Peace Activist's Son Discovers Pain of War
When Manuel signed up for the Army in December 2003, his father, Michael McPherson, tried to talk him out of it. A veteran of the first Gulf War, McPherson was a vociferous opponent of the second. But Manuel wouldn't listen to his father's admonitions. He was assigned to the 101 Airborne Division and in September 2005 deployed for a year-long tour running convoys and warehouse operations in Tikrit. As he dealt with the daily danger of mortar rounds and roadside bombs, Manuel said, he began to share his father's perspective. "It was like I was over there for no reason," he said. "We weren't accomplishing anything. It was like we were doing the same thing every day and they wouldn't tell us nothing about what was going on at the Pentagon." Manuel said he repeatedly asked his chain of command, "Why am I over here?" but they didn't provide him with an answer. It was "like they were ready to come home too," he said. "What I was thinking -- it was on their face." While Manuel was in Iraq, his wife gave birth to their third son, Jeremiah. But the joyous occasion turned sour when Jeremiah was diagnosed with a genetic disease called Muscular Spinal Atrophy and died in January of this year. Manuel said the situation was made even more painful when his superiors ordered him to begin training for a second tour in Iraq. "My son passed away," he said. "You gonna' send an emotionally distressed soldier to Iraq -- who knows what he's going to do? I'm ready to just blow the whole world up because I didn't see my son being born and then he just passed away on me with no warning." Manuel never filed paperwork to medically excuse him from the deployment. Instead, he withdrew and buried himself in alcohol. He estimates he drank three fifths of liquor a day. At one point, his wife had to call the police during a domestic disturbance. In response, the Army threw him in a local county jail and kicked him out of the military with a bad-conduct discharge, which will deny him medical benefits he might have been able to use to get his life back together again. It's a common story. In the first four years of the Iraq war, for example, 1,019 Marines were dismissed with less-than-honorable discharges for misconduct committed after overseas deployments. Navy Capt. William Nash, who coordinates the Marines' combat stress program, told USA Today last week that at least 326 of the discharged Marines showed evidence of mental health problems, possibly from combat stress. Nash told the paper he hoped that "any Marine or sailor who commits particularly uncharacteristic misconduct following deployment...be aggressively screened for stress disorders and treated." "If a Marine who was previously a good, solid Marine -- never got in trouble -- commits misconduct after deployment and turns out they have PTSD {Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), and because of justice they lose their benefits, that may not be justice," Nash said. David Walker is a Vietnam veteran and police chaplain who's been helping returning soldiers work their way through military bureaucracy. He notes that most American soldiers are only being given six months in the United States between deployments -- five months of which is generally spent training for the next tour. Cases like Shaun Manuel's, he said, are increasingly common. "It'd be like sending out your first-string football team and there's no defense, no offense, there's no kickoff team, there's no punt return team -- everybody that's on that line is on the line for the duration of the game," Walker said. "When it's over with, you get an hour break and you play another team with the same string of guys." "It's burning people out," he said. Like many soldiers who have returned from Iraq, Manuel has never seen a military psychiatrist. He never asked to see one and now that he's been chaptered out of the Army he won't be able to see one in the future. His father, Veterans for Peace Director Michael McPhearson, is helping Manuel file an appeal to regain his medical benefits. In the meantime, McPhearson sees the glass as half full. "I feel relief," he told OneWorld. "I was so concerned about him going into the military in the first place. Then he goes to Iraq, so there was a year of me saying 'Oh my God, is my son going to come back? How guilty am I going to feel if something happens to him?' Now I'm through all that. The worst thing that could happen now is that he does what many young people do, which is not to follow a good path in life." "But he's not going to be killed in Iraq," McPhearson said. "I know that. So I've just got be a good father and help him as best I can." ....................................................................................
