In the apparently never-ending theme that has so taken over the MSM, the Iraq War has once again taken the life of a former serviceman, who returned home only to commit suicide.
Army Spc Joseph Dwyer was photographed in March 2003 with an injured Iraqi child cradled in his arms, as he carried the boy out of harm's way during fighting early in the war near the city of Faysaliyah. That photo came to be a symbol of the humanitarian cost of the war.
A troubled man after leaving the service, he was treated for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSS). Sunday, he apparently took his own life, inhaling fumes from an aerosol can and taking some form of prescription drugs.
In 2005 Dwyer barricaded himself in his second floor apartment, initiating a three hour standoff with police, according to an account in the El Paso Times newspaper.
Spc. Joseph Dwyer, 29, repeatedly fired a 9-mm handgun inside his second-floor apartment starting around 9:15 p.m. Thursday in a more-than-three-hour standoff friends described as a violent episode brought on by drug abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder due to the war in Iraq.
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"We gave (military and mental-health authorities) warning after warning after warning. ... All this could have been prevented," Knapp said.
Spc Dwyer's was treated at Beaumont Army Medical Center, but his military medical history has not been made public. According to friends, he returned from Iraq a different person than the one who left. He first turned to religion -- then to alcohol and drugs.
"I'm angry because Joseph, when he came back from Iraq, he was a hero, and now when he needs help, nobody is helping him," said friend Dionne Knapp, a former Army medic who served with Dwyer at Fort Bliss.
A spokesman for the Army said, "He served his country. It is unfortunate that these things sometimes happen to soldiers when they return. Our thoughts are with his family, spouse and children."
to face his comrades.
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson