Reservist Commits Suicide after Return (from Afghanistan)

[kskiska]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Army reservist who unsuccessfully fought city officials for an expected promotion after he returned from service in Afghanistan has committed suicide, police said.

Lt. Brandon Ratliff was upset that he couldn't afford to pay for an attorney to fight the city to get the job, according to an e-mail sent from Ratliff's account to The Columbus Dispatch on Thursday.

The newspaper said Ratliff was found dead in his home about three hours after the e-mail was sent. Police spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio said Ratliff's death was ruled a suicide.

Ratliff said he was promised a promotion and a raise in September 2002 before he left to serve in a medical unit in Afghanistan. But when he returned, the higher-level job had been filled and he was forced to resume his old job, which pays $4,000 less per year.

"I didn't think that I'd have to fight over there and come back and fight these guys," he said last week.

more…
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-reservist-job,0,6143680,print.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[Dark Angel]

1. What a sad story

:(

[tom_paine]

2. Another Bushevik "Collateral Damage" from his Invasion of Poland

Oh, did I say Poland?

Freudian slip. I meant to say Imperial Freedomstan, formerly Iraq.

[saigon68]

3. Nice reintegration counseling and Protecting the Veteran

Thanks a lot Chimp "Mother Fucker"

[IndianaGreen]

7. You are right! What happened to the much ballyhooed counseling?

This tragedy may well repeat itself.

[arcane1]

4. hey BUSH! They're called "reserves" for a goddamned REASON!

:grr::mad::grr:

[roguevalley]

5. God bless his soul and his family. I wish Bush could be held accountable.

[0007]

17. There is an unwritten law of higher mathematics

that settles this type of account.

[MaineDem]

6. How very sad

I can only imagine his frustration.

I hope his family can find comfort. I know I'd be so furious that it'd take a long time for me to find peace.

[tlcandie]

8. This is absolutely horrible !!!

:cry: :cry: :cry:

There's nothing else to say except my heart is with those whom he left behind :cry:

May he find peace on the other side...


EDIT:
<snip>
Ratliff commanded the Army Reserve's 909th Forward Surgical Team. The unit provides medical care on the front lines, and Ratliff's duties included retrieving wounded soldiers from the battlefield and tallying the dead and wounded. He was decorated eight times, his family said.
<snip>

[UpInArms]

9. I am so sorry

for all the ruin and devastation that has occurred since December 12, 2000.

I am so sorry for this man's terrible burden, where he felt the best answer was to not be alive.

The tragedy is that he is/was worth a million George Bush's and now he is gone.

:cry:

[Lisa]

10. I wonder if certain people in Columbus ...

... who made those decisions, are walking around wearing tiny American flag pins nonetheless? They "believed they did not have to hold" the position for him.

This is a terrible shame. How many Afghanistan and Iraq veterans will find themselves similarly frozen out when they come home? Just as some Vietnam vets were treated as "damaged goods"?

[mbperrin]

11. Tragically, this is just

the tip of a huge iceberg we're about to hit.

[prolesunited]

13. I agree

others may turn their anger outward, like McVeigh and Muhammad, both vets of daddy's war.

Among those uncaring souls wearing the flagpins, I'm sure they won't be shedding tears. Instead, they will belittle him for "taking the coward's way out."

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saigon68]

16. Adios

[Tinoire]

14. Is anyone keeping track of these?

This is about the 3rd article I've read this week.

God-damn Bush and ALL the people who support any aspect of anything he's doing to HELL!

[Voltaire99]

15. "He had seen children die"

And that, we can be sure, is not the whole of it.

What a talent for misery our glorious empire has!