Joseph Dwyer, an American soldier who was immortalized in a 2003 photo carrying a wounded Iraqi child, died at his home in North Carolina due to an apparent drug overdose. Dwyer has been battling post-traumatic stress disorder since returning from Iraq in 2003 after serving for four months.
The photo for which Joseph Dwyer will be remembered was taken by an Army Times photographer in 2003 during the first days of the American invasion of Iraq. The photo of Dwyer carrying an Iraqi boy whose family was caught in crossfire to safety ran in newspapers across America.
According to Joseph Dwyer’s mother, Maureen, his life and personality drastically changed after his service in Iraq. "He wasn’t Joseph anymore. Joseph never came home," she said. After returning home, Dwyer hallucinated that there were Iraqi fighters searching for him in America and there were bombs in the streets of his hometown. He sometimes slept in a closet and barricaded his room with furniture pushed against the doors and walls. He shot up his El Paso, Texas apartment believing that he was still fighting in Iraq. Shortly after his return, his wife left took their two-year-old daughter and left home. He abused aerosol sprays to help sleep and calm his nerves an addiction that caused his death on June 28, 2008
U.S. News reports that one in five veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs says it is the fastest growing disability among veterans.
If you or someone you know is a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, please contact your local VA hospital or veterans center or call the VA Health Benefits Service Center at 877-222-VETS.
Sources: http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lisold5753925jul06,0,1788121.story?page=2, http://www.usnews.com/blogs/news-desk/2008/4/17/nearly-1-in-5-iraq-vets-reports-signs-of-post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html
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