling...

I hang this around the Bush Administration's damned necks. Every single one of our boys and girls needlessly sacrificed.

Duke

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

28. Well, as long as the Cheney Oil Task Force is racking in the profits

why should this administration care? moneymoneymoneymoney ect...Off to the off shore Bank!

side note: Addington.
one of these days, they will sink et God willing, drown.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. Stories like that are the reason I think we should reduce our military forces

to a size no larger than that needed for defense of the country. With a large military force plus the reserves plus the National Guard (who are SUPPOSED to be for civilian self-defense and disaster relief, NOT for foreign aggressive wars), it's just too tempting to go off invading countries.

The result is naive kids (the same age as the students I used to teach) going off thinking that they're "serving their country" and ending up doing things that no decent person should have to do and seeing things that no one should ever have to see.

[DissedByBush]

33. The Founding Fathers

Never wanted a standing army.

They thought it was too dangerous to have around.

Too tempting a toy for those in power.

[lonestarnot]

31. Terrible the way things worked out for him.

"On the Fourth of July, he and family were fishing off the back deck when the fireworks display began. Dwyer bolted inside and hid under a bed."

[Baby Snooks]

32. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Most people really don't understand post traumatic stress syndrome which is the common reaction by a victim to a violent and unexpected act. It is very common in rape and stalking victims. Stalking victims and veterans in the battlefield, however, have to deal with ongoing trauma.

But it is different with veterans for some reason and is actually a disorder and one reason is the ambivalence that few want to acknowledge.

Veterans are both victim and victimizer and while we we wave the flags and hail the heroes, the reality is some are not "naturally born killers" and so they get caught in the ambivalence between their sense of duty which tells them their actions are right and their innate humanity which tells them their actions are wrong.

It was first detected in Vietnam War veterans but not really acknowledged by the pyschiatric community and while it is being acknowledged finally the reality is no one really knows how to treat it.

My heart sinks when I read these stories. Some stalking victims do "slip over the edge" and get lost in paranoia and there really is little anyone can do for them either except offer them some sort of solace although really there is none. They get lost and don't come back.

[Voltaire99]

34. Ghastly. Typical. And,

Obama would stupidly continue the war for another 16 months, destroying many more lives.

We elected Dems in 2006 in order to end the war.

Really helped, didn't it.

[NBachers]

35. May the torturing demons

Feeding off the souls of traumatized Americans and Iraqis

Swoop off to an eternity of hell

With the minds and souls of the architects of this war

Where they will re-Live the terror, pain, and fear

They have created

Forevermore

[panzerfaust]

37. Send too to know how Lance Cpl. Miller is doing these days ...

[Preening Fop]

38. Obviously, the beginning of a Blood Soaked Century protecting corporations & their imperial stooges.

Quite normal for our specie.

[Dogtown]

40. K&R n/t

[redqueen]

42. So tragic... who knows how many more are suffering in silence...

and for what? An unnecessary war. The enrichment of profiteers.