Survived by his father, Juan D Torres, mother, Susana Ferro, step father, Ricardo Wacinowski. Survived by sisters, Paola Ferro-Wacinowski and Veronica Santiago. ∼Army Spc. Torres was assigned to the 453rd Transportation Company, Army Reserve, Houston, Texas. He died of non-combat-related injuries in Bagram. John joined the military at the age of 18. After leaving active duty, he joined the Army Reserve. During his tours of duty, he served in Kosovo and Hungary and received four medals including the Army Achievement Medal for his motivation, energy and technical expertise. Along the way, he earned an accounting degree from the University of Houston, had a good job, was buying a house in Houston, had savings in the bank and was planning his wedding to his girlfriend of seven years. John's time in Afghanistan had been relatively uneventful – fighting boredom more than stress or fear. But sometime during the weeks before his death, John began to change – he complained of intense stomach pain (no physical basis was found) and his rambling and strange suicide note was out of character. His death came from a self inflicted gunshot wound. His family believes his symptoms were side effects of the drug Lariam – an antimalarial drug given to the military. John's family wants people to know that his death was not his own doing – he loved serving in the military and always had an upbeat attitude. He didn't smoke or do drugs and had a strong and loving relationship with his family and friends.
Survived by his father, Juan D Torres, mother, Susana Ferro, step father, Ricardo Wacinowski. Survived by sisters, Paola Ferro-Wacinowski and Veronica Santiago. ∼Army Spc. Torres was assigned to the 453rd Transportation Company, Army Reserve, Houston, Texas. He died of non-combat-related injuries in Bagram. John joined the military at the age of 18. After leaving active duty, he joined the Army Reserve. During his tours of duty, he served in Kosovo and Hungary and received four medals including the Army Achievement Medal for his motivation, energy and technical expertise. Along the way, he earned an accounting degree from the University of Houston, had a good job, was buying a house in Houston, had savings in the bank and was planning his wedding to his girlfriend of seven years. John's time in Afghanistan had been relatively uneventful – fighting boredom more than stress or fear. But sometime during the weeks before his death, John began to change – he complained of intense stomach pain (no physical basis was found) and his rambling and strange suicide note was out of character. His death came from a self inflicted gunshot wound. His family believes his symptoms were side effects of the drug Lariam – an antimalarial drug given to the military. John's family wants people to know that his death was not his own doing – he loved serving in the military and always had an upbeat attitude. He didn't smoke or do drugs and had a strong and loving relationship with his family and friends.
