Professional Documents
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Boulder Weekly
Colorado
soldiers
Andrew Pogany
and Bill Howell
were devastated by
Operation Iraqi
Freedom. What
caused the
damage?
ost of the
conversation
Staff Sgt.
GeorgAndreas
Deployment
stints
in Texas and
Arizona, assigned him in 2001 to the 10th Special
Forces Group out of Fort Carson.
While not a Green Beret himself, Andrew
thrived with the Special Forces. He loved his job,
signing off his e-mails with the Special Forces
motto, De oppresso liber, which means Liberator
of the oppressed. He received a superior rating on
his military review and was recommended for immediate promotion. His future promising, he bought a
house outside of Colorado Springs with enough
room for himself, Michelle and their three dogs.
Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003
with the bombing of Baghdad. By that summer,
many soldiers at Fort Carson had been deployed to
Iraq. Andrew, a support soldier, stayed behind. In
September, just after he returned from a basic noncommissioned officers course, Andrew got the call.
Two soldiers slotted to deploy to Iraq with a Special
Forces A-team had either been pulled off the mission or had found a way to avoid going. Andrew
had been chosen to fill one of the vacancies.
Andrew was being asked to serve in one of the
most highly trained elements of the U.S. Army.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, Special Forces had been an
integral part of the United States War on Terrorism.
Trained in unconventional warfare, such as guerilla
operations, reconnaissance and anti-terrorism, 12man Special Forces units called A-teams had been
Boulder Weekly
Staff Sgt.
Andrew Pogany
Complications
10
Boulder Weekly
O
O
Andrews bedroom
exploded around him. He
wasnt sure if it was real
or a hallucination.
had demolished parts of the buildings, and many windows had been shot out.
The soldiers unloaded the trucks in silence.
Andrew was assigned to a bedroom in a single-story
wing of one of the buildings. During orientation, a soldier told Andrew that the compound had been heavily
mortared a few nights before. He pointed out the
craters in the ground where the mortars had hit. Each
successive mortar had landed a little closer to the building. The last mortar had not exploded. It was embedded in the ground next to Andrews room.
Andrew unloaded his gear in his bedroom. He laid
out his body armor and helmet so that if he needed to,
he could grab them quickly. He took the round out of
the chamber of his M4 and reloaded its magazine. He
took off his sidearm and boots. Finally, he unrolled his
sleeping bag on the bed, laid down and tried to go to
sleep.
An hour and a half later, there was gunfire nearby.
Andrew went outside to smoke and asked a soldier
what was happening. It was most likely a wedding, he
was told. Iraqis like to fire guns in the air during weddings.
Andrew returned to his room and laid down. Close
to midnight, there was more gunfire, then explosions.
He could hear the sounds of trucks coming and going
from the compound. It sounded like all hell was breaking loose.
Andrew got out of bed. A medic ran into the
building and told Andrew that one of their patrols had
been ambushed and a bunch of Iraqis had been shot
up. He said there were prisoners.
Andrew went outside and approached the next
building. Inside there was chaos.
Ambulances and Humvees. Smoke and blood
everywhere. People screaming.
Andrew could smell blood. He stood in the doorway of the building. To his right, he saw a body bag
lying on the ground. Two guys walked over and opened
it.
Inside, Andrew saw the body of an Iraqi.
The Iraqi had been shot by a U.S. Army Bradley
armored fighting vehicle.
The body had caught a 20 mm round in its torso.
The body bag was open for six seconds. But it was
more than Andrew needed to see.
Andrew turned away and walked back outside. He
saw five Iraqi prisoners handcuffed and on the ground.
One had a gaping leg wound; the lower part of his leg
was completely ripped apart.
Andrew noticed a U.S. soldier, maybe 21 or 22,
sitting on a table against a wall. He was pale, shaking.
Other soldiers walked by, pointed and laughed at the
kid. Andrew asked one of them who the kid was. Hes
the driver or gunner of the Bradley, someone said. The
one that shot up the Iraqi.
Some soldiers learn to deal with the violence they
see by laughing at it. Andrew was never one of them.
He started to feel like the shaking kid. But he couldnt
let the others see he wasnt OK. He was Special Forces.
He walked back to his building. On the way,
everything started moving in slow motion. Andrew.
Other soldiers. Everything.
