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.
read more here
Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs and the story behind the story
Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N.Twiggs hugged Bush last month, died this month
Showing posts with label Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs. Show all posts
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Travis Twiggs: The Un-Happy One Year Anniversary
The following comes from my friend Lily Casura over at Healing Combat Trauma. It's hard to believe a year has come and gone since the days she was posting about Travis Twiggs. If you want to know the tragedy of Camp Liberty could have been prevented, take the links she has up on Travis and know none of this should have been allowed to happen.
May 14, 2009
Travis Twiggs: The Un-Happy One Year Anniversary of Combat PTSD's Perhaps Most Visible Death
by Lily Casura
Just a brief note to mention, it was one year ago today that Travis Twiggs passed from this earth, by his own hand, the veritable poster boy of combat-based PTSD. It also marks his brother Willard's passing, who left this earth with Travis, apparently by Travis' hand. It's an absolute tragedy, for any number of reasons -- from the family members and friends the Twiggs brothers leave behind -- to the fact that Travis, personally, was making an impact as a Marine who broke the code of silence, so to speak, and spoke openly about his PTSD. Twiggs wrote about his ordeal in the January, 2008 issue of the Marine Corps Gazette, in an article that has been widely circulated, and is still available on the Web.
Travis Twiggs' suffering was something that really stood out to me -- perhaps because of his very willingness to speak openly about his struggles, something Marines.Just.Don't.Do. We actually broke the news of his death on this blog, before the mainstream media had reported on it -- and in fact, the early reports were wrong on the facts but widely repeated, making the damage that much more painful. (He and his brother were reputed to be hardened criminals, for example, which they were not, although they had been -- at the last -- involved in a carjacking, as part of their initially ill-fated but ultimately successful desire to end their lives. In fact, Twiggs was a much-decorated Marine with multiple combat tours behind him, who had recently met the president, and whose Marines (and his family) deeply loved him. His brother, Willard, was well-loved as well. A year later, not a day goes by that people don't find this site out of a search they're doing for Travis or Willard; and in the days after their death, searches for Willard were almost as popular as those for Travis, though Willard was obviously shyer and less well known. And these tragedies were not the only ones the Twiggs family suffered in a very short amount of time: their beloved grandmother also passed away within days of the Twiggs' brothers' deaths. Hard, hard times for the Twiggs' family, and for all those who loved Travis and Willard.
go here for more
Travis Twiggs: The Un-Happy One Year Anniversary
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs and the story behind the story
Here's the story behind the story. It isn't written in the article from Bill Finnegan in this version or the one the New Yorker published.
Dear Ms. Costos,
I've recently started researching a story about the difficulties faced by soldiers now returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. I know that a lot of journalism has already been produced on this subject, but it seems to me that PTSD and related problems can't get too much publicity. The New Yorker is also able to devote more time and space to a subject such as this one than most other magazines and news outlets are.
Well, I emailed him back and we spent about an hour on the phone. Bill spent some time on my blog and picked the "subject" which turned out to be Travis Twiggs. In July he emailed me that he was in Texas.
When I first posted the link to the New Yorker, I was devastated. Finnegan said that he was using some quotes from me but said his editor cut me out of the story. I thought for once the videos I did would finally get some attention because the need is so great. I keep getting contacted by reporters and others working on PTSD and they will pick my brain dry, which is fine but when I am stuck in obscurity no matter what I know or how many hours a day I spend doing this, they don't take any of this into consideration at all.
When this article was in the New Yorker, I decided to avoid doing a rant but now that the UK picked it up, enough is enough. There is always someone behind these reporters giving them the stories they cover. When it came to Travis Twigg, there was another one working on this story, to make sure the world did not forget about him. Lily Casura at http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/ also had her site gone over looking for information on Travis by Bill and other reporters. When it came time to publish the stories by these so called reporters, none of them gave her any credit either. Just go into her site and see how well she covered the story of this hero who was let down. Had it not been for us, he would have ended up just another veteran who met a tragic end. We did not let the story die but the "real reporters" who have their names published around the net did until they thought they had an easy way to cover this.
It's one thing to spend countless hours a day trying to bring the suffering of our veterans into the light of day, doing it for the sake of helping them, without much financial gain, and another to use people like us.
I don't make a habit of posting emails I receive but if I just ranted about this without proving it, no one would believe me. I've been doing this for 26 years! I track it everyday and live with it so all of this is personal to me. I take this so personally that in 2004, the hours I spend were taking too much time and I was working too many hours. I figured Florida would give me the chance to do this full time and work a part time job for the income. In February of 2005 I started my other blog after several others and 9,992 posts later, you can see how much went into that one. It's at http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/.
