Price That's Paid: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Price That's Paid: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008 - 06:16 PM


By Alice Massimi
E-mail | Biography
Not all battle scars are visible.
It's estimated that as many as fifteen percent of troops returning from war suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

WSAV's Military Reporter Alice Massimi brings us the story of a former Third Infantry Division soldier who knows first hand the price of war.



Ian McCarty enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1995. Growing up in a small town in Florida Ian says he did it simply to get away. Never once did he think getting away would entail Iraq.

“It was during the very beginning of the invasion. I was with 1st BCT so we were on the front lines. We were the spearhead of the invasion,” Ian recalls.

Ian says that at first he was excited to go over, happy to be helping the people of Iraq but soon reality set in.

“My first time coming under fire, when you finally realize hey there are people out there trying to kill me and when you come very close to that it is a huge wake up call,” he recalls.

To make matters worse Ian was assigned the duty of being the casualty officer for his unit.

“It wasn't pleasant. I saw a lot of boys and young women who were you know, injured in the prime of their lives or killed and it was very heartbreaking.”

All images and emotions Ian took home with him.

“Nightmares just horrible nightmares that would just keep me up all night,” Ian explains.

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