Andrew smoked a cigarette and tried to go to bed.
It didnt work. Thirty minutes later, he ran to the
latrine and threw up. When he returned to his room,
he was trembling. Then came the terror.
After 15 minutes, he tried to collect himself. Its
going to be like this everyday, he thought. This will all
become normal.
But it didnt work. He fell asleep, dreamed horrible
dreams and woke up panicked. The room exploded
around him. The ceiling caved in. The mortar embedded in the ground outside finally detonated. He didnt
know if it was real or a hallucination.
He picked up his M4, put a round in it and put it
on the bed next to him. He put his sidearm back on. If
the door to his room had opened, he would have fired.
B
B
11
The next morning, Andrews hands were still shaking. He was dry heaving. He went to see his team sergeant.
It was not an easy decision. He was the odd man
out on the team; they didnt know him. Maybe they
would think hed lost it. But he had to tell somebody.
If they went out on a mission and he was the third or
fourth or fifth guy in line and he lost it, the guy in
front or in back of him would probably get killed.
Andrew told his team sergeant he needed help.
The sergeant just looked at him. Do you think
youre the only one who didnt sleep last night?
But Andrew knew something was wrong. He had
been a volunteer firefighter, had seen some gruesome
stuff. He had never experienced a reaction like this. He
told his sergeant he thought he was having a nervous
breakdown.
His sergeant told him to pull his head out of his
ass, get himself together and act like a soldier. Andrew
was told to go away and think about what he was saying, because it could lead to serious complications for
his career.
Andrew returned to his room, unsure what to do.
He tried to eat a Nutri-Grain bar. It tasted disgusting.
He had diarrhea, couldnt drink, became dehydrated.
The only thing he could do was smoke cigarettes. He
lit up one after another, burning through four packs
that day.
Andrew was confined to his room and relieved of
his weapons. He was given two sleeping pills
Ambienwhich knocked him out for seven hours. His
head filled with bizarre nightmares, and he woke up in
the middle of the night with a feeling of impending
doom.
He returned to his team sergeant and told him
again that he needed help. The sergeant said that wasnt
an option.
So everythings not an option, Andrew said. So,
well, if you cant help me here, I guess you are going to
have to send me home.
The next day, Andrew and his belongings were
loaded onto a convoy. He heard that, earlier that day, a
convoy had been attacked nearby. Now, in the dark,
they would drive the same route.
Andrew requested his weapons back. His superiors
said no.
The convoy took Andrew to a large military compound in Tikrit fashioned from one of Saddam
Husseins palaces. He was put under suicide watch.
For several days, Andrew had been asking to see a
chaplain. At Tikrit, he was allowed to meet with one.
He told the chaplain what had happened: the body, the
nightmares, the room collapsing. The chaplain looked
at Andrew and said his reaction was normal. It happened on a daily basis. He said Andrew didnt have
anything to worry about.
Andrew broke down and cried.
The chaplain brought Andrew to the combat-stress
control team of the 85th Medical Detachment, which
was stationed at Tikrit. An army psychologist listened
to Andrews story for an hour and a half. Then the psychologist repeated what the chaplain had said: Andrew
was having an abnormal reaction to an abnormal environment, which was normal. Completely normal.
The psychologist told Andrew he should spend a
couple of days with the combat-stress control team,
where hed get plenty of rest, good meals and counseling. He said Andrew should be able to return to duty
within a week. The psychologist suggested the same in
his report to Andrews superiors: Soldier reported
signs of symptoms consistent with those of a normal
combat-stress reaction. Short-term rest, stress-coping
skills, and/or brief removal from more dangerous situations are often adequate to resolve such reactions. If
desired, the combat-stress team can work with this soldier at FOB Speicher. Rest and a concentrated stressreduction program are provided, with return to duty
assumed.
Boulder Weekly
February 17, 2005
12
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Boulder Weekly
13
rin
ga
Behaving
Italian
with bartender
Tony D'Angio
Years bartending
3 years, sexy.
Favorite part of the job
Collecting fat tip money for me
and my goombahs to spend on
video games and muscle cars.
Favorite time of day to
drink Tuaca
As I'm slipping into a soothing
bubble bath at the end of the day
and my lady is giving me a neck
massage.
