http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/us...er&oref=slogin

It's happening too often. Your heart just breaks for the parents and families of these men.

Surely the military can do better.

I need links to other instances that you refer to.

It is not as epidemic as you might be trying to point out.

Well, seven families(as mentioned in the article)is a pretty big number to be happening...

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

Well, seven families(as mentioned in the article)is a pretty big number to be happening...

Out of how many Marines and how much time.

Next question, how many times does something like this happen in places that are not in a war zone?

Like I said, it's not epidemic. It happens and the way it is handled is the whole story, not the fact that it has happened.

If you are a General in charge, do you believe your officers or do you automatically say "What really happened?"

True...But still...It shouldn't be happening at all.

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

True...But still...It shouldn't be happening at all.

It happens in the military and out of the military and it is worldwide.

Like I've said before, there is nothing new under the sun.

How comfortable is that armchair Young Winston? Its called combat and you have no idea what its like up close and personal so keep your assumptions and innuendo in your fourth point of contact. There is no conspiracy and there is no negligence. The Marines are made up of human beings and as such are fallible just like all of us and try as they might its pretty friggin hard to sift through AARs and eye witness interviews and come up with the "truth" of what happens. Don't believe me ask any detective or street cop who responds to a domestic... no amplify that by ten. The fact that the proper investigating bodies come out with the truth at a later date is actually testament to the dedication and commitment the armed forces have to getting to the bottom of these kinds of rare incidents. Sure in a perfect world we know in real time what happened from the perspective of an unbiased higher power who had 100 camera lenses recording the incident in gigapixels but hey, guess what, this is the real world not one of your favorite action serials on tv or first person shooter pc games. Wake the up and use that grey inside your cranium for something other than a semi-solid substance whose sole purpose is to keep your head from caving in on itself.

its unfortunate that this happens, but i agree with bulldogg, its a sad part of war. it reminds me of part of a Vietnam War book i read, where they list the many ways you could die besides enemy fire. sad but true.

it shouldnt happen, true. but in the end we are all men, we are imperfect.
so things are bound to happen that cannot be controled, dont point the finger at the entire military because on the whole it is rare.

I have been involved in investigations in the past over various things. I can say with a certainty that the first story that you hear is never the a) Complete story or b) the true story.

This is an unfortunate incident to be sure. But the fact that the truth did come out should speak for itself. It is not as if it took years upon years of lobbying to bring the full matter to light. All it took was a few Marines making their statement loud enough to be heard by those able to do something about it.

As for the reduction in sentence and by the General. . well I feel that was unwarranted. The guy should have served the full term. In the brig at Camp Lejeune the prisoners get time taken off the end of their sentence for good behavior. The fact that this guy went UA (if he was gone 30 days+ then he could be charged as a deserter) before the trial would have made me want to hammer him with everything I could.

But then again I am not the man on the ground making the decisions so I can not second guess the General or his reasons.