Marines take on a new battle: suicide among veterans

Local Marines take on a new battle: suicide among veterans
Posted: Apr 25, 2013
by Connie Tran
KSBY News

Two local Marines are taking on a new battle, that is, against suicide.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs says someone can suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after going through a traumatic event like combat, assault, or a disaster.

Veterans Matt Reid and Daniel Pitocco said PTSD is one of the leading factors of high suicide rates among veterans and something needs to be done.

The two, who live in Morro Bay, said after serving multiple tours overseas, coming home wasn't as easy as they'd hoped.

"It's feelings of isolation. You come back and you bottle things up," said Pitocco.

He and Reid said they've lost six comrades, but not from war as one might expect, rather something perhaps much deeper and darker.

Pitocco shared a story of one of his fellow brothers. "At the time of committing suicide, he had three Marines within about 30 minutes to an hour of him, and he felt so alone, so within his own mind, wrestling his demons that he didn't reach out," he said.
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