Greatest moment as
bartender
This one time when my barmate
Stoney and I successfully pulled
off a Triple Spinning Cow on a
busy Friday happy hour. The
crowd went nuts over our mad
bottle-tricking skills. We made
all kinds of green.
14
Boulder Weekly
Your defining
Behaving Italian
moment?
Eating Mama's stromboli when I
go back east to visit.
Favorite Tuaca
drink recipe
The Tuacaccino
which combines yummy Tuaca
with coffee and instant cocoa.
Then you top it all off with some
whipped cream. My personal
touch is to add a dash of chocolate powder on top. That's so hot.
Iraq war
and deep-sea diving, as dizziness, a loss
Andrew requested a court-martial.
subject of town
of balance, or other disorders of the
The Army backed off. They
central or peripheral nervous systold
Andrew that he had to formeeting
tem have been reported during
get about everything that had
and following the use of
happened. He was going
s the death toll continues to rise in Iraq, many Americans
feel helpless with regard to the war. But in times like these,
Lariam. Lariam was not
back to Iraq.
community involvement and motivation can make a world of differrecommended for patients
Andrew said fine
ence.This Thursday, voice your opinion about the war and get tips for rewith a history of depresjust as soon as he was
energizing your activism.The Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
sion or anxiety.
legally and medically
(RMPJC) is sponsoring a community town hall meeting this Thursday that
To Steve, it didnt
cleared of all wrongdoaims to bring different viewpoints together on the issue. Each speaker will have
seem like the kind of
ing. In writing.
two minutes to talk about issues or concerns they have pertaining to the war.
thing youd want to
The Army wouldWere really hoping that we can bring in people on all sides of the
issue so that people get some understanding of where other people are
give to people in the
nt do it. The case
coming from, says Carolyn Bninski, one of the event organizers.
midst of war.
remained in limbo.
In addition to engaging the community in a dialogue, RMPJC hopes to
He received more
At one point,
energize community members to take action against the war. Action items
e-mails from soldiers
Andrew and his lawyer
will include suggestions on how to protest President Bushs recent request
whod been given
asked his superiors
of $82 billion dollars for the war effort.
Lariam in Iraq. Many of
about the antimalarial
Ultimately, says Bninski, the goal of the meeting is to motivate and
those who contacted him
drug Andrew had been
educate the community.Theres so many different ways that people
can vocalize their concerns, she says, and its time for people to
said they did not receive
given.
take action.
medication guides with their
That excuse didnt work
The Community Town Hall Meeting will be at 7 p.m.,
Lariam doses. They said their
for the guys at Bragg, and its
Thursday, Feb. 17, at the Unity Church, on the corner of
Lariam prescriptions were not
not going to work for you, they
Folsom and Valmont, Boulder.The event is free and
noted in their medical records.
were
told.
open to the public. Call 303-444-6981 ext. 2
DOD policy required that medication
Andrew wasnt so sure.
for more information.
guides be distributed with drugs like
The panic. The hallucinations. The
GH
Lariam and that all medicines be listed on solnausea. The anxiety. The depression. It all sugdiers medical records.
gested Lariam. The symptoms started the day
Steve began to doubt whether many of the
But peoAndrew took his third Lariam pill; the British
soldiersincluding officers and medical perple remembered Somalia. People remembered
Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention
sonnelknew enough to recognize Lariam
Fort Bragg.
had reported that more than 75 percent of
problems. It was possible some were confusing
That December, DOD changed its antiadverse reactions to the drug were apparent
Lariams side effectsnightmares, hallucinamalarial recommendations for Iraq.
after the third dose.
tions, distress, sleeplessness, aggressionwith
Chloroquine was now the drug of choice.
Andrew didnt have most of the physical
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, a
Two months later, on Feb. 25, 2004, Lt.
symptoms associated with Lariam, but that
growing concern in the military.
Gen. James B. Peake, the Army surgeon generchanged a month and a half after he returned
And then there was Somalia. And Fort
al, appeared before members of Congress to
home. Blurry vision, balance problems, stagBragg.
address concerns about Lariam. DOD would
gering, stomach problems. He could hardly
In 1993, a group of Canadian troops stastudy possible side effects of Lariam, including
aim his rifle. He was the textbook case for
tioned in Somalia beat a local teenager to
reports of suicide, said Peake. But there was no
Lariam side effects.
death. Lead pipes. Trophy photos. The officer
correlation, he said, between the medicine and
Andrews medical records didnt indicate
in charge was allegedly speaking gibberish.
the recent rash of suicides. Only four of the
hed taken Lariam. But Andrew had the medIn a six-week period in the summer of
soldiers whod committed suicide were reportication box to prove it.
