US Army Vet, Joseph Dwyer, Seen in Iconic Photo of Iraq War Dies of Overdose
dublin |
anti-war / imperialism |
other press 
Tuesday July 08, 2008 17:01
by Maureen
"He wasn’t Joseph anymore. Joseph never came home.”
US Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, famous for the photo that was ruthlessly employed for propaganda, feelgood, purposes has died at the age of thirty-one after overdosing on a computer cleaner aerosol. The Army Specialist had been struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome. After his return from Iraq, his marriage fell apart, and he spiraled into substance abuse and depression.
In 2005, he shot up his El Paso, Texas apartment and held police at bay for three hours with a 9-mm handgun, believing Iraqis were trying to get in. The March 2003 photo showing Dwyer carrying an Iraqi child to safety was published world-wide and has been described as one of the most "iconic" images of the US invasion. His mother Maureen Dwyer said, “He loved the picture, don’t get me wrong, but he just couldn’t get over the war. He wasn’t Joseph anymore. Joseph never came home.”