Joseph Patrick Dwyer served his country. He joined the US military a few days after 9/11 and served as a medic in Iraq. This photo went around the word, he was embarrassed about being a called a hero and receiving honours for his service.

He came home and began to fight a battle that killed him.  His family did all they could to help him get help for PTSD. He lost his fight June 28th and died of an overdose. Editor and Publisher:

When he returned from war after three months in Iraq, he developed the classic, treatable symptoms of PTSD. like so many other combat vets, he didn’t seek help. In restaurants, he sat with his back to the wall. He avoided crowds. He stayed away from friends. He abused inhalants, he told Newsday. In 2005, he and his family talked with Newsday to try to help other service members who might need help. He talked with the paper from a psychiatric ward at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he was committed after his first run-in with the police.

His parents are speaking out on the hidden wounds, the lack of care for returning vets. So are top mental health professionals:

Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He briefed reporters today at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in Washington.

Insel echoed a Rand Corporation study published last month that found about 20 percent of returning U.S. soldiers have post- traumatic stress disorder or depression, and only half of them receive treatment. About 1.6 million U.S. troops have fought in the two wars since October 2001, the report said. About 4,560 soldiers had died in the conflicts as of today, the Defense Department reported on its Web site.

Romeo Delaire helped bring  PTSD in the Canadian military to the attention of the Department of Defense and the public.  Private Frédéric Couture of the Royal 22nd Regiment who served in Afghanistan committed suicide in November.  He suffered in silence when he came home to Quebec.

Couture was 21 when he was injured by a landmine while on patrol in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province in December 2006.

In media interviews, Couture put on a brave front, telling TVA network his morale was good despite the injury that required part of his leg be amputated.

“It’s war over there,” he said. “I was injured and that’s part of the risk of my job.”

Couture’s best friend told TVA that the soldier insisted he was fine and was even looking forward to going back to his job at CFB Val Cartier.

But retired soldier Georges Dumont told CTV News that, according to Couture’s mother, the private had turned down offers of counselling to help him deal with trauma of war.

“He wasn’t getting any help because he wasn’t admitting that he was having a problem,” Dumont said.

Canadian military and mental health experts say 28 percent of active duty military need help with PTSD and Canada does not have the services, facilities and personnel in place to help them.