War casualties aren't all listed in official stats

War casualties aren't all listed in official stats
by E. J. Montini, columnist
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 8, 2012

The long list of Arizonans who were lost to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan does not included 22-year-old Michael Murray, who served tours with the 3rd Marine Division in both countries.

He died four years ago this month. He is a casualty of war, though not counted as such.

When I first spoke to his mother, Silvana, four years ago, she told me, "Michael was the jewel of our family. But it wasn't the military part of his life that made him so. It was his heart. He was a mediator. A peacemaker. He was our heart and soul. Sounds strange for a boy who was in the Marines, doesn't it?"

After his tour in Iraq, Michael returned a changed, troubled young man.

"Michael signed up right out of high school," said Silvana, who contacted me just before the fourth anniversary of her son's death. "A lot of the kids who join the military are so young. They don't have a lot of other life experience, which might make it easier to cope with what they go through. But they don't have it and then they get back here and they're lost. It's heartbreak."

And it can be dangerous, not only for the veterans but their families and others. There are problems with depression, domestic violence, self-destructive behavior.

Thirty-eight current and former soldiers killed themselves this past July, according to the Pentagon, more than died in the war.

In February, former Marine Jason Prostrollo, who served two tours in Iraq, was killed by Scottsdale police after, investigators say, he kidnapped a cabdriver at knifepoint and then advanced on police officers with a pool cue.

Marine Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, who had post-traumatic stress disorder, made news when he and his brother Willard hijacked a car after failing to drive their own over the edge of the Grand Canyon and then apparently killed themselves as police closed in.

Michael Murray's mother recalls how her son struggled trying to control his anger after returning from war. He felt guilty for having survived and had trouble adjusting.
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Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs and the story behind the story

Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N.Twiggs hugged Bush last month, died this month