by Bonnie J. Tierney

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER . . .

THE SILENT AND DEADLY COST OF WAR

A person with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) will grasp onto anything or anyone to keep them alive, to keep them feeling good, to take away the pain, to feel anything about themselves inside.

On October 23, 1983, 241 Marines were killed in their sleep during the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. For almost 30 days, Lieutenant Bonnie J. (Caceres) Tierney was the Mass Casualty Officer at Rhein Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany, assigned to help identify and process the body parts. Day after day, she did her duty, while trying to detach from the horror of it all.

Her first thoughts of suicide began while she was stationed in Germany.

What followed was more than 20 years of depression, isolation, nightmares, panic attacks and reckless behavior, until she finally sought professional help. She was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition that plagues our servicemen and servicewomen who have witnessed the unspeakable.

This is Bonnie's poignant story.