Still fighting: After combatting insurgents in Iraq, veteran struggles with stress disorder, alcoholism

Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Anthony Ray Halliday stood at the front of the courtroom with a straight back.

His black suit and light blue Oxford shirt were clean and wrinkle-free. His shaved head towered above his attorney, who stood to his right.

Halliday, 41, pleaded guilty in the Monroe County Circuit Court on Sept. 27 before
Judge Marc R. Kellams for driving while under the influence of alcohol on two separate
accounts.

Halliday was almost motionless, occasionally rocking forward onto the toes of his polished black dress shoes.

Halliday joined the Army in May 2003 at the age of 32. In 2007 and 2008, he served in Iraq as a sergeant of the Military Police Unit. While in Iraq, Halliday watched as fellow soldiers were killed around him. His time in combat was traumatic and life-altering, he said.

“I was a very good soldier, and I was coded to be a very good soldier,” Halliday said.
After returning from combat to the United States, Halliday said he suffered from several medical problems, including a hernia and tinnitus.

But he also suffered mentally.

After a visit to the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis, Halliday was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in late 2009, nearly a year after he returned from Iraq.

Halliday is not alone. According to PTSD Research Quarterly, a report from the National Center for PTSD, 18 percent of veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom suffer from PTSD.

Halliday has been taking classes to deal with his PTSD since he was diagnosed. He is currently in a combat anger course at the VA hospital. He attends class once a week in Indianapolis. Once a month, he meets with a psychologist.

Halliday admitted he has struggled with his anger since returning from war. He said most people find him intimidating.

“He really has uncontrollable anger,” said Halliday’s girlfriend, Tabatha Oliver.

Halliday and Oliver have been dating since September 2008. Oliver, who said she also suffers from PTSD, said it has been a challenge dealing with Halliday’s problems.

“Once he started seeking help, at first he was resistant,” Oliver said. “Once someone finally explained to him, ‘Hey, this is not something we can cure, it’s something you have to learn to live with,’ he has made huge improvement.”

Oliver credits Halliday as the best thing that’s ever happened to her three teenage sons.

Halliday said several of his war buddies committed suicide upon their return to the U.S. But for Halliday, taking his own life isn’t an option.

“I couldn’t believe they did that. One of them just had a newborn daughter, too. That really upset me.”

According to Halliday, the difference between the war in Iraq and previous American occupations is a lack of boundaries. In previous wars, Halliday said there had always been a boundary separating war zones from safe zones. But in Iraq, he said this boundary was nonexistent.

“In Iraq, there was a constant threat everywhere you went,” Halliday said. “There was no safe place, including in our FOBs (Forward Operating Base), where a lot of the Iraqi nationals were (and) in our dining facilities and in our laundry facilities.”

Halliday said threats could be anywhere and could look like anything. Terrorist groups used anything, including children and animals. He said they often looked like innocent Iraqi citizens until they began firing guns against American soldiers.

Halliday credits his patriotism and love for democracy for his dedication in the service. However, he worries the war in Iraq will not have a lasting effect on the Iraqi people when the American occupation ends.

“I truly believe that when we leave, those people are going to go back to doing exactly what they want to do,” Halliday said. “They’ve been a civilization for thousands of years, and it’s crazy for the United States that’s a couple hundred years old to think that we can dictate to them how we think they should live.”

In the summer of 2010, Halliday enrolled in a few summer classes at IU. He continued school into the fall semester with a full load but dropped out when his PTSD collided with alcoholism. He is currently unemployed and considered 30 percent disabled from the VA hospital. He is working with the VA to increase his disability percentage.

“Alcohol abuse goes hand-in-hand with PTSD,” Halliday said in the courtroom.

When Halliday returned from Iraq, he began to drink substantially more than he did before he stepped foot on a battlefield. When he was drunk, he said he would tell his girlfriend the alcohol helped him feel normal again.

But instead, he said it stalled his healing from PTSD and got him into trouble with the law.

“Obviously the legal problems have been an issue,” Halliday said. “But maybe I needed those legal problems to get to where I am now because now I realize being sober has helped me.”

On Dec. 4, 2010, police arrested Halliday for driving while under the influence of alcohol, possession of marijuana and for failing to stop after an accident resulting in non-vehicle damage.

That night, at about 3:30 a.m., Halliday said he was driving home while intoxicated. After skidding through a red light, he ran his black 2000 Chevrolet Blazer into a street pole. After the accident, he continued to drive but said he was followed by a witness to the accident — an off-duty police officer.

Police located Halliday and performed a traffic stop for the accident. During the time of his arrest, police reported Halliday smelled of alcohol and had slow speech, watery eyes and poor balance.

Once detained, a blood sample identified his Blood Alcohol Concentration as 0.19 percent, more than double the legal limit to operate a vehicle in Indiana.

After the arrest, Halliday said he signed into a rehabilitation program at the VA hospital. He said he was sober for three months before he had a relapse. After a friend’s funeral, he consumed alcohol on April 2.

That evening, he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol and for resisting his arrest. A blood test indicated his blood alcohol concentration was 0.22 percent.

After his second arrest, Halliday said he has completed rehab and maintained his sobriety.

Judge Kellams sympathized with Halliday. While he said he is rarely presented a case involving two open OWIs, he typically mandates a rehabilitation program when they arise. However, Halliday was not issued any additional coursework.
Instead, Kellams commended Halliday for taking those steps on his own in a proactive approach to recovery.

Halliday was issued one year of probation for each of the two offenses. His driver’s license has also been suspended for 90 days for each offense. All other charges brought against him were dropped.

“Sobriety will be a lifelong process,” Kellams said. “As you already know, you just need to take it one day at a time.”

Next spring, Halliday plans to re-enroll at IU and finish his degree in general studies with minors in communication, economics and psychology.