Posted on 06/05/2012 6:26:45 AM PDT by servo1969
Well, at least he didn’t do what Patton did.............
“I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess.”
As opposed to soldiers whose lives are taken when cleaning up the mess of generals.
The general is right.
His original post was correct. Suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness. It’s a permanent “solution” to a temporary problem.
I know we should have compassion for depressed people, but I don’t think assuring everyone that people who commit suicide are blameless discourages other people from comitting suicide. Whenever someone kills himself, the mantra is: “It wasn’t his fault...he was in so much pain...he’s now in a better place.” This sends the message that depressed people can’t help themselves (or be helped), that suicide is semi-rational (because you are out of pain afterwards), and that people who commit suicide all go to Heaven. At the very least, religious leaders should get this message out: “If you are sane and you commit suicide, you will go to Hell.”
Having had two suicides in my family, and seeing the effects these have had on siblings and others, I can tell you that absolutely, no doubt at all, suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness.
It is utter, complete selfishness, rooted in the deeply embedded notion of personal superiority, that idea that ones own problems are so uniquely painful, so much worse than anyone else’s, that one’s own situation is so much more hopeless than anyone else’s, and that ones own existential agony is so much more intense than anyone else’s.
To all these wimp out, self absorbed crybabys, I say - get over it.
I say - don’t be so concerned with your measly self; dedicate your life to others. And think about the message of disrespect and disregard you are sending to those you are abandoning.
Man, I'm getting sick and tired of seeing our guys do or say the right thing only to cave the moment the heat comes on. A Patton, MacArthur or Farragut he ain't!
Of course PTSD (though it had been around since War began under different names) was not as well explained or known by returning Vets.
Though I never contemplated suicide (though the thought of personally strangling John "F'n" Kerry did cross my mind..lol) it took some 25 years for me to realize I had suffered from PTSD without realizing it.
Shortly after my discharge I attended one meeting with a group of Nam Vets (pretty sure is was Vietnam Veterans of America) and there were a bunch of guys sitting around mostly depressed and bitching about everything.
Thinking I had been one of the lucky ones who was "not affected" I figured this was all a bunch of BS and those guys were a bunch of crybaby "losers."
It wasn't until some 25 years later when reading a book about PTSD (and it discussed all the relevant symptoms) that I thought: "Wow, I can't believe I have been experiencing so many of those all these years."
Thereafter, it helped me adjust and comes to grips with a lot of my demons and think I've put most behind....all except again, how we were treated, thanks mostly to John "F'n" Kerry!!!
Thank you for your post and thank you for your service to our country.
Your post taught me that one of the small things people can do to help servicemen battle depression is simply to say, “Thank you!”
Thank you for your service, CVV. I also hope there is a special place in Hades for John Kerry and his fellow travelers.
Why not?
My family believes that suicide is selfish.
With the ending of DADT, I expect suicides to go up among tne queer segment of the military.
Kind of stupid if you ask me to make a public thing out of it, what does he propose? to court martial them?
So long, General.
“As opposed to soldiers whose lives are taken when cleaning up the mess of generals.”
He’s “fed up”? Seriously? His bad decision making has no doubt cost the lives of a number of soldiers and he’s “fed up” about the few that kill themselves??? What a self-centered ass!
If there is one thing the Army outperforms the other services at, it is treating their people like crap. This war has shown that when the chips are down the Army will discharge combat disabled troops without continuity of care, put mentally ill soldiers back into combat, recruit and tolerate Islamic extremists to provide mental health care, and bill soldiers missing limbs for their gear that was lost on the battlefield.
If this general is fed up I'm sure there are a bunch of other guys waiting in the wings that can do his job.
I agree.
It’s not that they just happen to be selfish and lacking character.
Depression causes a loss of perspective, including “selfishness”.
OK there is something people can do to try to snap out of it, but people can get stuck and need help too.
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