Last year, I started this one to devote it to trauma, mainly focusing on the men and women who serve this nation and the veterans. This post is 4,781. Think of how much work goes into this. Think about all the articles I read that don't get posted. If it's the editor's fault when a reporter tires to give credit where credit is due, then they are eliminating getting their hands on stories people like me find. I know I will not be so willing to help a reporter the next time. As for the reporters who think they can just take the work other people do and get all the credit for it, you should think twice about doing it because you never know when a blogger will be so fed up with the way they are treated that they turn around a blast you publicly. Finnegan can live with the global fame he's getting for this, he has the true talent to write a compelling story but as for the state of his heart and conscience, that is left up to your own imagination.
Dear Ms. Costos,
I've recently started researching a story about the difficulties faced by soldiers now returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. I know that a lot of journalism has already been produced on this subject, but it seems to me that PTSD and related problems can't get too much publicity. The New Yorker is also able to devote more time and space to a subject such as this one than most other magazines and news outlets are.
Subject:
New Yorker Magazine interview
Date:
7/9/2008 6:02:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From:
billfinn@rcn.com
Reply To:
To:
Namguardianangel@aol.com
I would like to speak to you, if you have a few minutes. I am looking for leads and insights and I gather, from what I've read so far, that you have a lot of experience in this area.
Please give me a call or drop me an email if you might be willing to chat.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Bill Finnegan
William Finnegan
Staff Writer The New Yorker Magazine 4 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA
Well, I emailed him back and we spent about an hour on the phone. Bill spent some time on my blog and picked the "subject" which turned out to be Travis Twiggs. In July he emailed me that he was in Texas.
When I first posted the link to the New Yorker, I was devastated. Finnegan said that he was using some quotes from me but said his editor cut me out of the story. I thought for once the videos I did would finally get some attention because the need is so great. I keep getting contacted by reporters and others working on PTSD and they will pick my brain dry, which is fine but when I am stuck in obscurity no matter what I know or how many hours a day I spend doing this, they don't take any of this into consideration at all.
When this article was in the New Yorker, I decided to avoid doing a rant but now that the UK picked it up, enough is enough. There is always someone behind these reporters giving them the stories they cover. When it came to Travis Twigg, there was another one working on this story, to make sure the world did not forget about him. Lily Casura at http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/ also had her site gone over looking for information on Travis by Bill and other reporters. When it came time to publish the stories by these so called reporters, none of them gave her any credit either. Just go into her site and see how well she covered the story of this hero who was let down. Had it not been for us, he would have ended up just another veteran who met a tragic end. We did not let the story die but the "real reporters" who have their names published around the net did until they thought they had an easy way to cover this.
It's one thing to spend countless hours a day trying to bring the suffering of our veterans into the light of day, doing it for the sake of helping them, without much financial gain, and another to use people like us.
I don't make a habit of posting emails I receive but if I just ranted about this without proving it, no one would believe me. I've been doing this for 26 years! I track it everyday and live with it so all of this is personal to me. I take this so personally that in 2004, the hours I spend were taking too much time and I was working too many hours. I figured Florida would give me the chance to do this full time and work a part time job for the income. In February of 2005 I started my other blog after several others and 9,992 posts later, you can see how much went into that one. It's at http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/.
Last year, I started this one to devote it to trauma, mainly focusing on the men and women who serve this nation and the veterans. This post is 4,781. Think of how much work goes into this. Think about all the articles I read that don't get posted. If it's the editor's fault when a reporter tires to give credit where credit is due, then they are eliminating getting their hands on stories people like me find. I know I will not be so willing to help a reporter the next time. As for the reporters who think they can just take the work other people do and get all the credit for it, you should think twice about doing it because you never know when a blogger will be so fed up with the way they are treated that they turn around a blast you publicly. Finnegan can live with the global fame he's getting for this, he has the true talent to write a compelling story but as for the state of his heart and conscience, that is left up to your own imagination.
Sergeant Travis Triggs: Driven over the edge
Times Online - UK
A US soldier tried to drive himself and his brother over the rim of the Grand Canyon. When that failed, he blew their brains out. What did the war do to Sergeant Travis Twiggs?
William Finnegan
When the Twiggs brothers got to the Grand Canyon, on May 12, Willard called his girlfriend, a married woman in Louisiana, on Travis’s mobile phone. She had to see the canyon someday, he said. “It will make the hair on your arms stand up.” A few minutes later, driving east along the South Rim past a spot called Twin Overlooks, Travis took a sharp left and drove his Toyota Corolla straight towards the 5,000ft drop. The Corolla jumped over the kerb, but did not take the plunge. It got caught in a small fir tree clinging just below the rim.
Travis and Willard Twiggs were not in trouble with the law. Willard, 38, was a former maritime-logistics specialist in New Orleans. He had been working in construction, intermittently, since Hurricane Katrina. Travis, 36, was a Marine Corps staff sergeant, a decorated combat veteran with one tour of duty in Afghanistan and four tours in Iraq. In January 2008 he had created a minor stir by writing an article about his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Marine Corps Gazette.
