In this April 24, 2012 image, former Marine Christian Ellis, 29, holds his dog as he stands for a portrait in his apartment in Denver. Ellis has a swash of red ink among his tattoos for every friend and Marine killed in battle or by suicide. The former Marine machine gunner, who has attempted suicide four times, is putting his pain on stage in the first opera believed written about the Iraq War. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this April 24, 2012 image, former Marine Christian Ellis, 29, looks at his cell phone in his apartment in Denver. The former Marine machine gunner, who has attempted suicide four times, is putting his pain on stage in the first opera believed written about the Iraq War. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this April 24, 2012 image, former Marine Christian Ellis, 29, plays with his dog in his apartment in Denver. The former Marine machine gunner, who has attempted suicide four times, is putting his pain on stage in the first opera believed written about the Iraq War. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this April 24, 2012 image, former Marine Christian Ellis, 29, stands for a portrait in his apartment in Denver. Ellis has a swash of red ink among his tattoos for every friend and Marine killed in battle or by suicide. The former Marine machine gunner, who has attempted suicide four times, is putting his pain on stage in the first opera believed written about the Iraq War. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
After returning from the battlefields of Iraq, Christian Ellis found the only way to soothe the war wounds in his soul was by losing himself singing opera’s powerful, haunting songs. Now the 29-year-old former Marine machine gunner— who has attempted suicide four times — is …
