College Bans Vet for 'Addicted to Killing' Essay

An Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who wrote that he was "addicted to killing" in an essay about his war experiences was banned from campus after his essay was published in his college newspaper. The Community College of Baltimore County told Charles Whittington that his writings "raised red flags," especially in light of the Virginia Tech shootings. "I was really frustrated, because they didn't give me a chance to explain," Whittington tells ABC News. "I wrote the paper to talk about the reality of what other soldiers go through and it was therapeutic for me."

"I got used to killing and after a while it became something I really had to do," he wrote in the essay, which got an A. "Killing becomes a drug, and it is really addictive." Experts say such feelings aren't uncommon in combat vets, although the college stresses that veterans were among those who complained about the essay. Whittington, who has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, says he has gone for a psychological evaluation to prove that he is no threat to his fellow students. Click here to read his full essay.
(More Afghanistan veterans stories.)