Tom Ricks's Inbox
Tom Ricks's Inbox

Sunday, January 6, 2008

People sometimes talk about the sacrifices made by U.S. troops without grasping just

what that means. In the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette, a Marine infantryman, Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, recounts how he slowly came to recognize that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving one tour in Afghanistan and two in Iraq:

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That third trip did not go as planned. I lost two Marines less than two months after arriving in theater. I cannot describe what a leader feels like when he does not bring everyone home. . . .

I checked into my new command about 1 1/2 months later. My first day was painful. I couldn't seem to function around others. The sergeant major sent me home and told me to be standing outside his door at 0700 the following morning. The next morning arrived and the sergeant major told me to come into his office and take a seat. He asked me if I knew what PTSD was. He then told me I had it bad and asked me if I knew how he knew this? I replied, "No, I don't," and he responded that it was because he had it too -- that he could see himself in me.

That afternoon I checked myself into the medical clinic. While I was there I met a physician's assistant named Laurie Giertz. She had a list hanging on her wall of 10 symptoms Marines experience upon returning from combat. She asked me to read them and tell her if I had any of them. . . . I told her that I had all of them.

But simple recognition wasn't sufficient, especially after Twiggs was sent back for yet another tour in Iraq.

When I arrived back in the States, it was as though I had never left. All of my symptoms were back, and now I was in the process of destroying my family. That was all taking place because I did not understand what was happening to me. . . .

Well, I ended up back in Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center], and this time I was in a locked ward where I would remain for two weeks. At Bethesda I was not exactly a model patient. I was experiencing psychosis where I would fight my way through the hallways and clear rooms as if I were back in theater. The hospital police would have to be called in to secure me. . . .

Looking back now, as with everything in life, the answers seemed so simple. . . . [L]ife with my family is wonderful again. Don't get me wrong; the PTSD is not completely gone. There can be a helicopter passing or a loud noise or even certain words and it will remind me of the past. It's just that now I know how to deal with it. . . .

If you have any of these symptoms and you can't get help, you can always contact me, regardless of your rank. . . . My e-mail is travis.twiggs@usmc.mil, and I will help anyone in need.

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Tom Ricks is The Post's military correspondent. This feature aims to give readers a snapshot of the conversations about Iraq, Afghanistan and other matters that play out in Ricks's e-mail inbox. Have an interesting document? Send it to TheInbox@washpost.com.