:waitasec: This can't be pure coincidence can it?
My gut has said all along that somehow Addie Hall's death AND Zach's subsequent suicide was more than just a Marine with "PTSD" going off on a girlfriend... If that were the case...Why would he just stop at one?
If he was so "traumatized" why did Zach act so normal around his friends in the days after he killed Addie?? If he was "off his rocker" did he just turn it on and off???
I need to read a couple of the books I have seen discussed here. I just don't believe anyone knows the WHOLE STORY yet.
Maybe there is a reason no one in and around Bourbon don't speak much about it.
So odd that Addie's side of the story was never really told... No family to speak for her or come forward...
There's some skeleton's in that whole story for sure!
moo
I don't have a lot of knowledge about Addie and Zach or their circumstances but I am very familiar with dealing with someone with PTSD from going thru Katrina. From what I understand, they actually stayed for the duration of Katrina which would be a hellish experience.
Is Zach's PTSD related to his service in the armed forces or just as a result of Katrina? Either way, it was no doubt quite traumatizing.
My late fiance was a firefighter in the New Orleans Fire Department and he stayed thru Katrina, a lot of that time was in the Superdome. There were many equally unbelievably horrific situations that people in Katrina went thru from watching people die, being unable to help others and knowing those people died. Surviving by having to fight off others who wanted something they had, having to deal with the fact that you were abandoned and unlikely to get help anytime soon, watching the world you knew disappear overnight and being left in the ruins of it to survive, etc.
You just have no idea how this can affect a person. My fiance had nightmares and PTSD over what he had witnessed and what he lived thru till the day he died and I was there each night to see him thru that. My fiance was an experienced firefighter, with over 20 years of dealing with horrible accidents, tragedies and life endangering situations but NOTHING ever hit him like Katrina did.
I think that perhaps Zach may have been affected in a similar way. He had been in the service which indicates that he had some internal desire to serve people and his country and to help others so this would be very devastating in the wake of Katrina when he was helpless and fighting for his life.
Service men, firefighters and other first responders learn to compartmentalize their feelings because they need to stay strong for others and as a survival mechanism for themselves. So that Zach was reported to be in good spirits after Addie's murder but before his death could be compartmentalization along with the knowledge that he would be killing himself in the days to come. Often people who have decided to kill themselves feel relief in the days before, knowing that their struggle will be over and they will be at peace at last.
Additionally, my fiance contracted something in the toxic waters of Katrina that caused him to run fevers with delirium. Despite going to doctors, this was never properly diagnosed. His fevers caused such interesting conversations such as this:
Him: My glasses and my cigarettes are missing.
Me: Ok baby, I'll find them for you.
Him: I know what happened to them! That cat from next door was in here. That f****** cat took my glasses and cigarettes.
Me: Ok baby, I'll go look around outside for a cat wearing glasses and smoking a cigarette.
So obviously he was completely out of it when he had these mysterious fevers. It is entirely possible that Zach had something similar happening with them.
Sorry for such a long post but the point is that PTSD is such a difficult thing to wrap up in a neat package. The causes and its effects widely vary. Those who have a sensitive or caring nature are often hit the worst by it. They often hide it well. There was really no help for people in this situation post Katrina.
People such as firefighters, service men and such have a tough image and don't like admitting their weaknesses, they just deal with it and carry on. They are used to being the ones who help others and were helpless in this situation. Frankly, everyone was traumatized, New Orleans was a place with a lot of walking wounded and the wounds were emotional, not visible.
Additionally, people PTSD can often be unconsciously violent upon being wakened suddenly. My fiance never hurt me but I knew to awake him from a distance and not by touching him in his sleep. It is possible that Zack attacked Addie while in such a state.
Granted, I need to read the book (about Z and A) to find out more about Zack's history and the relationship he and Addie had, so I am not stating any of this from a point where I know anything about him personally. Rather, my view comes from my experiences with my late fiance and what he went thru in with Katrina and his PTSD.
As for MAS "knowing" Addie, sure she may have known her in a peripheral way and MAS played that up for attention just like she claimed her semi famous musician uncle was her brother. Just like MAS claimed to be a model but frankly looked more like a faces of meth poster child than anything else. Just like MAS claimed TS was her "husband, etc.
( Sorry for such a long rambling post but the PTSD aspect really compelled me to speak out. I tried not to get personal with it but that was somewhat impossible. In addition, I will add that I am fine and at peace with the loss of my fiance, almost 5 years ago. I will forever miss him and be in love with him but I have come to terms with losing him and have gone on in life to be happy, just as he would have wanted. I am now engaged to another firefighter and happily living the life of a small town girl. However painful it was to lose him (and it almost killed me, truthfully or felt like it), I gained so much more by having in my life to begin with. Because of him, I know I have been thoroughly, completely and unconditionally loved. My self esteem is firmly tacked in place and I know who hung the moon and who he hung it up there for.)