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"check out liveleak to see how our troops are behaving"Author:
bus plunge
Time: 07/13/2007 01:54
Comment: The U.S. military is good at building roads and killing
people. Maybe that statement is a generalization, but Some soldiers that have been posting comments on LiveLeak act as if they are foreign policy experts. You are not. Terrorism cannot be won soley by the military. No, it cannot. But when our foreign policy is basically "protect oil at all costs", you will always have greed, corruption and terrorism.. All three are tied together. It frustrates and angers some soldiers when they they are confronted with the reality that they are not always the answer to ending conflict around the world. So they say things like, "Don`t you want your wife and kids to be alive and free from terrorism? " Of course I do. With all due respect, leave my wife and kids out of your comments.I will protect them by voting out those who abuse their power in order to sustain the "war for oil" machine that is actually endangering ALL of our families. We ALL wish it were as simple as going to another country to get all the bad guys, but to think this way is unrealistic, as the situation in the Middle East is painfully showing us. Bush tells us Al Qaeada is fighting us in Iraq. When our troops are fired upon , and they return with heavy fire and kill a 13 year old girl, her father is not saying, "thank you for removing Saddam" He is saying ," If the Americans were not here, my daughter would still be alive." Then father and brother join the resistance against the U.S. military. We are seen as invaders an occupiers. Hatred between the Iraqi people and the U.S. military personnel is growing ever stronger. The majority of Iraqis want us out of their country. 70 % of Americans want us out. Congress needs to act against Bush. Congress, you can stand with Bush or you can stand with the American people. Bring our troops home ,NOW! I understand that it is difficult and often dangerous for soldiers who oppose this war to speak their minds and voice their concerns as Every American has the right to do and should do. The American people realize what an inept and possibly deceitful commander George W Bush is. Thank you for doing what you are ordered to do,that is your job, but don`t tell me how to protect my family when your version of protection is glamourizing yourself as a self proclaimed hero on what is becoming a website for racist soldiers vs. psychotic jihadis. You all have some growing up to do. Our own U.S. troops use this site to insult Americans who oppose this war. Stop using the "patriot" issue to try to make youselves feel more American than others. ANY AMERICAN CONCERNED WITH THE WELFARE OF AMERICA IS A PATRIOT. So quit with the holier than thou attitude. I know this is uncomfortable for you to read, but If I told you this to your face, based on your comments, you would use violence to shut me up. Remember that you represent the American people and I`m not saying all soldiers behave this way. This country has turned against the war and the president. We know you are vital to the security of this country. But we (the majority of Americans) are pulling you out of Iraq because we know what is best for our country and families . All of you soldiers are OUR sons and daughters, and we are not sending you to fight an unjust war. Using fear to persuade voters is the president`s job, not yours. And he can`t even do it anymore. No one is buying the B.S. anymore. WE ARE realistic about terrorism, and we will vote in leaders who really WANT to fight terrorism without being clouded by greed. This is not even about republicans vs. democrats anymore. This is about voting OUT those who do not carry out the will of the American people. This country has done NOTHING to deserve what happened to us on September 11 ,2001, so don`t even try to say I`m blaming us for terrorism , or soft on terrorism (another lame accusation often thrown about by some Iraq war supporters). You are NOT the people we hired to decide where our country goes. Using the internet to ridicule people`s religion and ethnicity is not what the U.S. military does and is undermining our goal. Whatever happened to honor and respect? Well it`s time to look at your own behavior and start thinking about what you are doing in the military on our behalf. All soldiers serving this great country who sacrificed their own lives doing their duty deserve to be honored, regardless of their own personal view on Iraq. It is our broken leadership that has dishonored this country. The American people are going to vote out the weak leadership and restore this country to the greatness we held for so long. And , by the way, for those of you in here who try to degrade Americans personally with your expressions of hatred, we recognize racism because we have been dealing with racism since this country`s beginning .Americans are made up of people from ALL COUNTRIES, and every one of us is an immigrant or related to earlier immigrants living on the soil of NATIVE AMERICANS . So for those of you who have recently jumped on the "I hate America and Americans" bandwagon, realize that you are merely racists . You display Anti-Americanite tendencies , no different than anti- semitism ,anti -islam ,or any other form of meaningless hate. It just reveals how unsatisfied you are with own life. But ,I hope you make it here someday, because despite all the problems we have in this country , you can be whoever you want . And even that right has to be constantly defended . I love America AND Americans . And lastly , ANY AMERICAN THAT CARES ABOUT THIS COUNTRY IS A TRUE AMERICAN AND PATRIOT . |
"Manhood"Author:
John McCarthy
Time: 07/11/2007 03:25
Comment: I feel sorry for both son and father. Instead of facing his responsibilities, he drinks and shirks them. As a Desert Shield/Storm veteran, I have no patience with spineless males. He's not a man, he doesn't deserve the title. Hopefully, before he dies, he'll learn to accept responsibility.
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