SAN DIEGO—Breathing heavily as his knuckles turned white from gripping the bed sheets, retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallager woke up in a cold sweat Tuesday after having a nightmare about watching innocent Iraqi women minding their own business. “Jesus Christ, every fucking night I relive this horrible atrocity ,” said Gallager as his eyes darted back and forth across the room, ensuring that he was in fact alone and not atop a hill scoping out Baghdadi women and children from hundreds of yards away. “You wouldn’t believe what my men and I were exposed to over there day in and day out. Seeing hundreds of civilians walking around, smiling and running errands without a care in the world, truly spine-chilling stuff. Oh God, I can still hear their voices, filled with utter joy as they chatted with each other. It’s like they’re taunting me, always just out of range.” Gallager revealed that his therapist’s suggestion of imagining himself in a calm, relaxed environment, holding his weapon had so far been ineffective in helping to quell his night terrors.

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