http://www.ivaw.org/user/279Chris Wilson
Branch of service: United States Army (USA)
Unit: 25th ID 1st Bde (Strykers) 3/21 INF
Rank: SGT.
Home: Missouri
Served in: Mosul, Iraq Oct.04-Oct.05
...A short time after returning from Iraq I started having some problems dealing with what had just happened over the past year in Iraq. I became depressed among other things(later diagnosed with PTSD by civilian doctors.) I did not feel that I could go to my Chain of Command as a NCO and tell them how I was feeling and how I felt about what we had just done,without being ridiculed.
My opinion on what Iraq was all about changed dramatically once home for a few months and had told story after story to the inquiring civilians. It all became clear to me that what was taking place were war crimes and abuses of power. I could not be a part of that anymore, and I couldn't deal with what I done and seen...
January 2006 I went AWOL from Ft.Lewis. I've been gone about a year and a half at this point, and have been getting treated for my PTSD by a civilian psychologist. Recently I turned myself in at Ft.Knox and was told they could not "deal" with me there and they put me on a Greyhound bus for Ft.Lewis. Never made it there.
People need to listen up to what returning vets are saying and take us serious. We are the ones who have been there, we are the ones who know the truth. We put ourselves on the line, the least you can do is hear what we have to say.http://www.ivaw.org/user/279