Iraq veteran with PTSD fighting to keep 2 year old son

Syracuse-area veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder fights to keep his 2-year-old son
Syracuse.com
Douglass Dowty
November 14, 2013

Onondaga, NY -- When a pool cue fell in a crowded restaurant, Shaun Portaleos heard the crack of a gunshot. He crouched to his knees and ducked. His family laughed. But the ex-Marine heard an echo of war.

Portaleos, of Onondaga, struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder after watching friends die and narrowly missing a catastrophic injury during two tours of duty in Iraq. Since his return home to the Syracuse area, he's waged another battle: equal custody of his 2-year-old son.

Portaleos, his little son and the child's mother are tied up in a two-year-old fight through state and federal courts with big implications. Should PTSD count against a veteran in custody fights? Should the Veterans Administration doctor be forced to testify in the case?

Two worthy goals - the desire to protect a child and the need for a grateful nation to not further penalize a traumatized soldier - collide in Portaleos' case. It's one of many thorny issues spawned by the growing class of PTSD victims from recent wars, estimated at anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 nationally.
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