G.I.'s plea: Give troops with PTSD more help

G.I.'s plea: Give troops with PTSD more help
By Ben Tracy
March 13, 2012 9:02 AM

(CBS NEWS) JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - The American soldier who allegedly shot and killed 16 Afghan civilians served three tours of duty in Iraq before serving in Afghanistan.

Some experts say U.S. troops are being stretched too thin - and it's having an effect.

The suspect in the rampage in Afghanistan was stationed here until a few months ago.

We talked to an active duty soldier here who says he worries that our military men and women are being stretched to their breaking points.

"It will get better and it will get easier, but you won't ever forget faces and things you saw; it becomes part of you," says Specialist Jared Enger.

He should be in Afghanistan right now, fighting alongside the very soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians.

"He's in the same brigade I'm in," Enger notes. "He's in a unit I've done work with, so it's very well someone I could have crossed paths with and done some training with."

Enger spent two tours in Iraq - nearly 27 months of combat - during which he saw one of his best friends die right in front of him.

Like hundreds of others here at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Enger was diagnosed with chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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