the argument and the surge went ahead. one of the soldiers sent to afghanistan for the surge was sergeant lewis loftis. before the patrol i always say a few prayers, i m catholic. ask god to watch over me. as soon as we get outside that wire, it s game on. i was with loftis and his patrol. we stay off the roads 90% of the time. a lot of times, the only time we re on a road is if we re crossing it. it was 112 degrees. it felt even hotter carrying up to 100 pounds of gear. all the gear made them
heroin. and i think physically my mouth was, i, jaw dropped. he said, i don t know why i m doing it dedra, it just makes me feel numb. i don t feel anything when i m doing it, so i wish i could tell you if i m going to stop, why, or, you know, what i m thinking when i do it, what triggers me to do it, but all i know, the feelings that i had when i had when i got home, i don t have when i m under the influence of that. loftis went back to counselor. he swore he d quit the drugs. he tried to be a good dad. but he would sometimes disappear for hours without explanation. our laundry is down in the basement in the building and mason was helping me, whatever you want to call it, helping me carry it up and i dumped the laundry out, and a syringe falls out with a needle cap.
firepower, the americans won the fight. adrenaline still pumping, loftis went back to his hooch and tried to unwind. he looked at pictures of his sweetheart, dedra lopez. he wanted to marry her. i asked loftis about his plans and all the soldiers who wouldn t be going home, including one of his friends. i m kind of numb to it, to be honest. i just don t really feel much. i pray for his family. i pray for his soul, you know. you see, i try not to think about it. because when you think about it, then i get like this. this was loftis last fighting season. he d be going home soon. g home . we did it again. verizon has been named america s most
it didn t puncture him? no, it was used. it looked like the tip had broken off because it had been through the wash. it looked like a pen to me. it had an orange cap. i was drenched in sweat understanding that i need to tell the guy that s five feet down the hallway to get out of my house right now. he was very calm, had nothing to say about it. and he left, and that was one of the times that he went on a binge. dedra didn t see much of loftis after that. he lived alone and would fall off the radar for weeks at a time. he died of an overdose. he was found face down in his bed. retired sergeant lewis loftis was 30 years old.
i am sorry for what i did. i have a hard time showing my emotions. account court was sympathetic to a veteran in trouble, and he had no priors. we know he doesn t have the background. dedra lopez is present. dedra testified on his behalf. she decided to give him a second chance, even though she was pregnant during the assault. he is a good person. but he just, he needs a lot of help. loftis was sentenced to six months in jail and a year in a residential correctional facility. dedra waived a restraining order so loftis could be present fort birth of their son mason. hey. that s the day that i thought or hoped, okay, this is a new beginning, you know. here s the baby. he s in front of you. he s real. you wanted it to work out. yes, absolutely, i wanted it