I am so sorry to hear of this... As an active member of the US forces and from Pennsylvania this hits pretty close to home. I too was diagnosed with PTSD but the challenge was actually getting diagnosed as a woman with PTSD. I am grateful to say that has gotten better for me since my return in Jan 2008. The nightmares have slowed down and the flashbacks are almost non existent these days. But as you did, I had to BEG for help! After an alcohol related incident it opened some peoples eyes because I wasn't the same person I was before I left nor will I ever be. I am sorry for all the people that loss in this terrible tragedy. Its so easy for outsiders to look in and judge. I am also sorry for that. I hope your husband gets the help he needs and deserves and I hope this story helps someone else down the road! If the signs are there, please get help!

I just wanted to thank nick for all he has done for our country. I know this is hard for you and i want you to know i will pray for you all. God will work this out for you. Have faith and God bless you both. Thank you Nick for all you did.

People's whole attitude about this infuriates me. It's not their kids who are dying and who's lives are being ruined because they are all going to college and getting those degrees and making those decisions for other less fortunate people. These doctors and social workers who have never served a day of service for their country are trying to tell me what PTSD is like. I don't have a bunch of sympathy for anyone about the repercussion of that. You pay the bill one way or the other; with blood or money. That's just how it is.

I feel so bad for you and your families. I, too, have a son who served in Iraq Feb '04-Feb '05. and He was diagnosed with PTSD before leaving Iraq. Then spent 5 months in Germany, where he recieved no follow up evaluation. Once home in the states, he had trouble with nightmares, memory loss, flashbacks, suicidal and homicidal thoughts. He went to the VA fior help and was told he didn't need it. 9 months after returning, he was out drinking, met a man, befriended him and at the end of the night was giving him a ride back to his hotel. The gentleman passed out in the vehicle and could not give directions, so my son pulled over to the side of the road to put him out. The next thing my son remembers is driving down the road feeling something sticky on his arm. He turned on the light and found his arm covered in blood. he had just killed the man. He was found "not guilty by reason of insanity" and he spent a year and 1/2 in jail, and psychiatric hospitals since. he has applied for his VA benefits 3 times and been turned down each time. He is doing much better now with all the counselling he has recieved. I just wanted to let you know you are not alone in your struggle. You have to stay strong. My son's court records are open and can be reviewed. He was in Flagler County, Fl. Hope this might help.

I recently found your website through a friend of mine. My heart goes out to you, your husband and family. I am the mother of an Iraq war veteran who is also incarcerated due to a PTSD related incident. You are not alone. There are so many of us out there. This is becoming an epidemic, and we have to make this country see what an atrocity it is to have someone fight for their country, come home with the mental wounds of war, fall through the cracks, and end up in prison, all because they gave this nation the honor of serving her. What has happened to Nick and all of our dear family members like him, is inexcusable. What does this kind of thing tell our future soldiers? It tells them that they should not serve, because they are used and thrown under the rug when they need help. What does it do to our families? It tears away the fabric of our families and affects wives, daughters, children, parents and grandparents. Does incarcerating these brave soldiers make them any more able to funtion as normal members of society? What do they get in return for their sleflessness? There are so many questions to be asked here. These young men and women DO deserve a chance to get the treatment that they deserve. After all, they gave their lives for US!

From one military wife to another, my heart goes out to you and your family. I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers and pray for justice for Nick. I hope that he gets the help he deserves and needs to deal with his PTSD.

I just read your story in our local paper this morning. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. My brother-in-law also served in Iraq, and came home a changed man. He hasn't had any brushes with the law, unless you consider divorce court a brush. His wife of 20 years divorced him after 3 years of being home. Saying she was "scared" of him. I've often wondered if her marriage vows were different than mine, because I seem to remember something about "in sickness and in health" being part of the ceremony. My husband and I have tried to help him as much as possible. He is doing somewhat better today, but it is still a struggle. I will be praying for you and your family.

My son was a US Marine who served two deployments in Iraq, coinciding with the two major battles of Fallujah. His experiences included much loss, gore, and many simply horrific events. He was honorably discharged when he finished his 4-year enlistment. In less than one year, he shot himself and died. It was somehow ironic and convoluted -- prayers were answered that he would survive the dangers of war and return home "safely." In reality he returned, but not safely at all, and not to a place he could somehow feel "at home" in again. He was deeply wounded in heart and mind, and lost the most difficult war of all, the "war within." He had the symptom set for PTSD, and was not the same young man at all that he was before his deployments. In my city, I am working hard to help establish new ways to reach out to our returning combat troops, hoping to help make veteran suicides ultimately become non-happenings. I am also proposing the formation of "The Military Order of the Wounded Heart," in order to honor the courageous service of our troops who serve heroically, but lose the war within, die "unheroically," and are swept under the rug of silence, shame, and stigma. To both families of the Horners and the Claars, and also the families of those victims who died as a result of Nick's wounded heart and mind gone disastrous, I am sorry for your losses. I pray that out of our interconnected tragedies, we will be able to build something from the ruins that will help our losses be "beginnings of an end," that with help, our veterans will live and help others live, instead of dying within and bringing death and untold suffering upon themselves and others.

My prayers are with you and your family. I couldn't imagine and am scared to imagine being a wife dealing with my husband having PTSD. Of coursed I would stand by his side no matter what!!! My husband has not been deployed yet. We know it is coming up soon though. And my worst fear of him going over there is for him to come back 'messed up in his head' as our daughter puts it. We have other friends that have come back having horrible nigthmares. But these soldiers said they would go back again because that is thier duty and what they signed up for. God bless you and your family!

My prayers and thanks to your husband.