Rob Guzzo Jr, el SEAL que no pudo contra el PTSDPosted January 15th, 2013 by US Navy SEALs Navy SEAL Robert Guzzo Jr. was described by his mother as “very independent and headstrong, always funny, always silly,” but sadly, even these traits were not enough to help him survive his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On the day after Veterans Day 2012, the 33-year-old Iraq War Veteran took his own life and the last things he may have seen were his military awards and pictures of his Navy SEAL training days, as well as photos of his best friend, Marc Lee, another Navy SEAL killed in a firefight in the city of Ramadi.
In an interview with Brook Silva-Braga, host of The Washington Post’s online news program “The Fold,” Robin Andersen recalls how her son has changed when he returned to San Diego in 2007.
“I could just tell immediately he was changed,” Andersen said. “His affect was different, you know. The look on his face was a distance away.”
According to his parents, Rob did not seek treatment for PTSD because he was told that doing so would result in losing his security clearance and ending his career as a SEAL.
“They told him specifically not to report on any worksheet that you are having these issues, because if they do, they’ll take your bird. They’ll take your trident,” said Robert Guzzo Sr.
But the Navy denies the claims, saying “We actively campaign to de-stigmatize any type of reporting — and to report issues, without negative career effects… We won’t confirm speculation on how people might have been improperly counseled by uninformed personnel — that certainly was not official policy at the time, nor is it the policy today. And no one has “lost their Trident” since 9-11 due to reporting PTSD or other combat stress ailments.”
Rob was born into a military family. His mother served 30 years of active duty while his dad was a Navy SEAL from 1983-86 and eventually a SEAL instructor from 1986-89. The young Guzzo joined the military after Sept. 11, 2001 and later became a Navy SEAL Team 5 member.
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