PTSD a mother's story

Jason Pemberton, Highly-Decorated Iraq War Veteran with PTSD, Kills Wife Tiffany, Himself in Daytona Beach, Florida
FEBRUARY 6, 2012
by BRETT WILKINS

A highly-decorated Iraq war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) killed his wife and himself in Florida over the weekend, the latest casualties in a military mental health crisis that has been growing in recent years as hundreds of thousands of troops return home from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and struggle to re-adjust to civilian life.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that 28-year-old Jason Pemberton and his wife Tiffany, age 25, were found dead in their Daytona Beach, Florida apartment on Sunday morning. Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood described a horrific scene discovered by police responding to a neighbor’s call. Another neighbor said he head two gunshots around 9:30pm on Saturday but did not notify authorities.

A preliminary investigation found that Pemberton shot his wife in the chest with a rifle before turning it on himself, shooting himself in the head.

Pemberton, who served with great valor as a sniper in the U.S. Army, was a highly-decorated soldier. He was awarded three Purple Hearts, awarded to troops wounded in battle, as well as a Bronze Star and other medals. But he also suffered from PTSD and received a medical discharge from the Army in 2009 because of a severe back injury suffered when his parachute opened too late.
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