GI in Iconic Photo Dies of Overdose

GI in Iconic Photo Dies of Overdose

July 03, 2008
Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
PINEHURST -- Joseph Patrick Dwyer, a former Army medic who became famous after he was photographed helping a wounded Iraqi boy, died June 28 from an apparent overdose. He was 31.

In March 2003, then-Pfc. Dwyer became a symbol of heroism.

In the first week of the Iraq war, photographer Warren Zinn snapped a picture of Dwyer spiriting a half-naked, wounded Iraqi boy to a makeshift military hospital.

As quick as a shot, the photo traveled around the world on the front pages of newspapers and magazines.

Dwyer, who was at first misidentified as Joseph DeWitt, became an instant celebrity.

The photo of the grimacing boy cradled in the arms of a hustling soldier had mass appeal.

Dwyer, however, was uncomfortable in the spotlight. He tried to deflect the fame back onto his unit. He told reporters that he was part of a team that was trying to help wounded Iraqis that day.

"To be honest ... I was embarrassed by it," he told a reporter in 2005.

A few years later, he would be in the news again. But this time the coverage would be less flattering.

In October 2005, Dwyer was charged with discharging a firearm in a municipality, a misdemeanor, after a three-hour standoff with Texas police.

Dwyer, who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, told a Newsday reporter that he was firing at imaginary Iraqis. He thought they were preparing to attack his apartment.

"I know I don't need to be carrying a weapon," Dwyer told Newsday in 2005 from a hospital where he was being treated for PTSD. "And I'm scared of going home without having one, even though I know probably nobody's going to attack me."

In the Newsday story, Dwyer and his friends also admitted that Dwyer abused inhalants.

Bottles of prescription pills and Dust-Off, an aerosol computer cleaner, were found near Dwyer when police entered his home Saturday, said Capt. Floyd Thomas of the Pinehurst Police Department.

Dwyer had called Sandhills Transportation on Saturday night to take him to the hospital after an apparent overdose, Thomas said. When the cab driver arrived, Dwyer was lying on the floor. Dwyer told the driver he could not get to the door, according to the police report.

The driver called police, who kicked in the door of the Longleaf Drive home at Dwyer's request.

"Help me, please," Dwyer told police through his front door. "I'm dying. Help me. I can't breathe."

After being loaded into an ambulance, medics performed CPR, according to the police report. He was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m. at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.

Call to serve

In a 2003 interview with The Fayetteville Observer, Dwyer said he joined the Army two days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

When the planes hit, Dwyer feared that his brother, Patrick Jr., a police officer in New York, had been killed in the attacks. Patrick survived, but Dwyer felt a call to serve.

"I just didn't want another family member feeling the way I did that day," he said. "I had to do something."

Dwyer served with the 3rd Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment of Fort Stewart, Ga. He earned the Combat Medical Badge and other military awards.

Dwyer is survived by his wife of five years, Matina Brown Dwyer of Pinehurst; a daughter, Meagan Kaleigh Dwyer; his parents, Patrick Dennis and Maureen Higgins Dwyer; a sister, Christine Dwyer-Ogno of New York; four brothers, Brian, Patrick and Daniel Dwyer, all of New York, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Dwyer of Andrews Air Force Base.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Patrick John Dwyer, and a sister, Mary Elizabeth Dwyer.

A funeral Mass was at 10 a.m. July 2 at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Southern Pines. He was buried in Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery in Spring Lake.

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The PTSD demons claim another victim, these men and women with PTSD that are dying deserve to be counted in the war dead, the war is the cause of death.....

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