Soldier In Famous Iraq Photo Dies

Army Medic Struggled To Cope With Paralyzing Anxiety After Returning From Iraq

(CBS/AP)  A former Army medic made famous by a photograph that showed him carrying an injured Iraqi boy during the first week of the war in March 2003 has died of an apparent overdose, police said.

The photograph of Joseph Patrick Dwyer running to a makeshift military hospital while cradling the boy appeared in newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts worldwide.

Dwyer died late last month at a hospital in Pinehurst, according to the Boles Funeral Home. He was 31.

After the photo was published, Dwyer laughed when a reporter told him of its widespread circulation and tried to deflect focus to his entire unit. His mother, Maureen, said then that the photo embarrassed her son because it singled him out while other soldiers were doing the same thing.

Warren Zinn, 30, the former Military Times photographer who captured the image, is now a law student at the University of Miami.

“The sad thing is that he clearly had a problem coming back from this war and nothing was done about it, or not enough was done,” Zinn told Army Times.

On June 28, Dwyer called a local taxi service to take him to the hospital after an apparent overdose, Capt. Floyd Thomas of the Pinehurst Police Department told the Fayetteville Observer. When the driver arrived, Dwyer said he couldn't get to the door, according to a police report.

Police kicked in the door at Dwyer's request, and he was taken by ambulance to a Pinehurst hospital. Thomas said bottles of prescription pills were found near Dwyer when police arrived. The former medic died later that night, according to authorities.

Dwyer's parents told a Newsday reporter that they had struggled to get help for their son. He had received treatment off and on in VA facilities, but he was never able to shake his anxieties.

"Every second that goes by, there is another soldier just like Joseph," Maureen Dwyer told Newsday. "Another family can't go through this. All the politicians talk so great about the soldiers, about patriotism, but mental illness is something they are not putting enough into."

Dwyer served with the 3rd Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment of Fort Stewart, Ga. He earned the Combat Medical Badge and other military awards.

[impeach__w]

Everyone has their demons they live with. You service members who fought don''t need to spend the rest of your lives fighting the VA. But you will.

THE VA WANTS YOU TO DIE OFF BEFORE THEY HAVE TO TREAT ANYTHING OR ADDRESS AN ISSUE.

What ever happened to you in the military will not be acknowedged or acted upon until 40 years of inconclusive VA studies determine if your condition can be traced directly to whetever it is they are studying. (next to impossible)

Here is a clue- No condition can ever be traced back the a direct cause the Military is responsible for and if they ever do, it will be 60 years later.

[netadmin1-2009]

I am a disabled veteran and the VA has taken good care of me. I had to be patient but the patience has paid off. Anyone needing VA care needs to stick with it and they will take care of you. Don''t throw in the white towel -

[caliengineer]

Rest in peace brother in arms.

[barbaraf4]

God bless you, Joseph Patrick Dwyer. God bless all the men and women who will fight their own devils for the rest of their lives.

There is a special place in h*e*l*l for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and all the others who destroyed so many lives for their own financial gain.

[theduckbash1]

It''s a shame, us Soldiers are ask to make sacrificies and we''re held accountable. Nobody is making the VA accountable for their lack of service provided.

[smurfcrusher]

"God bless you, Joseph Patrick Dwyer. God bless all the men and women who will fight their own devils for the rest of their lives.

There is a special place in h*e*l*l for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and all the others who destroyed so many lives for their own financial gain."

Posted by barbaraf4

So say we all.

[labrat9999]

barbaraf4..I second your response! How sad that this is how we treat our soliders. I too have suffered the loss of a nephew who returned from his second trip to Iraq depressed and put a gun to his head and killed himself. That was after my brother had spoke to him then called the base Chaplin asking them to please go to his house and see if he was alright. Response...we''ll check on him in the morning. Unfortunately by then he had taken his own life. And by the way, I too am a disable vet so don''t try to comfort me with "the VA" is doing there best. I went through the process and it took nearly a year. I''m not blaming the VA...it is those that provide them the funding and tools to do their job. The VA is a good group of folks trying as hard as they can with the limited resources. But just like the new GI bill...this is not a priority for Bush and McSame!

[mswolfestock]

The Veterans Administration -

HALLS OF SHAME

To all of the VA workers I must ask - how can any of you sleep at night, how can any of you live with yourselves, knowing that through your inaction and denial, FINE YOUNG AMERICANS ARE DYING AND IT''S ALL YOUR FAULT.

[wakeup60]

Joseph Patrick Dwyer...No more pain and suffering...sleep sweet one. Sincerest of Sympathies to your family and loved ones...You will be greatly missed.WE WILL "ALL" MISS YOU AND ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS IN THE SERVICE THAT HAVE OPTED TO TAKE THEIR OWN LIVES...
What a trememdous loss...unfathomable loss. "One" loss is too much from this so-called "WAR"!!! And we still go on counting the notches on mr. bush''s ego belt/EACH DAY!...DON''T WE!!!...A TOTAL DISGRACE FOR OUR COUNTRY...NOT TO TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN/OUR SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS/THE V.A. IS "NOT" TAKING HOLD AND HELPING WITH THE ULTIMATE CARE THESE PRECIOUS YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN NEED AND DESERVE!! A CRYING SHAME! BUT LET''S SEND 4 BILLION EVERY TWO WEEKS TO HELP OUT THE DESPICABLE MESS BUSH HAS LEAD US DOWN THE PIKE...FOR ALMOST "7"- COUNT THEM-"7" YEARS...AND NOT TAKE CARE OF OUR KIDS!GO ON VACATION GEORGE...GO TO BED EARLY AGAIN TONIGHT...YOUR "SURGE" IS WORKING/WE ARE "WINNING"/YES, IT IS WORKING...IT IS KILLING THE PRIDE OF OUR COUNTRY/OUR KIDS EACH AND EVERY DAY FOR "NO" REASON!BRING THEM HOME AND ASSIST WITH THEIR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH...WE OWE THEM MORE ...MUCH MORE THAN THAT! GET THEM HOME-NOW!!! OBAMA ''08!

