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10 Oct, 2011

US protesters march against war – chinadaily.com.cn

Ten years of war took a heavy toll on all military families around the country. Pat Alviso, a Marines mom whose son Beto has been deployed four times — twice to Iraq, and twice to Afghanistan — said the war left deep scars on his son.

“Every time we see him, he is different,” Alviso said. “We don’ t know what’s wrong with him.” She said Beto was really upset after his second deployment in Afghanistan, and now he just says ” It is what it is. I don’t want to talk about it.”

According to a recent a Pew Research Center poll released on Wednesday, 37 percent of servicemen who fought in the wars after 9/ 11 believe themselves to be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and 44 percent said they have had difficulties readjusting to civilian life.

Ben Kessler, a former Marine who fought in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2004, said he had trouble readjusting. “A lot of alcohol” was how he coped with it.

via US protesters march against war|Americas|chinadaily.com.cn.