Soldier pays somebody to shoot him to avoid going back to Iraq

[Wetzelbill]

Soldier shoots himself to avoid Iraq
What starts as a joke to wife ends with a $500 gunshot to the leg

Updated: 6:54 p.m. MT July 13, 2007
NEW YORK - A soldier who recently returned from Iraq has admitted he paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid returning for another tour.

Jonathan Aponte, 20, claimed he had been robbed and shot but changed his story when police questioned him, authorities said. Aponte, who was facing another eight-month tour, had been scheduled to leave last Monday.

"As far as being shot at every day, I think it's better," Aponte told WCBS-TV in an interview that aired Friday. "Mentally I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it anymore."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19753800/?GT1=10150