[credibility2]

God bless him and his tormented soul. God keep his loved ones strong during this time. How really tragic that he felt compelled to do this and that he hadn''t anyone to turn to or any where to go to for help. This is shameful. This is an American tragedy. This is something both candidates should be aggressively addressing while doing their stumps and pressing the flesh.

[hangelle]

An injured soldier should not need patience to receive adequate care. *** this war and those who tricked these young people into thinking their government had their backs. I could not despise them more.

[andrew_693]

another tragedy o this stupid war. Meanwhile Bush''s daughters get to enjoy their honeymoon of booze and ***. Now I understand "Mr ten deferments" Cheney and why he didn''t want to go to war.

[six-6-seis]

Someone should stick this photo in the oval office.

[omded]

Sadly, the same thing happened after the Vietnam War. Many Vietnam Veterans are roaming the streets homeless because of mental disabilities that resulted from the war, but have not been adequately treated by the Veterans Administration. Sadly, this administration, like some before it, only see our soldiers as meat to be thrown into the grinder. Perhaps the thing that most angers me about this administration is the way they''ve consistantly accused anyone who dissagrees with their war policy of being "anti-soldier", or "not supporting our troops". How can anyone with a heart, and a true concern for our soldiers ever criticize someone for wanting to bring these young men and women home? How can anyone with a heart, and a true concern for our soldiers ever criticize someone for not wanting to send any more soldiers off to this war? The people who do truly characterize the word "evil".

[fee1free4u]

I hope to read the same story about McVet or SgtRDS some day. That would rock.

[spadeisspade]

Are they tacking on the deaths back home that were directly related to the Iraq war to the total number of soldier deaths? Soldier suicide is quadruple what it was prior to it.

[omded]

Fee1Free4U,
Why do you hate true Americans so much? Are you from another country than the U.S.A.?

[babooph]

After ww2 Truman & Ike did much for vets-this new lowgrade bunch use them up ,dump them out & sucker in a fresh batch-the propaganda system helps with the scam.

[o2bewealthy]

This is a bipartisan tragedy - it doesn''t matter, your political stance. The fact is, it''s to our country''s utter shame that we aren''t taking care of the mental health of not only our veterans, but of the population, in general. The country seems to have inherited a kind of "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality that is doubly forced on our military population. Mental health care in the country is shabby at best, and criminal, at worst. Until someone picks up the battle cry for the mentally ill, we will continue to see more of these kinds of tragedies. My sympathies to the Dwyer family and all other families affected by this war.

[noloyalisti]

FeelFree4U, keep up the good work on this blog and elsewhere. Give no quarter to the righties for what they have done to our country. They are the ones who are not patriotic. They are the ones that should leave if they don''t like the new liberal progressive America. They want the same old same old and being brave with other people''s kids. Shame on them, shame on McSame. Shame on the Greasy Old Pervert party, the party of death and big government!

[whiskyrocker]

Another fallen soldier.Go easy brother.

[bladan58z]

The Saudis want bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bin Laden is simply an instrument of death. How many Americans died there or in this country afterward? The Saudis demand $200 a barrel for oil. The United States pays its money and human lives to this war.

[hwy71so]

"The Veterans Administration -

HALLS OF SHAME

To all of the VA workers I must ask - how can any of you sleep at night, how can any of you live with yourselves, knowing that through your inaction and denial, FINE YOUNG AMERICANS ARE DYING AND IT''''S ALL YOUR FAULT.

Posted by mswolfestock at 04:36 PM : Jul 08, 2008"

Do you really think its the VA WORKERS at fault?

Wow, we''ve got a winner!!!

...or is that weener?

[whiskyrocker]

Hwy71So :
Have you ever been treated at a VA hospital?

[parrot123-2009]

Every second that goes by, there is another soldier just like Joseph," Maureen Dwyer told Newsday. "Another family can''t go through this. All the politicians talk so great about the soldiers, about patriotism, but mental illness is something they are not putting enough into."


We know she''s no fan of McSame. *** Repugs.

[indyvet66]

Tens of Thousands of our returning troops have had serious trouble adjusting during and after the war. Traumatic Stress is real and it''s part of the reason that many Vietnam vets are still all screwed up even 40 years later.

Normal humans are not meant to kill other people, even if the cause is right. War ruins lives.

The real shame is that the U. S. Government is so *** quick to pull the trigger on a war and guys like Bush and McCain talk all the time about supporting the troops...but when soldiers actually need help, the %u201Csupport%u201D from Bush and McCain vanishes.

For example, McCain recently opposed the new G.I. Bill that had overwhelming bi-partisan support. The new G.I. Bill dramatically expands educational benefits for our soldiers.

McCain refused to support this bill because he felt that the benefits were too good - that too many soldiers might leave active duty to get their degrees.

So there you have it. John McCain says he supports the men and women who are fighting for us - that is, until it is time to repay them for their service to America.

Go easy Brother Joseph.

[armydog2]

Rest in Peace, You will not be forgotten,

[lambor59]

90% percent of returned service men had post war syndrome, many will die, many will end up on the streets, many will be in prisons....Just like it was after Vietnam war, this is the real cost of war. Bush and his criminal regime is held responsible for this aftermath.

[lambor59]

Mission accomplished Mr Bush, you just killed another young man, we''d rather see you die than seeing this soldier perished, he believed in your lies.