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SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Sgt. Paul Miles' family knew something was different about him when he came back from Iraq. The Eagle Scout and former church missionary was jumpy. Behind the wheel, he would suddenly drive as if under attack. Later they would learn he built a bomb and used it to damage a statue of the Virgin Mary. Then, he killed a cat.
Ultimately, the 22-year-old National Guardsman was arrested in November on federal charges, accused of building explosives in his apartment, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, or manic depression. He could get 10 years in prison.
Thousands of soldiers and Marines who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are believed to have been damaged psychologically by the experience. Whether the 22-year-old Miles is one of them — whether he was unhinged by the war, as his family suspects, and a psychiatrist who examined him says is possible — is not clear.
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