Prayers go out to the families for their losses

*sigh...* I try and stay away from the Iraq topic. I got out of the army in Oct 2004. I had volunteered to go to Camp Liberty and was not selected. It saddens me that we are there and because we can not undo the past, we have to focus on the future.

To the families that have lost a loved on in Iraq, I couldn't imagine the loss, suffering and other emotions that you deal with on a daily basis. Or if you have the same/changed viewpoints about Iraq. Either way I tip my hat and appreciate the sacrafice that your father, mother, son and/or daughter did for our country. No matter what your viewpoint is on Iraq the bottomline is they were soldiers carrying out orders from their commander-in-chief.

The army isn't too clever when it comes individuals. What I mean by that is there are people diagnosed with Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who get deployed & re-deployed to the sandbox. These guys need proper psychological counseling. Not another year in Iraq! Now let's say you take this soldier with PTSD and send him back to Iraq. He's a SGT and by looking at his Class-A photo decked out with awards likes his army career. So....when would be the best time to tell this guy; turn-in you're weapon...you're going to seek counseling and get medically discharged out of the military for PTSD? In Iraq or in the US of A? As if being in Iraq isn't hard enough, let's put another added stress in there...YOU'RE FIRED!!! YOU'RE DONE! ALL YOUR HARD WORK, MEDALS...EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE FOR THE ARMY...IT'S OVER! TURN IN YOUR WEAPON AND BE PREPARED TO GO BACK TO NOTHING where BTW you still have bills! Live with the embarrassment of telling people that you were medically discharged under mental health. There are probably more factors, or maybe these ideas didn't roll through SGT Russell's head. I'm an emotional kind of guy so these are the ideas that come in my head.

My heart and prayers go to the victim's SGT Russell shot. And I'm interested in seeing the action the army takes. SGT Russell killed five comrades who left behind families and loved ones. I do believe that he should lose his freedom, however the army has a big responsibility on their hands as he was diagnosed with PTSD before re-deploying to Iraq! How many other potential threats are out there? How differently can you handle those situations?

How difficult will life be after these heroes come home and look for work with a medical discharge? Will the US take care of their vets or are we looking at another Vietnam aftermath? It's scary because if you're not lacking in imagination, you can see what the streets of DC and other big US cities will look like in 10-15 years. Ok...I'm done writing about this. I had to get it out of my head. My prayers to those who have lost a loved one while deployed, Shame on SGT Russell and Shame on the US Army.