Former California National Guard Staff Sgt. Francisco Carrillo says he has suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ever since his tour of Iraq five years ago, but as I've been reporting here, the Army says he's lying. Carillo's claim is supported, however, by numerous doctors as well as his former platoon leaders.
As the Army Times reports, Darryl Lyons, a therapist with 649th Engineer Company, diagnosed Carillo with PTSD in 2006. In addition to Lyons, seven other medical professionals have reportedly diagnosed Carrillo with PTSD. Carrillo has been seeing Stephen Diggs, a Chico, Calif., psychologist, once a week for the past two years. Diggs told the Sacramento Bee:
Carrillo's platoon sergeant, Retired Sgt. 1st Class Norman Valdez, who was injured in an IED attack at which Carillo was present and has shrapnel in his body, also insists Carillo is telling the truth and notes that the 29 Purple Hearts awarded to his company of 105 soldiers proves the level of violence Carrillo's unit sustained. Carrillo says his company was assigned to provide security for Joint Base Balad. As a squad leader, Carrillo regularly went on patrols searching for IEDs and executing raids to capture weapons and insurgents.
Valdez told the Army Times:
