Carlos Lopez, Jr was a proud veteran of the US Army and served as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq and Afghanistan. After leaving the Army, he found his way to the theater and into acting, first in Sacramento and then in Los Angeles where he starred in the TV series “Operation Repo” for two years. In addition to his reality TV career, Carlos Jr. appeared in the movies American Made with Tom Cruise, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Acting and filmmaking was therapy for him, allowing him to act out things that needed to express about the experiences he had in war. Carlos Jr. took his life on June 24, 2018 after his long struggle with PTSD.
Here is the link to a pretty intense scene from PTSD: An American Tragedy, a film Carlos Jr. made while in film school in Los Angeles. Carlos Jr. is portraying a veteran seeing a therapist. The scene is real and raw and betrays the feeling that he dealt with after his combat experiences.
Carlos’s parents, Carlos Sr and Juanita, joined ALL MARINE RADIO to discuss the “Celebration of Life” they will hold for their son in Sacramento, his service in the US Army, his struggle with PTSD, his acting career and the role the theater played in helping him deal with PTSD and finally, their feelings about the level of care that their son received from the Veterans Administration.
Celebration of Life information:
- Date: Saturday, August 18, 2018
- Location: Crest Theater, 1013 K St, Sacramento, California 95814
- Time: doors open at 11:00 AM; Celebration of Life at 11:30AM; Carlos’s film, PTSD: An American Tragedy will be shown at 12:15
- GoFundMe: here
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