Erin Trieb

The War In Afghanistan: The War At Home

Friends and family shovel dirt over the ashes of US infantry soldier Specialist Dirk Terpstra, 26, at Ft. Custer National Cemetery, in Agusta, Michigan; photgraphed March, 8, 2010. After serving a 12- month deployment in Afghanistan in 2009, Terpstra committed suicide while on leave near his home in Kalamazoo on Feb. 24, 2010. The night of his death Terpstra visited a local bar with friends where he became intoxicated and shot himself in the head in a friend's front yard. Terpstra's family said that although before his deployment Terpstra experienced deep depression and had previously made suicidal attempts, they believe that his condition worsened after serving in Afghanistan.
Friends and family shovel dirt over the ashes of US infantry soldier Specialist Dirk Terpstra, 26, at Ft. Custer National Cemetery, in Agusta, Michigan; photgraphed March, 8, 2010. After serving a 12- month deployment in Afghanistan in 2009, Terpstra committed suicide while on leave near his home in Kalamazoo on Feb. 24, 2010. The night of his death Terpstra visited a local bar with friends where he became intoxicated and shot himself in the head in a friend's front yard. Terpstra's family said that although before his deployment Terpstra experienced deep depression and had previously made suicidal attempts, they believe that his condition worsened after serving in Afghanistan.