My Battle Buddy Was Always Smiling Before Losing His War to Suicide
J.P. Lawrence thought he knew his happy-go-lucky friend from deployment until he learned that Belland had struggled with addiction and died by overdose.
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DonateJ.P. Lawrence was born in the Philippines, deployed to Iraq with the Army, schooled at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and is now a reporter with Stars and Stripes in Afghanistan.
J.P. Lawrence thought he knew his happy-go-lucky friend from deployment until he learned that Belland had struggled with addiction and died by overdose.
Army PFC JP Lawrence deployed to Iraq after the 2006 Sunni Awakening. He shares stories of the Post-9/11 Iraq invasion & reflects on false narratives of war.