THEY DID EXACTLY THE WRONG THINGSI watched a story on CNN

THEY DID EXACTLY THE WRONG THINGS

I watched a story on CNN last night about a young American soldier who committed suicide in Iraq. You can also watch it at the CNN site. As I recall it, this young man was severely depressed and on several occasions before actually killing himself had put the muzzle of his gun in his mouth. The response of his commanding officers was to punish him severely. They did the wrong things if they had wanted him to want to live; they did the right things for ensuring that he killed himself.

This story makes me very angry. I don't understand the macho mindset that says a depressed person in the military or anywhere else deserves to be punished. To me, that's just a step above a bully on the playground, only a much more deadly bully, using hard labor and threats of court martial to try to pound the depressed soldier into submission.

My friend Carly's Memorial Day 2008 blog entry talks about how a cemetery near her was adding extra crosses to remember those soldiers who have committed suicide in Iraq. I think this is the least that can be done.