Originally Posted by
kevansvault
This guy saw action in theater twice, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and received a Purple Heart. My heart goes out to his family. He left us far too young. There are so many who come home from war who are weary and don't know how to adjust to life in a place where they don't have to be on guard 101% of the time. It both saddens and angers me that so many come home so troubled. I don't know, but I suspect his heroin use was just to escape these feelings and perhaps the nightmares of things he saw or felt while deployed. Being a soldier deployed to a foreign land isn't like policing in a neighboring city here in the US. At least here you know that a majority of the male population isn't going to shoot you in the head. Over there, you have to suspect everyone of being a terrorist, and you trust none but your own. Combine that stress with the fact that you're in a foreigner's land, with their customs and people all around you that don't want you there and that will wear a person down to their breaking point.
Bradley Payne, thank you for your service to our country. May you rest in peace.