Army veteran survived combat and then suicide attempt because of it

Army Veteran Andrew O'Brien Saw Something Terrible in Iraq -- So Terrible That He Attempted Suicide
LA Weekly
By Gendy Alimurung
Aug. 1 2013

He shouldn't have looked in the truck. The IED had blown it up and sent its occupants to Kingdom Come. "What I saw in there was the worst thing I will ever see in my life," U.S. Army Specialist Andrew O'Brien says.

It was so bad that he later tried to kill himself. Because try as he might, he couldn't unsee it. Not even now, more than two years after that suicide attempt, standing in a suburban Corona strip mall, telling his story to a roomful of mothers who have sons or daughters freshly returned from war. The mothers hang on his every word. They're hoping this lanky 25-year old — a kid, really, with a sweet, handsome face and earnest manner — might hold the key to unlocking their own distant, troubled soldier.

For the past few months, O'Brien has been traveling the country by bus, giving speeches, talking to anyone who will listen. He was in Phoenix the other day, "and I swear that is Iraq." Something as simple as the sound of tires crunching on sand on a hot day can send him suddenly back.

He begins with why he joined the military in the first place. He didn't have much family growing up in Dallas. His parents "weren't the best people," he says, and leaves it at that. His older brother became his rock. So when big brother enlisted, O'Brien dropped out of high school and enlisted, too.
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