Iraq Veteran shares his struggle with PTSD

Veteran shares his struggle with PTSD

By Jeanné McCartin
news@seacoastonline.com
July 07, 2011 2:00 AM
Aaron Lee Marshall often mourns privately when he hears of the suicide of a brother-in-arms. They paid the ultimate price for the country, but died here at home, because of injuries sustained in battle, he said.

Like Marshall and so many returning veterans, they had post-traumatic stress disorder. Too often, there's little understanding and a lack of sympathy for these deaths.

Marshall said he came close to committing suicide; he once held a gun in his mouth. It was family and friends who pulled him through.

"What we need is more understanding, more education," said Marshall, a Barrington resident.

"Really, there's no way to understand PTSD if you haven't had an experience. But right now, my main goal in life is trying to do that — to help people understand. If I could, I'd have a commercial on every TV show, like the cigarette campaigns we launched."

Marshall served in Iraq, as an Army military police officer attached to the 1st Infantry Division. He received the Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal with Valor for "exceptionally meritorious achievement."

He returned to the U.S. in 2005. Since, he's mourned the suicide of a few men he'd fought alongside. He's also watched as others found different means to hurt themselves.

"They drink, self medicate ...; they'll die at 45 of some weird thing, but it was (because of) PTSD," he said.

"My instinct is not to talk about it, but it defeats the purpose, my purpose, getting the word out there and building PTSD awareness."
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Veteran shares his struggle with PTSD