Statue depicts courage, horror

The cost of war extends far beyond the battlefield, both in time and space.

That is why the new Rocky Point memorial for the late Pfc. Joseph Dwyer is so important, with its message about the unadvertised heroism and horrors of armed conflict.

Dwyer's service became notable due to a 2003 photograph by Army Times photographer Warren Zinn of the Mount Sinai-raised Army medic rescuing an injured Iraqi boy. The haunting image, which is the basis for the recently unveiled statue, was seen around the country and became a symbol of grit and danger in the Iraq War’s early days.

But that was only the beginning of Dwyer’s story.

Returning home after bloody service with an infantry division that one officer called "the tip of the tip of the spear," Dwyer had difficulties reacclimating to civilian life. He suffered delusions and driving accidents, telling his family he swerved at the sight of roadside bombs that were not there. He struggled with addiction. And in 2008, he lost his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse in North Carolina.

In hindsight, some of this horror might be visible in that famous photograph, in which a bespectacled young Dwyer stares into the distance with a tragic mixture of alarm and weary resolve. The kinds of experiences he had — what he saw, what he went through — could not be wiped away with a plane ride home. That is true then and now for so many service members and first responders to war, disaster, or disease.

Dwyer is not the first 21st century veteran to be honored in our region. There are other necessary New York memorials to the heroes of America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including a Lake Ronkonkoma plaque honoring Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Medal of Honor recipient.

But Dwyer’s statue is a crucial reminder of the toll of PTSD and the sometimes-undiagnosed challenges with which veterans cope when they return home from war. And the statue, which includes the figure of the vulnerable boy cradled in Dwyer’s arms, urges the viewer to remember the civilian cost of war and conflict, the tens of thousands of men, women and children who were caught in the crossfire in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its message arrives as that other war draws to a close.

Our awareness of PTSD has only increased since the days when it went by names like "shell shock" or "combat fatigue," and that’s crucial, so those who need it can get help. Also crucial: the state veterans peer support program named after Dwyer and launched in 2013 to give veterans another place to turn.

The need for such programs and awareness is ongoing. Even long after American soldiers have fully departed combat roles in the Middle East, we will still be grappling with the fallout there and here.