MERIDEN - The family of Rafael Castro rallied to his side Monday, a day after a Record-Journal story chronicled the Iraqi war veterans struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Rafael Castro has until the end of this week to leave his Plumb Avenue home. Since returning from Iraq in 2005, he has been unable to hold a job and his disability payments, which just started arriving, have not been enough to keep his house.

His wife, Cindy Castro, and Daisy Quinones, who is soon to wed his father, put a sign up in front of the home Monday morning that reads "United We Stand - Let's Help Our Vets and Families."

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On the doorway were photographs of Castro taken during his military tour. As a Connecticut Army Reservist, the 32-year-old Castro served with the 283rd Transportation Company, charged with delivering supplies in volatile areas near Baghdad.

Along with the photographs, there was the eviction notice.

Cindy Castro and the couple's children have been living in Waterbury. Cindy Castro said her oldest son, Rafael, read the story Sunday "and wants to come home."

The couple also has a 5-month-old son, Christopher, who has Down syndrome.

While they were setting up the display in front of the home, "people were coming by," said Quinones.

Among the visitors was Maria Concepcion, a housing consultant with Creative Family Solutions, in Hamden. Concepcion said she's investigating ways the family might be able to hold on to the home.

"It's sad to see that, because he was in the military and is in the situation he's in," she said.

"We were out here and people were continually coming by," said Cindy Castro. "We were shocked." The family has also received calls of support, she said, including those from people who said they were commenting on the newspaper's Web site: at www.myrecordjournal.com.

"There has to be an open door somewhere," said Cindy Castro.

Rafael Castro said the experience is "like a bad hangover that just won't go away."

jkurz@record-journal.com
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