2002, at Fort Bragg, N. C., three Special
ed to be from units taking Lariam.
For months, Andrew requested specialized
Forces soldiers just back from Afghanistan
We do know the documented side effects
testing, evaluation, treatment. There had to be
killed their wives and then themselves. An
of this medicine, but the key causes of the suisome way to determine for sure whether
Army report blamed marital discord and miscides were failed intimate relationships, legal
Lariam was the cause of his symptoms.
sion stress.
and financial problems, said Peake. We dont
At the end of May 2004, Andrews superiThe Canadian troops had been taking
think it is as big a problem as has been made
ors relented. Because of his balance problems,
Lariam. So had the Special Forces soldiers.
out.
they sent him to the Spatial Orientation Lab
Steve kept asking DOD officials about
at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.
Lariam in Iraq. By the fall of 2003, the offiConfrontation
There, Andrew met Dr. Michael Hoffer.
cials story began to change. Some units in
Hoffer seemed to care about his patients. He
Iraq had been given Lariam. Just a handful.
ndrew wasnt going down for someinspected Andrews ears, nose and throat. He
Then the story changed again. Lariam was
thing he didnt do. The military had
observed how Andrew walked, how he moved
being widely used in Iraq. More than 4 million
charged Andrew with a crime punhis head and eyes. He sat Andrew in a special
doses were bought that year. DOD officials
ishable by death. The Army brass might have
kind of chair, spun him around. He stood
werent sure if the malaria in Iraq was resistant
figured that the moment they offered Andrew
Andrew on a platform while he tilted it from
to chloroquine, and they were prescribing
a deal, hed take it and shut up. If so, they
side to side.
Lariam to be safe.
were wrong.
On June 2, 2004, the doctor wrote his
To Steve, it didnt make any sense. To
On Nov. 6, 2003, three weeks after
diagnosis. Eye, ear and balance functions were
determine what antimalarial drug, if any, is
Andrew had been branded a coward, the Army
abnormal. Parts of Andrews inner ear and cenneeded for a given deployment, DOD medical
dropped that charge. Now he was accused of
tral nervous system were damaged.
experts usually looked to CDC recommendadereliction of duty for willfully failing to perDrug toxicity antimalarials, wrote
tions. But in the case of Operation Iraqi
form his job. If convicted, Andrew could
Hoffer. Likely Lariam toxicity.
Freedom, that didnt seem to happen.
spend up to six months in prison and could be
Andrew wasnt the only soldier visiting
For at least a decade, the CDC had been
discharged from the Army for bad conduct.
Hoffer. Over the next few weeks, the doctor
recommending one antimalarial medication
In December, Andrews superiors offered
diagnosed 10 other service members whod
for Iraq: chloroquine.
him a hearing under Article 15 of the Uniform
served in Afghanistan or Iraq with similar balSoon Steve wasnt the only one wondering
Code of Military Justice, under which a comance problems and brain damage. The comabout Lariam. Suicides were spiking among
manding officer could limit what evidence
mon thread, Hoffer told the press, was Lariam.
U.S. soldiers in Iraq. By the end of 2003, there
Andrew could use to present his case. Andrews
If not treated, the damage could last indefihad been 24 soldier suicides in Iraq, a rate of
lawyer could be barred from the proceedings.
nitely.
18 per 100,000 soldiers, nearly double the
But Andrew wasnt buying it.
The press jumped the story. DOD had
average.
Im not going to be part of your kangabeen downplaying Lariam concerns for
In September 2003, the Army surgeon
roo court, he said. If you have something on
months. Now, a DOD doctor had diagnosed
generals office launched an investigation into
me, if you have a case, lets put it all out there.
soldiers with brain damage caused by Lariam.
the suicides. They never considered Lariam.
Have a trial.
One of those soldiers was Andrew Pogany, the
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., demanded that the federal government and DOD reevaluate their use of Lariam. Naval specialists
in San Diego announced they would launch a
study into Hoffers diagnoses.
