Staying Awake
At a meeting sponsored by American Combat Veterans of War, Tim Jordan kids Mitch Hood about back pain. Hood walks with a cane because he has a herniated spinal disc and sciatica. (Sachi Cunningham/ Los Angeles Times)
Mitch Hood takes a cigarette break. (Sachi Cunningham/ Los Angeles Times)
Mitch Hood plays a video game to keep from falling asleep while his fiancee, Natalya Gibson, watches TV. In one recurring dream, he says, Im up there with my buddy. I pull him out of the Humvee. The medevac helicopter is on top of a hill. Im carrying him. He keeps getting heavier and heavier and sinking into the ground and I drag him. Gravity is increasing. I cant get him to the chopper. (Sachi Cunningham/ Los Angeles Times)
At dawn, former Marine Mitch Hood takes a cigarette break after staying up all night to avoid nightmares about Iraq from post-traumatic stress disorder. (Sachi Cunningham / Los Angeles Times)