Twiggs emphasised his recovery; he soon found himself working with a new unit, the Wounded Warrior Regiment, spreading the word about the treatment and prevention of PTSD. In late April, he met President Bush at the White House. Rather than shake the president’s hand, Twiggs bear-hugged him, proclaiming: “Sir, I’ve served over there many times — and I would serve for you any time.”
Three weeks later, he tried to drive into the Grand Canyon. Witnesses said the brothers behaved oddly after the crash. They tried to reverse the Toyota out of the tree branches but could gain no traction. They did not want anyone to call for help. One seemed interested only in finding his cigarettes. They put on backpacks, said they were going to continue with their plans, and set off on foot before park rangers arrived. More likely, they went across the road and waited in the scrubby conifer forest while the rangers cleared the wreck.
click link for more
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Marine carried war home inside of him, Part Two of Travis Twiggs
Marine carried war home inside of him
by Ron Thibodeaux, The Times-Picayune
Saturday June 07, 2008, 9:28 PM
Second of a two-part series
There it was, the ultimate canvas for God's paintbrush: the Grand Canyon, natural wonder of the world, America's candy-striped geological masterpiece. Spruce and firs and Ponderosa pines, majestic in their silence, framed the panorama beneath an immense open sky.
Suddenly, a deep blue Toyota Corolla with a Virginia license plate came out of nowhere, lurching toward the precipice, spraying gravel, shattering the calm. In an instant, its front wheels dipped off the edge and the car began to hurtle toward eternity.
And then, just as fast, it jolted to a stop -- snagged on the branches of a tree growing from below the drop-off.
It wasn't going any farther, and it couldn't go back.
The two men inside were jostled but essentially unharmed. After some momentary confusion, they managed to grab their backpacks, clamber out and start up toward the park road.
Back on solid ground, perhaps they stopped for a moment to ponder the route that had brought them to this point: one, a battle-hardened Marine, haunted by the ghosts of war; the other, his older brother, attuned to his suffering and willing to do anything in his power to ease his brother's pain.
In that moment, they didn't know where they were going or what they would do, but one thing was certain -- they couldn't go back.
A Marine's Marine
For Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, commitment to the Marine Corps ideal and responsibility for the fighting men who served with him were obligations he relished. From duty at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to jungle warfare training in Okinawa, Japan, to combat conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was a Marine's Marine: leading from the front, taking care of his own, becoming the kind of role model that America's military wants in its noncommissioned officers.
But when he returned from Iraq, Sgt. Twiggs' war was just beginning. More than most, he struggled to adjust to stateside duty away from the battle. The camaraderie-under-fire that he left behind in Iraq was a siren song that threatened to destroy his ability to function as a Marine, as a husband and a father, as a person.
go here for more
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/marine_carried_war_home_inside.html
by Ron Thibodeaux, The Times-Picayune
Saturday June 07, 2008, 9:28 PM
Second of a two-part series
There it was, the ultimate canvas for God's paintbrush: the Grand Canyon, natural wonder of the world, America's candy-striped geological masterpiece. Spruce and firs and Ponderosa pines, majestic in their silence, framed the panorama beneath an immense open sky.
Suddenly, a deep blue Toyota Corolla with a Virginia license plate came out of nowhere, lurching toward the precipice, spraying gravel, shattering the calm. In an instant, its front wheels dipped off the edge and the car began to hurtle toward eternity.
And then, just as fast, it jolted to a stop -- snagged on the branches of a tree growing from below the drop-off.
It wasn't going any farther, and it couldn't go back.
The two men inside were jostled but essentially unharmed. After some momentary confusion, they managed to grab their backpacks, clamber out and start up toward the park road.
Back on solid ground, perhaps they stopped for a moment to ponder the route that had brought them to this point: one, a battle-hardened Marine, haunted by the ghosts of war; the other, his older brother, attuned to his suffering and willing to do anything in his power to ease his brother's pain.
In that moment, they didn't know where they were going or what they would do, but one thing was certain -- they couldn't go back.
A Marine's Marine
For Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, commitment to the Marine Corps ideal and responsibility for the fighting men who served with him were obligations he relished. From duty at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to jungle warfare training in Okinawa, Japan, to combat conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was a Marine's Marine: leading from the front, taking care of his own, becoming the kind of role model that America's military wants in its noncommissioned officers.
But when he returned from Iraq, Sgt. Twiggs' war was just beginning. More than most, he struggled to adjust to stateside duty away from the battle. The camaraderie-under-fire that he left behind in Iraq was a siren song that threatened to destroy his ability to function as a Marine, as a husband and a father, as a person.
go here for more
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/marine_carried_war_home_inside.html
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, At War With Himself
At war with himself
Posted by Ron Thibodeaux
June 06, 2008 11:16PM
The all-points bulletin that crackled from the radios of law enforcement officers across southern Arizona was explicit in its urgency.
