Tuesday, October 07, 2008

PTSD claims a two-tour Iraq veteran

U.S. Marine Cpl. Contreras, a 2003 graduate of South High, died two weeks ago after surviving two tours in Iraq.
He took his own life after suffering, it appears, from post-traumatic stress disorder. ....
Being in battle wasn’t supposed to be part of his job, but on one occasion he and some fellow Marines left the base and ended up in the middle of a gunfight.
“He had to use his weapon,” Esther said. “Five guys were shooting in a crowd of women and children. He knows he shot a woman. He didn’t know if he shot any children.”
At one point, he had a nervous breakdown during a Disneyland fireworks show, his family said. Light flashing in the air had been a signal for help in Iraq.
The episode was one of the few moments his family and friends noticed something out of the ordinary with Leonardo.

Read the entire report, with photographs, here.

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