Iraq veteran with PTSD tries to recover on his own terms

Chico veteran with PTSD tries to recover on his own terms
By GREG WELTER
Special to the Mercury-Register
Posted: 09/10/2012

CHICO -- Before he went to war, an uncle cautioned Nick Wright to keep his distance from fellow Marine Corps troops in Iraq.

Losing a comrade was bad enough, but losing a friend was worse, the uncle explained.

Wright heeded the advice -- perhaps a little too well. More than six years after being wounded on the battlefield, Wright worries his comrades would be angry if they learned he couldn't recall who they were and knew little about their lives.

"I can remember all their faces, but almost none of their names," Wright said.

Therefore, he usually tries to deflect the question when he is asked if he was close to anyone who was killed or wounded.

"That's the thing. I don't remember their names. I think that's the reason I was so messed up," said Wright, sounding a bit like he had uncovered a clue to dealing with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

One face he said he'll never forget, but wishes he could, is that of a man -- a civilian -- who passed his convoy in a sedan that looked no different from hundreds of others on the dusty back roads of Iraq. Wright was one of several Marines on a security detail, none of whom noticed anything suspicious about the vehicle or the driver. Moments later, the man detonated mortar rounds in the trunk next to drums filled with a chemical substance Wright said was likely "homemade napalm."

There were numerous U.S. casualties. Wright never learned how many. For five years, he said he blamed himself for the deadly attack and regularly beat himself up over his failure to act.
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