Rebuild

BOSTON (Reuters) - A decorated U.S. Marine, who had been treated for post-war stress since serving in Iraq, opened fire outside a Massachusetts nightclub, wounding two people, Boston media reported on Monday.

Daniel B. Cotnoir will be arraigned on Monday on charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon and assault with intent to murder after the incident early on Saturday in the city of Lawrence, The Boston Globe said.

Cotnoir had complained to police after a crowd of nearly 30 people gathered outside a nightclub and restaurant near his apartment. After someone hurled a bottle that shattered his bedroom window, Cotnoir fired "a warning shot," the newspaper said.

The bullet hit a 15-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man.

"He shot into what he thought was a safe area, but there was some ricochet effects that Mr. Cotnoir never intended," his lawyer, Robert F. Kelley, was quoted as saying.

"It was a military-type response to a threatening situation that was civilian in nature."

This is not to make light of this situation at all. Mr. Cotnoir's service in the Marines, where he is still a reservist, has certainly been outstanding. He has done an incredible amount of hard, brutal work in the War. In fact, he was tapped as "Marine of the Year" for his difficult, mentally costly, work:

Last month, the Marine Corps Times chose Cotnoir for its annual Marine of the Year award, ahead of 180,000 other candidates.

Cotnoir, now a Marine reservist, was a military mortician in Iraq. During his deployment last year, he was responsible for preparing soldiers for open-casket funerals.

In an interview last month with the Eagle-Tribune, Cotnoir said the job took a heavy psychological toll. At the time, he was getting counselling at a veterans' hospital.

"It's a lot harder to talk about the job now than it was at the time to actually do it," he said. "The stories I've gained from my deployment aren't the kind of stories you share."

Look. Cotnoir's experiences ground deep into his soul. His reaction can be understood in the context of his life, how he was fashioned, branded, rebuilt as a Marine. The problem with his experiences, and the experiences of the war, is that he could not walk out of that easily. His response has been trained into him; it is the world that he is most used to now. He is actively seeking assistence in rebuilding his mental landscape for life in America; in many ways we can't blame him for his response. He must be held accountable for his actions, but his actions must be understood as well.

For more about the broken-down soldier in an elective war, and how they do, and don't, fit back into society, see Anthony Swofford's haunting Jarhead, [soon to be a major motion picture!]