Tucson combat vets buffeted by memories

Tucson combat vets buffeted by memories
VA expands mental health help in area
SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen
Tucson native Javier Brito, 37, said he loved his job as a Marine sniper in Iraq.
Among his war souvenirs is the shell casing from his first enemy kill.

Nearly four years after his discharge, he and his wife, Lydia, 37, a pharmacy technician, and their sons, Javier Jr., 6, and Christopher, 18, are paying a price for his courageous and perilous military service.

The Desert View High School graduate said he still finds it hard to adjust to the tempo of life in Tucson and to the loss of his job as a sniper.

"I have too much energy. I'm hypervigilant, but I can be around larger crowds and don't get as freaked out."

"I walk into a room (filled with people) and it just feels weird. My wife can tell. I try to shake it off. I've been told I need to work on that. "

Omar Sotelo, 33, was a math and science teacher at Hohokam Middle School when he enlisted for a "try one" year of service in the Army National Guard in 2005.

He got back home from Afghanistan about three months ago after nearly two years on unexpected active duty.

Sotelo is finding the adjustment from the intensity of combat to a relatively quiet home life with his wife and young son a bit of a challenge.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is seeing more vets such as Brito and Sotelo as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue.
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