Why are soldiers dying in their sleep?

Why are soldiers dying in their sleep?
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Steve Daniels

RALEIGH (WTVD)

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created heartbreak and anger for Stan and Shirley White.

"There's still a lot of raw emotion there. We've lost two sons," explained Shirley.

First, the Charleston, West Virginia couple's first son Bob - a Fort Bragg paratrooper - was killed in Afghanistan.

"There's nothing like the pain of losing a child," said Shirley.

Then, son Andrew survived his deployment to Iraq with Camp Lejeune Marines - only to die in his bedroom.

"It was like a double-whammy all over again, twice the pain," said Shirley.

The couple have kept Andrew's bedroom as it was the day he died as a memorial to him.

"He did a lot of things in 23 years," said Stan.

In the room are his Eagle Scout certificate, an award from his days in the Junior ROTC, his Marine medals, and pictures from his time in Iraq. But the walls do not tell the story of Andrew's psychological trauma from nine months in Iraq.

"He died because of his PTSD, because of what he saw in the war zone. The medication is what killed him. We consider him as being a casualty of war," Stan offered.
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