The War Followed Him Home

The War Followed Him Home
Veterans discuss PTSD and the suicide of a brother in arms
By Marisa Demarco


Veteran Micah Shaw in Trebil, Iraq, on the Jordanian border Joseph Callan was shocked and saddened when he heard about the Jan. 13 death of Iraq veteran Kenneth Ellis III. And he was angry.


Callan is a combat veteran who did three tours of duty in Iraq, including the initial invasion of the country. He was an infantryman, but he left the Marine Corps in early 2008 and came back to Albuquerque. "I had every intention of being in the Marines for 20 years and retiring," he says, but he couldn't live with his conscience. "I couldn't believe what we were doing." When he returned to civilian life, he says he felt isolated and didn't have support from the Department of Veterans Affairs or the military. "I started to get angry." He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.


So was Ellis, the man who died in front of the 7-Eleven at Constitution and Eubank last week. The 25-year-old was pulled over because his car had the wrong plates, according to news reports. He got out of the car and put a gun to his head while he was talking to his mother on his cell phone. Police shot him after he refused to put the weapon down.

Ellis had been part of an inpatient PTSD program at the VA Medical Center. Sonja Brown, spokesperson for the VA, would not confirm or deny Ellis was kicked out of the program, as has been reported. She wouldn’t comment on Ellis’ case due to patient privacy laws.
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The War Followed Him Home