Committed suicide in front of his troops

[The Blue Flower]

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_suicide_060808w/

From a Greg Mitchell post at dkos

McKinney had been on the scene after a 500-pound bomb left five of his soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter dead; he was in a vehicle when another bomb blew up just two feet away, almost killing him and his men; he had consoled a soldier who lost a leg to a roadside bomb.

And he had stopped eating, stopped sleeping and become convinced he was not doing enough to keep his soldiers safe.

But even after a soldier found him sitting in a wooden supply shack, staring emptily into space, even after his face grew gaunt from weight loss, even after he was unable to form the thoughts necessary to give a morning briefing, McKinney kept going out on patrol.

And that is the part that everyone -- soldiers, commanders and family -- must now struggle with, each and every day....

As of May 3, 139 soldiers, 25 Marines and seven sailors have killed themselves in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones, according to Pentagon data.

Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, more suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other problems. But getting combat vets to seek help is difficult.

Studies by the Army, the Defense Department, Rand Corp. and others cite the same reasons why troops with mental health issues don't seek help: fear of being seen as "weak," inadequate access to care, concern that asking for help can hurt a career, and guilt about letting battle buddies go out on patrol without them.

Among the troubling factors is that, like McKinney, many of those who choose suicide aren't young first-tour junior troops. Forty-seven percent of soldiers who have killed themselves in theater are older than 30. And half were in paygrades E-5 or above. Experts are concerned that it's harder to spot signs of potential suicide in such war-hardened veterans.

McKinney's family believes that if his chain of command had paid closer attention to the symptoms, his death might have been avoided. And they hope that by talking about it now, months after his death, they might help prevent other suicides.

[Carnea]

1. Kick.....nt

[yardwork]

2. What we're doing to our soldiers...there are no words.

I'm kind of offended that DU is full of Democrats sniping at one another today over things, when this is staring us in the face.

[Bobbieo]

3. Support Our Troops - BRING THEM HOME111

[midnight]

24. You have got the right solution. I second that.....

BRING THEM HOME!!!

[yellerpup]

4. Pry them out of that hellhole

and bring them home. :kick:

[Old and In the Way]

5. Meanwhile, Dick "5 deferments" Cheney's stock portfolio

of well performing MIC companies continues to outpace the general economy. I hope he gets a perpetual Iraq War nightmare to suffer through personally, for enabling this one to occur.

[B.S. Lewis]

15. that's awesome

do you have a link?

[Old and In the Way]

16. Sure do!

Here's 427,000-

http://www.google.com/search?q=Dick+Cheney+and+war+profiteering&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[B.S. Lewis]

17. that was easy enough

thanks.

[Bluerthanblue]

6. my

heart aches for this dear man- and all who loved him.

peace~

[Disturbed]

7. McLame doesn't feel that it's "too important" about the troops

in Iraq staying there.

[Supersedeas]

10. so, what fear will they use to inspire voters to migrate toward McBush

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. The link has "gone AWOL"

Got another source?

[The Blue Flower]

11. The dkos URL

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/16/133640/090/213/536765

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. Thank you very much

[Tangerine LaBamba]

9. Victory at all costs

McSenile defines "victory" in Iraq as a time "when there are no more casualties."

Do you think suicides of our troops count as "casualties" in his world?

[ourbluenation]

14. it certainly does count. i cant get a handle on what the hell a victory is in the first place.

not from any right winger i know. drives me nuts.

[flashl]

12. K/R nt

[tomreedtoon]

18. How can the generals live with themselves?

How can the high-ranking officers in our armed forces live with themselves?

They know that to protect this country, they often have to send men into situations where they die. But they traditionally did everything they could for their men.

Someone like Omar Bradley was honored by the lowest grunt private because of his consideration for his men. A general who abuses his troops - or even appears to, like Patton's famous slapping incident - is disliked and demoted. Or at least, they used to be demoted.

How can these men tolerate a situation where their soldiers are shattered by war and driven to suicide? As someone who grew up in a military family, who never fell in with the New Left, and who sympathized with soldiers all his life, I can't imagine these generals taking the devastation of our armed forces casually.

[Robyn66]

19. This is how the REPUBLICANS Support the troops (nt)

[Bucky]

20. Here's the link to the Army Times article

For those of ya wanting to see the original article, it's here ==> http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_suicide_060808w/

[pagandem4justice]

21. The original link is good, but...

The DU link script is cutting off the trailing / (backslash), which seems to be necessary. Add it in and you're golden. Or, use the link from the Kos page. I'll try a coded hyperlink here: Army Times Article


First Sgt. Jeff McKinney had earned the trust of his soldiers. "Those were his kids," his mother said. "He looked out for them."

Damn all the warmongers in this country's government to hell. :grr:

[beac]

22. If any of you haven't signed the "Stand Up for Veterans" petition yet,

here's the link:

http://www.standup4vets.org/TakeAction/SignThePetition.htm


My husband and I recently met a young vet suffering from PTSD. He's been told it will be AT LEAST a year-and-a-half before he will be "eligible" for mental health services.

[ailsagirl]

23. So tragic and utterly unnecessary... damn this "war"

Thanks for posting.

[montanto]

25. "The Horror . . ."