(Okla) Soldier (to return to Iraq) ties up interstate with suicide threat

[UpInArms]

http://www.mcduffiemirror.com/stories/063005/new_063005_1611_2.shtml

A 31-year-old Oklahoma soldier, distraught over orders to go to Iraq and a restraining order keeping him from seeing his six-year-old son, threatened to jump off an interstate overpass in McDuffie County Monday morning.

Sgt. James Richard Rogers climbed out of his gold Saturn about 10:15 a.m. Monday and was standing on the overpass railing as emergency personnel arrived.

McDuffie County Public Information Officer Don Norton said the incident lasted about 30 minutes as traffic on the westbound lanes of Interstate 20 was diverted up the Exit 172 ramp and across Highway 17.

...more...

[demnan]

1. Another casualty of war

so many of these angry guys become street people.

[Double T]

2. This has an all to familiar Viet Nam ring to this story....

this soldier will be one of the many that has to live with the personal and professional destruction of war.

[bluestateguy]

3. That may get him out of having to go

course, he may have to spend some time at the loony bin instead, but it beats being shot at or blown up by an IED.

[UpInArms]

4. well, that works for me

:crazy:

[ElectroPrincess]

6. At least,

to me THIS SOLDIER'S "cry of desperation" was much more honest and noble than the stunts a**holes like Ted Nugent pulled off by sh*tting his pants at the draft board. Father of the year? Please!

May this young man get the mental health services he needs to overcome his personal demons. Thank goodness it did not end in his death as so often happens with people who suffer from anxiety and depression.

[DemoTex]

11. Ironically, he just proved that he is not crazy.

Catch-22.

[lateo]

5. Poor guy...

That sucks.

[silver10]

7. How many more instances like this

happen without us knowing? Emotional meltdowns, nervous breakdowns and cries for help. How much inhumanness can one person experience until they go to pieces? If he hadn't tied up traffic, we may not have known about this one. Of course, rightwingers who wouldn't dare put their own asses in harms way probably label him a coward and liar and malingerer.

[TX-RAT]

8. (to return to Iraq)

Where did it say that?

[UpInArms]

9. further down in the article at the link provided in original post

from original post: distraught over orders to go to Iraq

Fort Sill Media Chief Nancy Elliott said Sgt. Rogers is attached to the B Battery, Second Battalion, Fifth Field Artillery Regiment and the unit is on deployment orders. She did not have any more information on the soldier, she said.

(edited for clarity)

[SheepyMcSheepster]

10. first paragraph

A 31-year-old Oklahoma soldier, distraught over orders to go to Iraq and a restraining order keeping him from seeing his six-year-old son, threatened to jump off an interstate overpass in McDuffie County Monday morning.

maybe not explicitly "return" but "to go to iraq" is in the linked story.

[TX-RAT]

12. to go to iraq" is in the linked story.

That i saw.

The original poster said return to Iraq. Which was not correct according to the link.
He had yet to deploy.

[UpInArms]

13. self-delete

[Dr Fate]

14. Did this ever happen during WWII?

???

[ElectroPrincess]

15. If you consider this behavior an complication of PTSD ...

Such post "combat zone" behavior (suicidal, self-destructive) has been around since the beginning of Warfare and/or Traumatic experiences ... experiences beyond which our psyche's are able to assimilate into who we are in the "here and now." (War Zone, Plane Crashes, horrific experiences of almost any nature)

[TX-RAT]

16. PTSD, before being deployed?

[ElectroPrincess]

17. Oh I stand corrected if it was BEFORE ...

I should not scan through articles.

No, in order to experience the symptoms/complications of PTSD a person has to have those "life threatening - horrific experiences" first.

From outside - in I believe a combo of anxiety and propensity for Depression. They can stand alone as well as be a part of a constellation of symptoms of PTSD.

Oh, what the hell! = I was wrong - off the mark on this one. <blush>

Thanks for setting me straight.

p.s. I do however, stand my my statement that he can claim more personal dignity than the "draft dodging" freaks like Ted Nugent.

