SEATTLE — Tomas Young, a wounded Iraq War veteran who was an outspoken critic of the conflict and the subject of the 2007 documentary “Body of War,” has died. He was 34.
Young died Monday in Seattle, according to the King County medical examiner’s office. A cause and manner of death were pending, the office said Tuesday.
Young joined the Army when he was 22, two days after the 9/11 attacks. He had been in Iraq less than a week when he and fellow soldiers came under sniper fire on April 4, 2004, while riding in an unarmored truck in a rescue convoy in Sadr City outside Baghdad.
Young was paralyzed from the chest down because of a bullet to his spine, and he used a wheelchair to get around.
The documentary follows Young as a 25-year-old as he deals with his disability and finds his voice speaking out against the Iraq War.
“Tomas was a voice for his generation. Both compassionate and uncompromising,” said Ellen Spiro, who co-directed the film with Phil Donahue. “I will miss his humor and presence in this world that so desperately needs more young people like him.”
Young was a native of Kansas City, Mo., and graduated from Winnetonka High School, the Star reported. He joined the Army hoping to fight in Afghanistan and was distraught when he was sent to Iraq because he felt that conflict wasn’t justified.
In 2013, he told the Star that he planned to refuse food, water and life-extending medication. He later had a change of heart, saying he wanted to spend more time with his wife.