Be on the lookout, authorities were warned, for a white, late-model Dodge hatchback bearing Arizona license 606RFC, believed occupied by two brothers who had carjacked it from the Grand Canyon two days earlier.
The Border Patrol had tried to detain the vehicle at a checkpoint near Yuma, but the driver sped away, and officers were now in pursuit. Both men were said to have violent criminal histories, and anyone coming in contact with them should consider the suspects armed and dangerous, the bulletin warned.
Thus informed, anxious deputies and police officers from communities along Interstate 8 joined in the chase, speeding brothers Travis and Will Twiggs, both St. Charles Parish natives, toward an unlikely destiny on the morning of May 14.
But that fateful call to arms was only half right.
Until they had wrecked their own car at the Grand Canyon and uncharacteristically forced their way into someone else's, these guys were no criminals. Will Twiggs, 38, lived a quiet life in Metairie, and other than driving under the influence now and then, he didn't get into trouble. Travis Twiggs, 36, knew violence all too well, but it was in the line of duty, as a Marine staff sergeant who had pulled a staggering five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002.
He was good at what he did, utterly devoted to duty and country, but all that time in "the sandbox" had messed with his head. Although physically fit, he was an emotional wreck, a classic case of post-traumatic stress disorder if there ever was one.
So it wasn't just Travis and Will in that stolen hatchback. Jared and Bobby were there, too.
Never mind that the explosion from the enemy mortar attack wasn't the sergeant's fault, couldn't have been avoided. Ever since Lance Cpl. Jared J. Kremm and Lance Cpl. Robert F. Eckfield Jr. had died under his command in Iraq in the fall of 2005, they were with their sergeant always. Every day. Every night. Everywhere.
Travis Twiggs had returned from earlier deployments with battle scars from the combat he had seen with his men. Although his injuries were not visible, were "only" psychological, he was no more whole than if he'd had a leg blown off. The only way he knew how to cope was to get back in-country with his Marines.
But once he lost Jared and Bobby, he spiraled out of control. And no amount of treatment, or counseling, or booze could persuade him he was not to blame for their deaths or teach him how to live with the guilt.
Those Arizona cops had no way of knowing it, but when he sped away from that Border Patrol checkpoint and took off through the desert with his brother at his side, Travis Twiggs wasn't running from them. He was running from his demons.
go here for more
http://blog.nola.com/updates/2008/06/at_war_with_himself.html
Tomorrow is part two of this story.
Posted by Ron Thibodeaux
June 06, 2008 11:16PM
The all-points bulletin that crackled from the radios of law enforcement officers across southern Arizona was explicit in its urgency.
Be on the lookout, authorities were warned, for a white, late-model Dodge hatchback bearing Arizona license 606RFC, believed occupied by two brothers who had carjacked it from the Grand Canyon two days earlier.
The Border Patrol had tried to detain the vehicle at a checkpoint near Yuma, but the driver sped away, and officers were now in pursuit. Both men were said to have violent criminal histories, and anyone coming in contact with them should consider the suspects armed and dangerous, the bulletin warned.
Thus informed, anxious deputies and police officers from communities along Interstate 8 joined in the chase, speeding brothers Travis and Will Twiggs, both St. Charles Parish natives, toward an unlikely destiny on the morning of May 14.
But that fateful call to arms was only half right.
Until they had wrecked their own car at the Grand Canyon and uncharacteristically forced their way into someone else's, these guys were no criminals. Will Twiggs, 38, lived a quiet life in Metairie, and other than driving under the influence now and then, he didn't get into trouble. Travis Twiggs, 36, knew violence all too well, but it was in the line of duty, as a Marine staff sergeant who had pulled a staggering five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002.
He was good at what he did, utterly devoted to duty and country, but all that time in "the sandbox" had messed with his head. Although physically fit, he was an emotional wreck, a classic case of post-traumatic stress disorder if there ever was one.
So it wasn't just Travis and Will in that stolen hatchback. Jared and Bobby were there, too.
Never mind that the explosion from the enemy mortar attack wasn't the sergeant's fault, couldn't have been avoided. Ever since Lance Cpl. Jared J. Kremm and Lance Cpl. Robert F. Eckfield Jr. had died under his command in Iraq in the fall of 2005, they were with their sergeant always. Every day. Every night. Everywhere.
Travis Twiggs had returned from earlier deployments with battle scars from the combat he had seen with his men. Although his injuries were not visible, were "only" psychological, he was no more whole than if he'd had a leg blown off. The only way he knew how to cope was to get back in-country with his Marines.
But once he lost Jared and Bobby, he spiraled out of control. And no amount of treatment, or counseling, or booze could persuade him he was not to blame for their deaths or teach him how to live with the guilt.
Those Arizona cops had no way of knowing it, but when he sped away from that Border Patrol checkpoint and took off through the desert with his brother at his side, Travis Twiggs wasn't running from them. He was running from his demons.
go here for more
http://blog.nola.com/updates/2008/06/at_war_with_himself.html
Tomorrow is part two of this story.
Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, Marine, Hero and Loved
You want to know about PTSD or you would not be reading this blog. Do you really want to know about it? Do you want to know more of their stories? The families? Of their lives? I'm sure you do. While I try to post as much as possible about PTSD so that there is a place people can come to and get what they're looking for, I am not a reporter. I am more of an editor who puts in my two cents more than I should at times, but it's my life and they are my passion. It comes from investing my time and energy as if my life depends on it, simply because it does. It is personal to me because of my life with my husband and his life that I do this.
After they came home from Vietnam, men like Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs would never have their story told. It would have just been reduced to a few words in a crime section of your local paper. No one paid attention to their suffering. Because of the Internet, we have the ability to tell their stories and turn numbers into people. Names into faces. One life who touched many. This ability is part of the reason the stigma of PTSD is dying instead of many of them who have sought help finally understanding what it is. They are discovering that the only shame of PTSD belongs to the people who still want to deny the reality of this wound, uneducated, ignorant fools who would rather return to the dark ages when patients were bled to death than they would to understand the advancement of science. We know a lot more about the human mind, body and soul than we ever did before. Now those who serve this county will not simply pass from this life to the next in obscurity. Their stories are being told and people like Lily Casura at Healing Combat Trauma, are making their stories real. She's done a fantastic job covering the story of Travis Twiggs, going above and beyond where people like Tom Ricks would probably even bother to read. I am happy to call her friend and humbled by her dedication and talent.
After they came home from Vietnam, men like Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs would never have their story told. It would have just been reduced to a few words in a crime section of your local paper. No one paid attention to their suffering. Because of the Internet, we have the ability to tell their stories and turn numbers into people. Names into faces. One life who touched many. This ability is part of the reason the stigma of PTSD is dying instead of many of them who have sought help finally understanding what it is. They are discovering that the only shame of PTSD belongs to the people who still want to deny the reality of this wound, uneducated, ignorant fools who would rather return to the dark ages when patients were bled to death than they would to understand the advancement of science. We know a lot more about the human mind, body and soul than we ever did before. Now those who serve this county will not simply pass from this life to the next in obscurity. Their stories are being told and people like Lily Casura at Healing Combat Trauma, are making their stories real. She's done a fantastic job covering the story of Travis Twiggs, going above and beyond where people like Tom Ricks would probably even bother to read. I am happy to call her friend and humbled by her dedication and talent.
June 07, 2008
SSgt. Travis Twiggs - Well-Loved U.S. Marine and PTSD-Struggling Hero - the Update
[In progress...check back later for more.] It's nice to know that the exceptionally tragic story of PSTD sufferer and well-loved Marine SSgt. Travis N. Twiggs hasn't completely faded from view -- a story we broke here, days before the national media even picked it up. This weekend it looks like the Times-Picayune has a two-part series about Twiggs on the NOLA.com website, linked here, and the story is both well-written, and contains - gasp - actual reporting, including conversations with the dad and stepmom, both Louisiana residents. (The Twiggs brothers spent their formative years in Alma, Louisiana.) It's a shock to me that CNN never covered the Twiggs story -- although they did cover the story of the Marine on leave who was murdered over $8 in his pocket. I guess the fear-mongering, anxiety-producing shock value of that "news," while terrifically sad in itself, beats the prospect of actually covering a story with some complexity and depth, in which we as Americans could stand to learn more about the life and background of an American hero whose death we mourn. Weird values, CNN (or maybe complete lack of them...)
One nice development since our original reporting on this story, back in mid-May when it happened. The Marine Corps Gazette, which originally published Travis Twiggs' story about his battle with PTSD, put the article back in print. It's available on their website now, linked here. And they added a nice little blurb about mourning his passing and extending their condolences to his family, which is appropriate. It also sounds like there was a Memorial Service for the extremely well-loved Staff Sergeant at Quantico a week ago, which allowed his fellow Marines and those he'd come in contact with over the years, to pay their respects. Also a very nice, and well-deserved touch. (So much better than just sweeping the whole situation under the rug, because it had such a tragic ending.)go here for more
Friday, June 6, 2008
Marine Staff Sgt.Travis N. Twiggs story focus of attention still
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder a common syndrome, expert says
By Uriah A. Kiser
Published: June 6, 2008
STAFFORD — More and more soldiers returning from war are being treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an ailment that leaves families confused, torn, and for one local marine who suffered from the disorder, dead.
Last month Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N. Twiggs, 36, went absent without official leave from Quantico Marine Base on May 5. Officials there say he was assigned to the Warfare Laboratory, an Quantico-based agency that facilitates war games and devises ways to better operate Marine forces during ground combat.
Twiggs had served four tours in Iraq, one month in Afghanistan, according to Quantico officials.
Kelle Twiggs, his widow, told the Associated Press that her husband he was undergoing therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and was taking up to 12 medications to treat his condition.