On the evening of July 15, 2004, Andrew
was called to a meeting with his commanding
officer. As a result of his medical diagnosis, all
charges against him would be dropped.
This time it was official.
16
Boulder Weekly
studies on Lariam and its association with suicide. One was by the Armed Forces Medical
Examiners Office, another by the Naval
Health Research Center in San Diego. At the
time, military officials announced the public
could expect preliminary results within
months. As of February 2005, no findings
have been released.
In September 2004, the Army admitted it
gave Congress bad information on the 2003
suicide spike in Iraq. DOD officials had said
no more than four of the 24 deceased soldiers
could have taken Lariam. Now the military
acknowledged as many as 11 could have been
on the drug. A year later, after Lariam had
reportedly been all but discontinued in Iraq,
only nine soldiers killed themselves in
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On Feb. 3, 2005, another Special Forces
soldier at Fort Bragg, Spc. Richard T.
Corcoran, killed himself after shooting his exwife and her boyfriend. While serving in
Afghanistan, Corcoran had been prescribed
Lariam.
Roche, the manufacturer of Lariam, continues to maintain theres no connection
between their drug and suicide and violence.
There is no scientific evidence of a
causal link between Lariam and suicide or
suicidal ideation, writes Terence Hurley,
director of product public relations for
Roche, in an e-mail to Boulder Weekly.
Based on all the data currently available, no
cause-and-effect relationship between Lariam
and suicide or suicidal ideation has been
established. Also, there is no reliable scientific evidence that Lariam is associated with
violent acts or criminal conduct. Numerous
studies show that the incidence of serious
neuropsychiatric events in patients taking
Lariam for treatment is very low. And, Roche
is not aware of any study, or other reliable
scientific evidence, that Lariam causes permanent vestibular dysfunction.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military continues to
prescribe Lariam to soldiers stationed in many
parts of the world.
Casualties
They want you to be able to pull the trigger. They want you to be able to kill your fellow man, says Chris. I think they probably
know this drug does this, and they send [soldiers] into combat situations, and they give
them this drug, so they guarantee they are
going to pull that trigger.
Kenn Miller spent two years in Senegal as
a Peace Corps volunteer. At first, Kenn and his
friends liked Lariam; it caused them to have
wild, lucid dreams. But then the dreams
became dark. Kenns extremities went numb.
His memory started failing. He passed out. A
local doctor diagnosed him with brain
swelling. Two years after leaving Senegal, Kenn
still experiences headaches, nausea, disorientation and dizzy spells. He can only work part
time. Today, 85 percent of Peace Corps volunteers take Lariam.
A Special Forces soldier, who asked to
remain anonymous, was deployed to
Afghanistan during Operation Enduring
Freedom as an A-team medic and engineer.
After taking Lariam, he experienced nightmares, coordination problems, anxiety and
headaches. He could no longer function in
combat: If he sensed someone was near him,
he would want to pull the triggereven
before he knew whether they were friend or
foe.
Destanie was deployed to Afghanistan in
2002. While taking Lariam, Destanie lost 30
pounds, suffered severe nightmares and panic
attacks and experienced extreme mood swings.
She couldnt complete her duties. Medics put
her on antidepressants and sleeping pills.
Eventually she pointed a gun at her lieutenant,
threatened to shoot him and was kicked out of
the military.
[The Army] was my whole life. It was all
I had ever known. Growing up, that was all I
wanted to do, says Destanie. Its gone. I can
never have it back. It hurts.
Donnie Pomponio joined the military in
1986 because he wanted to fly Black Hawk
helicopters. In 2002, he was sent to
Afghanistan. Almost immediately, he
appeared to suffer a bad reaction to Lariam:
hallucinations, anxiety, extreme distress. His
medic suggested he stop taking the drug.
When Donnie returned home in 2003, he
was a different person. He would swing
between feelings of rage and defeat. He began
sweating so heavily at night that he had to
change the sheets. He often hid himself in a
bathroom or closet, crying. He slept for two,
three, four days straight. He was recently
diagnosed with brain damage. Since July
2004, Donnie has rarely been able to leave
the house without sedation.
Stacy, Donnies wife, is outraged.
My husband is alive and I am grateful
and in no way can I compare myself with the
families who laid there soldiers into a grave,
she says, but he has definitely experienced
loss of life.
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Boulder Weekly
February 17, 2005
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