Marine who met with Bush in April dies from what appears to have been a suicidal burst of violence

[NNN0LHI]

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/triage/2008/05/in-memoriam-a-m.html

Originally posted: May 19, 2008

In Memoriam: A Marine with PTSD
One of the first Marines to write openly about his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder died last week in Arizona, in what appears to be a suicidal burst of violence. His story is a stark reminder of the toll the war in Iraq is taking on veterans.

Marine Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, 36, had done three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. In April, he was among a group of vets who met with President Bush at the White House. Several weeks later, he left his job in Quantico, Va. without notice, the Associated Press reports.

Travis had been hospitalized for PTSD at Bethesda Naval Medical Center for several weeks and then sent to at a Veterans Administration facility for treatment, the AP says. In a January article in Marine Corps Gazette he described his despair, alcohol abuse and psychotic episodes, but he claimed to have recovered emotionally.

Earlier this month, Travis drove to the Grand Canyon with his brother, Willard Twiggs, where the brothers appear to have tried to drive their car off a cliff. (It was found hanging in a tree.) They then carjacked another vehicle, drove to the border in southwestern Arizona, and ultimately became involved in a car chase with authorities.

As officials closed in, Travis Twiggs apparently shot his brother and then himself last Wednesday.

[BrklynLib at work]

1. This is what makes the tragedy so much worse. There are so many troops coming home with wounds that

cannot be seen, but are just as horrific as those we can see with our eyes.

I detest that moron in the White House with such a passion that it sometimes scares me.
It is totally beyond my comprehension how anyone could look upon him favorably.
He is a prime example of a waste of oxygen and protoplasm.

[sammythecat]

11. I agree with your assessment .

The shame is that this bastard is so unreflective that I doubt he will ever have any realization of all the damage he has caused. He isn't as stupid as he sometimes seems, but whatever cleverness he has is short-sighted and self-centered. There is no depth or ability to empathize in his personality, and I'll bet he views these qualities in others as an annoying flaw. He's a mean man, in the sense that he's selfish, petty, and unkind.

How in the hell he ever got to be perceived as "a guy you'd like to have a beer with" it totally beyond my comprehension. That has to say something very disturbing, and discouraging, about the majority of our fellow countrymen.

[BrklynLib at work]

13. Very well put.

[AndyA]

2. Support the Troops.

This is Bush's version:

1. Start a war based on lies so your rich corporate buds can get richer.

2. Condemn anyone who criticizes the war as being un-American, and label them a terrorist.

3. Barge in without a plan for success, and claim Mission Accomplished as soon as possible.

4. Ignore the fact that the troops don't have adequate body armour, vehicles, supplies, or anything else they need.

5. Refuse to increase benefits, salaries, or anything else for the troops or their families, all the while condemning others for not supporting the troops by taking steps to cut funding to bring them home (to safety).

6. Tell America that we are safer because of this war, and that if we weren't "over there" fighting "them," they'd be over here fighting us. (Ignoring of course our own intelligence which says this isn't true.)

7. Order the media to not show images of flag-draped caskets returning home, because if Americans don't see it, it isn't happening.

8. Allow butchered and ill troops to come home to filthy medical facilities, that are inadequately staffed, and toss them out before they're able to take care of themselves.

9. Show up for occasional photo ops to show the country that all is well.

10. Ignore, deny, or flat out lie when confronted with facts that indicate we really aren't supporting the troops.

It's the Republican way. It's the Bush way. It's NOT the American way. I think this is one of the biggest disgraces of the Bush Administration, and it should be a front and center issue in November.

It's THEIR war. THEY told the lies. THEY spent the money. THEY own it. MAKE it THEIR election issue. It's hard to ignore the dead troops, the lies, and the billions spent. Add in the millions unaccounted for, the shoddy work, the rancid food served to the troops, and you have major damage for the GOP to deal with. And they need to own it, all of it. Let McCain try to talk his way out of it, he isn't smart enough to do it.

[YOY]

3. I feared things like this would happen

The wrongness of the whole situation...for FReeps it's tough to admit but to these guys...they've seen the beast. They did the dirty deed and they know the motivation behind it.

Gotta drive a man mad.

[malaise]

4. Meeting that grinning idiot must have been the last straw

that broke his back. Thanks George.

[gratuitous]

5. The VA will accept his claim any day now

As soon as it doesn't cost any money, the VA will be happy to accept a claim for PTSD.

This is sad enough, but what's even sadder is that it happens every. Stinkin'. Time. we send people off to war. But we never learn, and as soon as the media crank up the "Whoo-ee! Lookit the pretty pictures of bombs lighting up the night skies!" we're right back to "Hoo-rah, let's go to war" jingoism. Even today, five years after us dirty fucking hippies and lily-livered peace activists told the country and the media what was going to happen, there are still no dissenting voices allowed on the nation's airwaves or cable stations. You can bad-mouth the outcome of the war, but you can't bad-mouth war, even though the outcome is the same every. Goddam. Time.

[T Monk]

6. three tours of duty...

[TNOE]

7. FOUR TOURS OF DUTY

3 in Iraq - and 1 in Afghanistan

Gee - anybody think that might be a problem??

ON EDIT - I read it as 3 initially too. Welcome to DU :hi:

[T Monk]

9. thanks combat tours should be measured on a richter scale

[Binka]

12. Looking Back It Was A BLESSING Ben Got Blown To Shit In Ramadi

The 3/7 had only been in Iraq 23 fucking days when Ben's convoy got blasted. He nearly died but hung on. Now I am so grateful because it got him OUT of Iraq and now out of the Marines. He still has emotional struggles but he is healing.:cry:

I can not IMAGINE how the families of those Vets struggling with severe PTSD are coping. This whole fucking thing is a travesty. Every bit of this fucked up war. Shit I hate the Bush/Cheney crime family, I so want them thrown on a plane and shipped into that hell whole.

Take all their relatives and ship em over too. :mad:

[alstephenson]

8. K & R (with great sadness)...

[Mabus]

10. I concur

K&R with great sadness.