"These harrowing photos tell the story of post-traumatic stress disorder in a way no other medium could. Photographer Craig Walker won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for this mesmerizing series on Scott Ostrom, a former Marine suffering from PTSD after serving 4 years in Iraq. These photos were taken in December of 2011.
In today's community of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, one in five suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. Brian Scott Ostrom is one of them. After serving four years as a reconnaissance marine and deploying twice to Iraq, Scott, now 27, returned home to the U.S. with a severe case of PTSD. "The most important part of my life already happened. The most devastating. The chance to come home in a box. Nothing is ever going to compare to what I've done, so I'm struggling to be at peace with that," Scott said.
Brian Scott Ostrom cups his hand over his mouth as he tries to calm a panic attack at his apartment in Boulder, Colo. Scott says it's been hard to find meaning in his life since 2007, when he was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps.
Scott counts the stitches in his wrist a few days after he attempted suicide.
Scott lays on the floor with his dog, Jibby. He was exhausted and said, 'I'm tired of having bad f------ dreams. I can't take a nap because I'll feel worse. I fall asleep, but it doesn't make it better. Everybody says, 'With time, with time it will all go away.' So I'm waiting. He often credited his dog with saving his life. 'For me Jibby is very therapeutic. ... Sometimes I feel like a burden when I unload my emotions on friends, but Jibby's always there, regardless of what mood I'm in.'
Scott drinks a beer outside the VFW Post in Longmont, Colo. Scott recalled his worst day in Iraq. 'We got this infantry platoon attached to us to beef up our numbers. ... There was this one guy, and I knew right away that we were going to be friends. ... The vehicle he was riding in the passenger seat hit a really big bomb that day - really big IED, and it trapped him inside the humvee, and I got to listen to and watch him scream as he burned. And I never learned his name. There was nothing I could do. ... I lost a friend that I never had.'
Scott talks with his attorney, Christopher Griffin, at the Boulder County Justice Center. Scott had been charged with third-degree assault but ultimately pleaded guilty to harassment. A violation of a protection order was dismissed, and he pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired. Griffin said he was concerned for young veterans. 'We send these kids off to war -- we make them see things people otherwise wouldn't have to see. Then we expect them to come back and behave like the rest of us. It's breaking my heart.' "
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