Twiggs, who lived in Stafford with his wife, drove to the Grand Canyon with his 38-year -old brother, Willard J. Twiggs. When they arrived at the Canyon, police say the two tried to drive their car into the chasm in a suicide attempt. During the unsuccessful attempt, the car became lodged in a tree.
The two brothers later car-jacked another vehicle and drove it to the Arizona - Mexico boarder. Police say when asked to pull over for questioning, the two sped off leading police on an 80-mile pursuit.
Police eventually disabled the car by laying tire spikes on the roadway in front of the moving vehicle.
Once disabled, Twiggs then exited the car and shot his brother, then turned the gun on himself. Both men died at the scene.
Judy MCGillicuddy, a substance abuse therapist with the Rappahannock Community Services Board says her agency has seen an increase in PTSD cases, and that she works very closely with families to treat the disorder.
click post title for more
By Uriah A. Kiser
Published: June 6, 2008
STAFFORD — More and more soldiers returning from war are being treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an ailment that leaves families confused, torn, and for one local marine who suffered from the disorder, dead.
Last month Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N. Twiggs, 36, went absent without official leave from Quantico Marine Base on May 5. Officials there say he was assigned to the Warfare Laboratory, an Quantico-based agency that facilitates war games and devises ways to better operate Marine forces during ground combat.
Twiggs had served four tours in Iraq, one month in Afghanistan, according to Quantico officials.
Kelle Twiggs, his widow, told the Associated Press that her husband he was undergoing therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and was taking up to 12 medications to treat his condition.
Twiggs, who lived in Stafford with his wife, drove to the Grand Canyon with his 38-year -old brother, Willard J. Twiggs. When they arrived at the Canyon, police say the two tried to drive their car into the chasm in a suicide attempt. During the unsuccessful attempt, the car became lodged in a tree.
The two brothers later car-jacked another vehicle and drove it to the Arizona - Mexico boarder. Police say when asked to pull over for questioning, the two sped off leading police on an 80-mile pursuit.
Police eventually disabled the car by laying tire spikes on the roadway in front of the moving vehicle.
Once disabled, Twiggs then exited the car and shot his brother, then turned the gun on himself. Both men died at the scene.
Judy MCGillicuddy, a substance abuse therapist with the Rappahannock Community Services Board says her agency has seen an increase in PTSD cases, and that she works very closely with families to treat the disorder.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
1st Sgt. Travis Twiggs wife hears of death on the news
Lily Casura is doing what a good reporter should do if they really care about the suffering of veterans more than getting the story in print and then dropping it as if the person really didn't matter at all. Well they did matter. They matter to their family, friends, neighbors and everyone else they came into contact with. Those who served with them have had tributes to him. Those who tried to help him in the VA have paid tribute to him. Yet we would know none of this if not for the tireless efforts of Lily. Now we know his wife did not even know he died or how he died until she saw the report on the news. How very sad it is that a hero falls due to wounds and the media finds nothing wrong with not giving us the rest of the story.
May 19, 2008
The Tragic Last Days of Travis "T-Bo" Twiggs:
Well, the national reporting on this story that we broke on Tuesday of last week has finally dribbled in – some of it good, most of it painfully mediocre – and none of it frankly enlightening, if you’ve been following his story here. (And btw, CNN hasn't covered it yet, though logically at some point they will have to, if only to keep up with the Joneses. It's pretty embarrassing to see what they deem worth covering instead, versus treating this American hero's death with any coverage at all.
Here is a slate of what CNN deemed more worthy of coverage just today (the breathless exclamation points are mine, but they seem in keeping with the "Mad magazine meets Entertainment Tonight!" reportage topics -- or is it becoming, "News of the World," with a little political commentary thrown in? More worth covering than Travis Triggs, four tours of duty and PTSD sufferer, we have: "Cancer survivor pitches no-hitter!" "Photographer snaps own javelin-spearing!" "Autistic boy, 13, banned from church!" "Wealthy Town Wants Its Own Currency!" and best/worst of all: "Yearbook [staff] switches kids' heads, bodies [in yearbook]!" I'm firmly convinced CNN is now staffed by 13 year old boys, who consider anything they'd talk about on at a sleepover camp, and how they'd talk about, to be the rule of thumb for how they choose the news.
A hard shock in the recent, actual news coverage about Travis Triggs was learning that his wife, Kellee, though she knew her husband was deeply troubled by PTSD, didn’t realize he was in Arizona, and didn’t learn that he killed himself, until she saw it on a news report. That has to just add to the horror of the whole situation. (At the end of this entry, we'll share some nice things people have been saying in Travis Twiggs' memory, about the man and the Marine.)
go here for more
http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/2008/05/t-bo-twiggs-tra.html
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N.Twiggs hugged Bush last month, died this month
Marine who died after cross-state chase wrote of war stress
Marine who died after Grand Canyon crash, carjacking, cross-state chase wrote of war stress
ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
AP News
May 17, 2008 11:17 EST
Last month, Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N. "T-Bo" Twiggs went to the White House with a group of Iraq war veterans called the Wounded Warriors Regiment and met the president.
