PHOTO OR ILLUSTRATION CREDIT TK
BEFORE HER LIFE
FELL APART,
BEFORE SUICIDE
BEGAN TO SOUND
LIKE SWEET RELEASE,
NATASHA YOUNG
WAS A TOUGH
AND SPIRITED AND
PROUD MARINE.
Straight off the hardscrabble
streets of Lawrence, Mass., a ruined mill town ravaged by poverty and drugs, she loved the Marine Corps’ discipline, the hard
work, the camaraderie, the honor
of service to her country.
She went to war twice, the last
time five years ago in western
Iraq with a close-knit team of
Marines who disabled IEDs, roadside bombs. It was nonstop work,
dangerous, highly stressful and
exhausting. Six of the Marines
were killed in bomb blasts, each
death a staggering gut-punch to
the others. After they returned
home the commander took his
own life. Staff Sgt. Young broke
down, too, spent physically, emotionally and mentally. Eventually,
she was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
and, last October, was medically
discharged from the Corps.
Having been a strong warrior,