Some Iraq veterans come home to battles that never end

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_6520489

When Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey returned from his tour of duty in Iraq, he looked like a kid who had lucked out. No visible wounds. But looks aren't everything.

He had nightmares and nausea, drank heavily and showed other signs of depression. He threw his dog tags at his sister and called himself a ''murderer.'' He told his sister he had ''a rope and tree picked out'' behind the family home.

Then in June 2004, a few months after his return, he went to the basement of his parents' home in Belchertown, Mass., arranged photos of his family and his platoon on the floor, and hanged himself with a garden hose. He was 23 years old.

His parents, Kevin and Joyce Lucey, filed suit last week, charging that the Department of Veterans Affairs denied help for their son's mental problems, beyond three and a half days of involuntary commitment at a local Veteran Affairs hospital.

[unhappycamper]

1. That's an incredibly sad story.

I've spent some time with the Luceys; their lives have been changed forever.