Iraq War Silently Claims Another Hero

If you 'Google' Joseph Dwyer you'll get an assortment of returns. There's B-list actor with the name as well as an investor with a boat load of advice featured on Forbes.com.

Sprinkled in your results is a tragically but equally anonymous Joseph Dwyer. You have most certainly seen this one, though. His picture was plastered everywhere in 2003 shortly after the start of the Iraq war. The Bush administrtion no doubt saw Pfc. Dwyer, an Army medic as their war's answer to the flag raising at Iwo Jima from 1945.

Joseph Dwyer was tormented by his experiences in Iraq. He reached out for help many times after returning. It seems no one was more aware of the toll his experience had taken than he was. After his return from the war, Dwyer found himself in legal troubles and involved with scrapes with a police force that reveared him and feared for him. Eventually, he lost his marriage and his daughter and had become addicted to compressed aerosol air, often used to clean computers and electronics.

Dwyer's tale is a tragic although not uncommon one. His photo tapped into what most Americans hoped the war would be; brave young Americans saving the lives of Iraqis. The photo gave even the most cynical anti-war zealot a shot of pride.

In the end, his experinces ate at him to the point that it destroyed his life. He died alone, probably scared, most certainly tormented. I wonder who noticed. I wonder if any of the scores of war hawks who used Dwyer's photograph as support of our occupation noticed. Do you think Karl Rove knew who Joseph Dwyer was? I would love to know if the President or Vice President called the family. I'm guessing not; Mr. Dwyer had served his purpose.
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