Twiggs had been through four tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and months of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in which he said he was on up to 12 different medications.
"He said, `Sir, I've served over there many times, and I would serve for you any time,' and he grabbed the president and gave him a big hug," said Kellee Twiggs, his widow.
About two weeks later, Travis Twiggs went absent without leave from his job in Quantico, Va.
He and his brother drove to the Grand Canyon, where their car was found hanging in a tree in what appeared to be a failed attempt to drive into the chasm.
The brothers carjacked a vehicle at the park Monday. Two days later they were at a southwestern Arizona border checkpoint, and took off when they were asked to pull into a secondary inspection area, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Bernacke said.
Eighty miles later, the car was on the Tohono O'odham reservation, its tires wrecked by spike strips.
As tribal police and Border Patrol agents closed in, Twiggs, 36, apparently fatally shot his 38-year-old brother, Willard J. "Will" Twiggs, then killed himself.
Pinal County Sheriff's spokesman Mike Minter said no motive has been established. But Kellee Twiggs said the decorated Marine would still be alive if the military had given him enough help.
"All this violent behavior, him killing his brother, that was not my husband. If the PTSD would have been handled in a correct manner, none of this would have happened," she said in a telephone interview from Stafford, Va.
Travis Twiggs, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1993 and held the combat action ribbon, wrote about his efforts to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder in the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette.
The symptoms would disappear when he began each tour, he said, but came back stronger than ever when he came home.
go here for more
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/
Marine_who_died_after_cross_state_c_05172008.html
Marine who died after Grand Canyon crash, carjacking, cross-state chase wrote of war stress
ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
AP News
May 17, 2008 11:17 EST
Last month, Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N. "T-Bo" Twiggs went to the White House with a group of Iraq war veterans called the Wounded Warriors Regiment and met the president.
Twiggs had been through four tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and months of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in which he said he was on up to 12 different medications.
"He said, `Sir, I've served over there many times, and I would serve for you any time,' and he grabbed the president and gave him a big hug," said Kellee Twiggs, his widow.
About two weeks later, Travis Twiggs went absent without leave from his job in Quantico, Va.
He and his brother drove to the Grand Canyon, where their car was found hanging in a tree in what appeared to be a failed attempt to drive into the chasm.
The brothers carjacked a vehicle at the park Monday. Two days later they were at a southwestern Arizona border checkpoint, and took off when they were asked to pull into a secondary inspection area, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Bernacke said.
Eighty miles later, the car was on the Tohono O'odham reservation, its tires wrecked by spike strips.
As tribal police and Border Patrol agents closed in, Twiggs, 36, apparently fatally shot his 38-year-old brother, Willard J. "Will" Twiggs, then killed himself.
Pinal County Sheriff's spokesman Mike Minter said no motive has been established. But Kellee Twiggs said the decorated Marine would still be alive if the military had given him enough help.
"All this violent behavior, him killing his brother, that was not my husband. If the PTSD would have been handled in a correct manner, none of this would have happened," she said in a telephone interview from Stafford, Va.
Travis Twiggs, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1993 and held the combat action ribbon, wrote about his efforts to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder in the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette.
The symptoms would disappear when he began each tour, he said, but came back stronger than ever when he came home.
go here for more
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/
Marine_who_died_after_cross_state_c_05172008.html
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs suffering ends and so did his life today
My friend Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma has been tracking the story of Marine Sgt. Travis Twiggs. Today she found that he and his brother, ended their lives while on the run from police.
I know there are people out there who wonder why I care when they are involved in crimes. It's because I always wonder how many of their lives could have been saved as well as their victims if things were different. If they received the help they needed and if all of them were taken care of. I wonder if they would be like my Jack. If they would find that life is worth living again, that there are still joys yet to feel beneath the torment of PTSD. I wonder if Jack would have committed crimes if I had been able to just leave him so long ago instead of fighting for him when he could not find reason to fight for himself to have his claim approved or obtain the help he needed because he went to Vietnam. There are so many things I wonder in all of this and every time I read any story about any of them dealing with PTSD, I see Jack, what our lives were and what they have become.
Twiggs served the country and did what few ever have to do and he didn't come out of it well. By the looks of it, he committed crimes but were they worthy of his death? Would he have been able to do what he seemed to have been able to do as a member of the armed forces if he had been given the help he needed? Would his victim have suffered if he was not left feeling abandoned? Did he feel abandoned? Did he lash out because of this? So many questions we will never know.
I'm grateful there are people out there like Lily who care. It's wonderful to know that if I were not here to care about Jack, Lily would. It's just a shame there are not more people like her in this country who care enough to do what she does.
May 14, 2008
RIP Travis N. Twiggs, USMC PTSD Sufferer
Very sad just breaking news in the USMC Staff Sergeant Travis N. Twiggs story we blogged about yesterday. See link for details. It sounds like authorities searching for Twiggs and his brother, wanted in an armed carjacking in the Grand Canyon on Monday, just killed themselves as they were being surrounded by police in Arizona today.
http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/
I know there are people out there who wonder why I care when they are involved in crimes. It's because I always wonder how many of their lives could have been saved as well as their victims if things were different. If they received the help they needed and if all of them were taken care of. I wonder if they would be like my Jack. If they would find that life is worth living again, that there are still joys yet to feel beneath the torment of PTSD. I wonder if Jack would have committed crimes if I had been able to just leave him so long ago instead of fighting for him when he could not find reason to fight for himself to have his claim approved or obtain the help he needed because he went to Vietnam. There are so many things I wonder in all of this and every time I read any story about any of them dealing with PTSD, I see Jack, what our lives were and what they have become.
Twiggs served the country and did what few ever have to do and he didn't come out of it well. By the looks of it, he committed crimes but were they worthy of his death? Would he have been able to do what he seemed to have been able to do as a member of the armed forces if he had been given the help he needed? Would his victim have suffered if he was not left feeling abandoned? Did he feel abandoned? Did he lash out because of this? So many questions we will never know.
I'm grateful there are people out there like Lily who care. It's wonderful to know that if I were not here to care about Jack, Lily would. It's just a shame there are not more people like her in this country who care enough to do what she does.
Strange twist in life of Marine 1st Sgt. Travis Twiggs
May 14, 2008
The War Within Takes Down Another Victim
How quickly, it would seem, one can go from badass to bad apple. USMC Staff Sergeant Travis N. Twiggs, please, say it ain't so. I so want to believe this is a case of mistaken identity, or that somehow out there might be several Travis Twiggs, roaming America, with their country music star-sounding names. But at this particular moment, that just seems a tad unlikely.
Some background. On January 8, 2008, and then again on April 23, 2008, we wrote about Travis Twiggs on this blog. See entries here and here. Twiggs is/was a USMC 1st sergeant or staff sergeant, from the 2nd battalion, 6th regiment, company G, who had served four(!) tours in Iraq, including most recently in Fallujah. That's a photo of him on the left, just a month or so ago, touring a plant in North Carolina, and thanking them for sending his guys specialized socks in Iraq (Thor-Lo). I've cropped the photo but he's talking with a seamstress at the plant, and he presented the company with a flag that was flown in Iraq for their support. All good so far.
His story initially came to my attention because Washington Post columnist and well-known military author Tom Ricks wrote about Twiggs briefly in January.
Twiggs has been forthcoming about his battle with PTSD, and has told his story compellingly, most recently in the Marine Corps Gazette, in January of this year, in an article entitled, "PTSD: The War Within. A Marine writes about his PTSD experience." I wanted to secure Twiggs' permission to retell his story in full on this blog, in his words, but although he attached his email address to the article, and other email addresses have surfaced, no reply was forthcoming to my email requests. Nor did the Marine Corps Gazette respond. This, and some things he said in his article, both gave me pause, and made me wonder -- was his story really such a resounding success after all?
click above for more
The War Within Takes Down Another Victim
How quickly, it would seem, one can go from badass to bad apple. USMC Staff Sergeant Travis N. Twiggs, please, say it ain't so. I so want to believe this is a case of mistaken identity, or that somehow out there might be several Travis Twiggs, roaming America, with their country music star-sounding names. But at this particular moment, that just seems a tad unlikely.
Some background. On January 8, 2008, and then again on April 23, 2008, we wrote about Travis Twiggs on this blog. See entries here and here. Twiggs is/was a USMC 1st sergeant or staff sergeant, from the 2nd battalion, 6th regiment, company G, who had served four(!) tours in Iraq, including most recently in Fallujah. That's a photo of him on the left, just a month or so ago, touring a plant in North Carolina, and thanking them for sending his guys specialized socks in Iraq (Thor-Lo). I've cropped the photo but he's talking with a seamstress at the plant, and he presented the company with a flag that was flown in Iraq for their support. All good so far.
His story initially came to my attention because Washington Post columnist and well-known military author Tom Ricks wrote about Twiggs briefly in January.
Twiggs has been forthcoming about his battle with PTSD, and has told his story compellingly, most recently in the Marine Corps Gazette, in January of this year, in an article entitled, "PTSD: The War Within. A Marine writes about his PTSD experience." I wanted to secure Twiggs' permission to retell his story in full on this blog, in his words, but although he attached his email address to the article, and other email addresses have surfaced, no reply was forthcoming to my email requests. Nor did the Marine Corps Gazette respond. This, and some things he said in his article, both gave me pause, and made me wonder -- was his story really such a resounding success after all?
click above for more
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