Marine dies hours after returning home from Iraq

[MaineDem]

WEARE, N.H. -- Three hours after he returned home from the war in Iraq, a 54-year-old Marine reservist collapsed and died of a heart attack.

Dale Racicot's widow, Janet, said her husband, a master gunnery sergeant, came home Friday and looked forward to spending the weekend with her and his daughters, Keri Magnarelli, 24, and Stacey, 20.

At about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, after three hours of talking, Racicot suggested everybody go to bed since they had the whole weekend to get caught up.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2003/08/12/marine_dies_hours_after_returning_home_from_iraq


How sad.

[treepig]

1. not to sound too cynical

but thank god he made it home so as to not count in the official statistics!

[AfricanDonkey]

4. thats the most fucked up statement ive heard to date...

[NNN0LHI]

5. Its right up there n/t

[treepig]

6. i assume you've missed all the theads

about the accounting games (accident - doesn't count! died after being flown to germany - doesn't count! etc etc) being played to keep the body count down?

or are you implying that this guy's heart attack just randomly occurred 3 hours after returning home (and would have happening anyway due to whatever factors normally lead to heart attacks in apparently healthy 54-year olds) and had nothing whatsoever to do with his stint over in iraq?

[Robin Hood]

8. I'm sure that they were just echoing

the White House and Pentagons sentiments.

[shanti]

9. i hope you were being faceitious

well?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

12. They (Bush) won't get away with it

it can easily be chalked up to post traumatic stress. (I did detect a little sarcasm in your post.)
But man, this is one of the saddest things I have ever heard.

[karlschneider]

18. I understand what you are saying. The ironic sarcasm was lost on some

around here. Don't worry about it.
:eyes:

[treepig]

20. i can see how i came across as a bit insensitive

yup, gotta remember to include the 'rolling eyes' smilies in such posts!


:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[Pert_UK]

21. You've got to remember that Americans don't understand irony......

Luckily there are a few Brits on here who do!

I took your post in the spirit in which it was meant - not as any disrespect to the man or his family, but as a reflection of the Bush administration's method of "creative accounting" when it comes to "combat casualties."

"I've got great news Mrs Smith - your husband WASN'T killed in combat today!"
"That's fantastic, I've been so worried!"
"However, he has mysteriously died whilst on guard duty. Now let's give no more attention to this bizarre cover-up."

Dead is dead, it doesn't matter how...

P.

[Cha]

23. I got it without the "rolling eyes".

It is very sad but I understood exactly what you were saying.

[Atlant]

25. Don't worry -- lots of us are past being sensitive re: wingnuts.

No doubt my post lower in this thread will offend many.

Atlant

[Rose Siding]

2. Called up at 54

Wow. How long do these guys go?

Welcome home.

[SoCalDem]

22. My 49 yr old friend was called up

Thank goodness he made it back , more or less unscathed.. They do not care how old you are :eyes:

[Catherine Vincent]

3. I just saw this on our local channel.

How sad. At least he got a chance to see his family one last time before he collasped.

[Guaranteed]

14. Yeah...that's what I thought...

He made it home.

[NYC]

7. Quote from wife:

"So we had three glorious hours with him, and it was the best gift ever," Mrs. Racicot said.

[Robin Hood]

11. Yayyy, Go Bush!!!

Was that the official pentagon statement?

[Guaranteed]

15. You're making me tear up....

Seriously...cut it out...:)

[Robin Hood]

10. This just proves to me that life is too short

to be mired down in bullshit.

[Desperadoe]

13. I just have to wonder

What kind of an army deploys a 54 year old man to combat region? Not a 54 year old General but a Sergeant??? WTF?

And Dumsfield says we are not over deployed?

[Devil Dog Dem]

16. First, he wasn't part of an army; Second, he wasn't a Sergeant.

He was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, not the army,

More important, he was a Master Gunnery Sergeant, which (along with Sergeant Major) is the highest enlisted rank in the Corps. It can take 25-30 years to reach that rank.

Call a Master Gunny a Sergeant and he'd kick your ass, plain and simple.

Notwithstanding this Marine's heart attack, there is nothing inherently wrong with having 54 year old Marines (although I agree it is at the high end of the age range). So, if he is a 54 year old Marine, then he is a Marine, and Marines deploy to shitholes like Iraq. It's that simple.

Semper Fi, Mac

[FireHeart]

26. Yeah

I made the mistake of calling a Master Gunny "Sarge" once. I got a very unique lesson in the proper addressing of a Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant.

:scared:

[barbaraann]

17. It looks like this Racicot is related to Gov. Racicot. (R).

http://genforum.genealogy.com/racicot/
(I did a search for Marc and for Dale and both of these men are in this family.)

Could this mean anything?

[jbfam4]

19. you read my mind

I was just going to do that. Thanks for the info

[Atlant]

24. He was clearly a wingnut in the Racicot mold.

The story in The Boston Globe this morning made it clear
that the guy was a wingnut: he was crowing about how he'd had
a chance to see Oliver North, etc. etc.

When I saw his name, I immediately wondered aloud about whether
he was related to THATRacicot family; I'm not surprised
to have it confirmed.

Quite honestly, he deserved what he got: death. It's what he
and his family worked for years to achieve.

Atlant