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Nov 6, 2009 6:59 pm US/Central
PTSD Sufferers Burdened By Fort Hood Shooting
By Arezow Doost
FORT HOOD (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The shooting at Fort Hood is adding to the burden of those soldiers suffering psychological trauma from the war. CBS 11 News talked with one soldier suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after being deployed to Iraq.
With the shock settling in from Thursday's shooting, many soldiers say the last 24 hours have been as chaotic as combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.
As flags at Fort Hood waved at half-staff there was a somber silence. "I'm not feeling good," said Sgt. Howard Appleby, who suffers from PTSD.
Sgt. Appleby was on his way to get treatment for PTSD when he heard about the shooting. He immediately went to the scene and started to help. "I saw some guys whose leg was gone. Some had shots in their chest and one guy got shot in his neck," he recalled.
The 31-year-old soldier says he's still haunted by memories of Iraq and Thursday's shooting rampage is making him have flashbacks. "I think it's getting worse. I think seeing everything yesterday it's affecting a lot."
Sgt. Appleby says he's not at all surprised to hear Major Nidal Malik Hasan snap and be angry about going overseas. "There's a lot of guys who would do the same thing because they don't want to go to Iraq," Sgt. Appleby said. "When you got mental issues and mental stress most leadership don't really try to help you."
As Sgt. Appleby tries to find help, on this day he's struggling just to make sense of what happened.
There were extra counselors brought on to the post to help soldiers. A counseling center has also been set up at the Killeen Community Center for anyone affected by the shooting.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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