http://www.salon.com/news/primary_sources/2009/02/12/coming_home_three/print.html



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"I will break your f---ing face"

 A written statement from John Needham, who suffers from PTSD, describing an encounter with an officer at Fort Carson.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna

Editor's note: After John Needham was diagnosed with PTSD in 2007, he was sent to Fort Carson. An advocate advised him to keep notes on how he was treated while at Fort Carson. In the document below, Needham describes what happened when his medications caused him to fall asleep on a desk. On the next page are photos of Needham in Iraq, as well as a photo of his return to Colorado.

Feb. 12, 2009 |

statement

Needham in his Humvee in Iraq around August 2007, a month prior to his suicide attempt.

Needham on patrol in Iraq.

Needham on patrol in Iraq.

After being diagnosed with PTSD, John Needham was sent back to the U.S., and eventually to Fort Carson. He was greeted at Denver International Airport by Georg-Andreas Pogany, at the time an investigator for the advocacy organization Veterans for America. [Photo by Michael de Yoanna]

-- By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna