Soldier In Iconic Iraq War Image Dies Tragically
Army Pfc. Joseph Dwyer was simply saving a young Iraqi boy, and in the process unwittingly became the subject of one of the most iconic images of the Iraq war.
As proud as he was of the photograph and what he was able to contribute to the war effort as a field medic, Pfc. Dwyer was never the same after returning from the war. Plagued by severe PTSD that kept him from sleeping and caused him to fear that Iraqi insurgents were still hunting him even back home.
His fear became so bad that in 2005 he became involved in an armed stand-off with Police in an apartment complex in Texas. Dwyer shot up the apartment building and refused to surrender to Police because he thought insurgents were trying to get to him.
Though his family tried to get him treatment for his PTSD, (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) his family says Veterans hospitals simply had inadequate resources for treating cases like Dwyer’s. He went to inpatient and outpatient treatment but none of it worked.
There’s no question that the U.S. military has been slow to respond to the treatment of PTSD. A stigma still remains around the disorder, even though experts claim as many as 1 in 5 soldiers who return from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from it.
Last month, on June 28, police in Pinehurst, N.C., who responded to Dwyer’s home, said the 31-year-old collapsed and died after abusing a computer cleaner aerosol.
Pfc. Dwyer became a hero at the age of 26, but tragically died at home at the age of 31.
The importance of the war in Iraq is undeniable and those brave men and women who continue to volunteer to fight it will forever deserve our nation’s utmost respect and gratitude. The most important way for our country to show that gratitude is by taking care of our veterans when they return home.
Though these men and women may look fine on the outside, the real damage can be on the inside. The mental toll that combat can take on even the strongest person can be indescribable. I believe every combat soldier should be required to attend a PTSD program. Our soldiers should also be required to attend classes on how to reintegrate back in to civilian life after a deployment.
Our warriors should have assistance as they return from combat and attempt to resume a normal life again. War is not something that you can simply turn on and off like a light switch, returning to civilian life is a process that takes time.
Pfc. Dwyer may not have died on the battlefield, but make no mistake about it, he did indeed give his life for his country.
-Chris Jones
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