Thursday, March 12, 2009

Agencies prep for wave of returing soldiers with PTSD

Agencies prep for wave of returing soldiers with PTSD
Chicago Sun-Times - United States

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER | State, city agencies preparing for wave of returning veterans scarred by horrors of war

March 7, 2009

BY ANNIE SWEENEY Crime Reporter
Christopher France was among the young soldiers who led the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, riding in the ninth vehicle to cross the border.

There are several ways to measure his time there. Two tours. Two vertebrae injuries and four bulging discs from bone-rattling explosions. One gunshot to the leg.

The 15 people he killed.

What's harder to measure is what the U.S. Army soldier lost in Iraq.

"I am not me anymore," France said.

"I have problems with large crowds. I freak out. I am always looking over my shoulders. I have flashbacks. I have dreams, nightmares about what happened, what could have happened.

"I clearly remember the faces of the people I took out and how they acted when they got shot. Everything. . . . I've got 15 people's souls on my mind right now.''
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