http://www.thewesterlysun.com/articles/ ... /news2.txtWAR COMMITMENT, QUESTIONS - AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS
By Ellyn Moran Santiago - The Sun Staff
WESTERLY - Purple Heart medalist Marine Lance Cpl. Nickolas D. Schiavoni, killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq more than three weeks ago, at once
struggled with - and was committed to - fighting the war in Iraq, his mother says.
But his mother, Stephany Kern of Westerly - herself an opponent of the war -says her son was "depressed about all of it."
And so, too, apparently were members of his platoon: Schiavoni wrote his father that he and others in his unit were being prescribed antidepressants.
"We got word that the unit was all depressed, and Nicky was on Zoloft," Kern said. "He had post-traumatic stress the first time he came home."
A Pentagon spokeswoman told The Sun that privacy acts prohibit her from discussing what, if any, medications specific Marines are prescribed. But,
she said, antidepressants, "a common prescription these days," are prescribed generally, and on follow-up, military health officials found that
the medication has a "calming effect," and makes soldiers "more alert."
Staff Sgt. Christina Delai said that antidepressants are prescribed to Marines "case-by-case." She could not confirm if an entire unit was on the medication.