[TX-RAT]

19. No prob

Actually you pointed out a better reason.

(anxiety and propensity for Depression) Military life is not for everyone, not all victims and casualty's are combat related

(p.s. I do however, stand my my statement that he can claim more personal dignity than the "draft dodging" freaks like Ted Nugent)

I agree.

[loyalsister]

21. Expectations

also influence the ability people have to deal with a combat situation. The expectation is that it is going to be bloody, horrific nightmarish shit is realistic and prepares soldiers best for their upcoming experiences.
The government itself was unprepared for how ugly Vietnam was going to get, and did not prepare our soldiers once we had some sense of it.
They knew Iraq could turn this ugly yet just wrote a movie script for soldiers to their detriment.
I am reminded of some saying about getting fooled.

[LanternWaste]

23. Different times, different government...

The only suicides I'm aware of (three) re: deployment/enlistement during WWII happened because the recruits were designated 4-F (unsuitable for any type of military service and denied entry into the armed services). Each, on his own went home, waited a few days and then committed suicide because they *couldn't* serve.

(Sources: Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldier and Carl Perry, Honor and Duty- America at War, 1941-1945)

These days, they're committing suicide becuase they *have* to go. Different times, different government...

[Zodiak]

18. Separation anxiety and control issues

Well, it sounds to me like a major case of separation anxiety. I am, of course, extrapolating based on only what appears in this thread, but it seems to me that this guy was a little unhinged to begin with (restraining order against him) and the thought of going overseas and possibly getting his head blown off might have ripped the door from the jamb completely. That coupled with some potential control issues that being overseas forcefully brings to an abrupt conclusion.

All that aside, this story still speaks of the problem of domestic violence, misogyny, and control issues that plague military families.

My own abuse as a child stemmed directly from the military culture, and I had a lot of other friends on the base in the same situation. Heck, the school on the base was more of an institution to house all of us little abused kids than it was a place of learning. Its an epidemic and a dirty little secret in the military that family dysfunction is more of the rule than the exception, at least from my POV.

[ElectroPrincess]

20. Very insightful and well written ... :-)

We'll never know for sure since we don't know more about his background. However, I bow to the master - you skillfully applied sound judgment in pulling together all the pieces within this short article. :hi:

[DELUSIONAL]

24. another military brat checking in

My dad was a "cold war warrior" and he had six months tours.

For six months when all the men were away -- the housing was peaceful we all learned to cope, get things fixed without a "man about the house". Then the squadron would return and the violence would begin.

You echo what I've been saying for years: "Its an epidemic and a dirty little secret in the military that family dysfunction is more of the rule than the exception, at least from my POV."

I've also checked with mental health professionals near military installations and they can back up our experience with facts.

When I was a kid blatant abuse was ignored -- the kid who came to school with the bruised outline of a belt buckle on his face. The men who beat their families -- and no one called the MPs. I've lived in civilian communities for over 30 years and I've never witness anywhere near the level of abuse that I saw as a child, teenager or young adult -- especially when the men were getting ready to deploy or returning.

Also the military experience can so change a father (and in this modern military the mother) that the person is unrecognizable from the person who left. The returning person is almost literally another person -- changed for the worse. Rarely does a family get through that period unscathed.

There is no special badge for military brats -- but we wear a badge on our souls.

Anyway when people blindly support the troops -- just remember that the "troops" are humans and some of these humans are just plain rotten creeps -- and they'll do their harm either state side or overseas.

[Nostradammit]

28. Amen to that!

That's exactly right about military families, and don't even get me started on families of combat veterans.

We are gonna be in a world of hurt when these soldiers return.

[musical_soul]

22. That poor man.

Can't completely blame the war. The war didn't create a restraining order against seeing his son. I hope he can get help.

[Joey Liberal]

25. Another casualty of the Bush reign of error

I feel bad for the guy.

[The_Casual_Observer]

26. How much truth can this world stand?

[DemoTex]

27. The world knows the truth, as do some of us.

However, the American people get little truth, unless they work real hard for it (like some of us). Long live the internet.