Iraq veteran suffered from PTSD and took his own life

December 29, 2011
Newsmakers: Vet's death still painful
Iraq veteran suffered from PTSD and took his own life

BY JAMES RUSSELL
jrussell@record-eagle.com

BELLAIRE — Joe Baker wishes his son asked for help when he returned from his second tour of war duty in Iraq.

Instead, U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph H. Baker II bottled up his emotions and ultimately took his own life.

"I did not know he was having night terrors, having stuff like that until after he was gone. We could have gotten help for him faster," said his father, Bellaire Fire Chief Joe Baker. "In the military, they're taught to go through things like this, that it doesn't matter what you see, you're supposed to soldier on, and not supposed to let this bother you. But if you bottle it up and do your job, eventually it's going to come back."

The younger Baker, 32, displayed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. In addition to terrifying nightmares, the alarms and loud noises he encountered as a volunteer with the Bellaire and South Torch Lake fire departments sometimes made him cringe and duck for cover.

On Jan. 21, he committed suicide. The military held a memorial service for Baker in February, but his father said officials rejected claims that war-related PTSD contributed to his death.
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