Staff Sgt. Joe Biel center of motorcycle ride for PTSD

PTSD was once called Soldier's Heart and without knowing it, they couldn't have been closer to the truth. It because they can feel deeply, good and bad emotions, they end up carrying away the pain of others along with their own pain. Whenever you read stories like the following, keep in mind that for them, it is because they care so much, they carry so much more away.

Staff Sgt. Joe Biel stands next to a "buffalo," the primary vehicle his unit used to find improvised explosive devices in Iraq. Biel committed suicide in 2007 after returning to North Dakota following his second tour in Iraq. Special to The Forum

Bike ride to raise PTSD awareness
Staff Sgt. Joe Biel wasn’t the same after returning home from his second tour in Iraq, his friends said.
By: Heidi Shaffer, INFORUM


Staff Sgt. Joe Biel wasn’t the same after returning home from his second tour in Iraq, his friends said.

“I could definitely tell something wasn’t right,” said Spc. David Young, who served with Biel and lived with him in Devils Lake, N.D., after returning from Iraq.

Biel committed suicide in April 2007, and now his fellow North Dakota Guardsmen are sponsoring a motorcycle ride in his memory to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide among veterans.

“With him, just like any other soldier, they’re not going to admit when they’re having negative thoughts, suicidal thoughts or struggling,” Young said.

The men served in the 164th Engineer Combat Battalion based out of Minot, N.D., a unit responsible for clearing roads and supply routes of improvised explosive devices.

Because of the combat the unit saw, no one was left untouched, physically or mentally, Young said.

“All of us have some on-going reminder of our deployment,” Young said. “Anyone who came back and said they didn’t have PTSD would be lying.”
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