Posted on 02/22/2015 7:18:50 AM PST by pabianice
DUNLAP, Tenn. (Tribune News Service) — After surviving two wars, frigid weather took the life of Bradley Sutter this week. Police found the 85-year-old dead in his rural mobile home with nothing but electric blankets for heat.
With temperatures in the single digits this week, concerned neighbors asked the Sequatchie County Sheriff's Office to check on Sutter, whom neighbors hadn't seen in several days. Deputies found him dead of hypothermia Wednesday afternoon inside his squalid mobile home, which is tucked away in some woods off of state Route 111 near Dunlap.
Deputies found an electric furnace in the home, but it was either broken or not turned on. Sutter's only source of heat came from two electric blankets -- one on top of him, the other underneath. A piece was missing from the bottom of the front door, plugged up with grocery bags.
"It was 16 degrees outside when we arrived," said Sequatchie County Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock. "It didn't feel any different inside."
Officials couldn't immediately confirm Sutter's military history, though the sheriff said he served in World War II and the Korean War. Mickey McCamish, chairman of the Southeast Tennessee Veterans Coalition, said coalition members were saddened by the situation and working Friday to help hunt down his military records.
"He survived the wars and then lost out to weather," McCamish said.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
Why didn’t the “concerned neighbors” check on him themselves?
Algore’s fault. He thought we were having global warming.
Hitchcock gathered from neighbors and family members that it didn't seem like Sutter wanted help. "He was a loner," Hitchcock said. When neighbors and relatives came to visit Sutter, Hitchcock said, he would meet them at the end of the long, thickly wooded driveway that obscured his home from view.
This is too bad.
But having known my share of 84 year old men living by themselves, it is possible he was not friendly or approachable. There are a few of them in the neighborhood. I keep my distance and make sure their pathways are shoveled.
I guess if I saw that the house showed no movement, I would not be inclined to “go into” the home.
Surviving two wars can indicate that you are steadfast and wiley. It does not mean you are friendly or smart.
That said, no one should die alone.
Remember Obama’s pledge to make sure electric prices “skyrocket”
Barack Obama: “Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” (January 2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlTxGHn4sH4
I wonder if he couldn’t afford to have his electric heat on for his entire trailer home because of bh0?
Sorry he died, but chronologically it’s questionable that he served in WW2. If he was born in 1930 he would have been 15 when the war ended,
<serious bravo>
Off-topic, but he might have turned 16 in 1945, so World War II service would’ve been minimal - if at all.
Sounds like he wanted to be left alone and largely was, but people did check on him from time to time. Single digit or below temps are unusual there. The state of disrepair of his residence allowed the interior temps to get down to life-threatening levels and so he passed away because of that. Yes, it’s sad and in a way reprehensible. But what are you going to do, drag him away by force? Sad as this is, it was going to happen eventually. The circumstance was as he wanted it to be.
Why didn’t the “concerned neighbors” check on him themselves?
You are correct, it is shameful. But this is 1984 er 2015 and my guess is Mr Bradley Sutter did not pay the juice to the local ward healer or whatever they call them in Tennessee, to make sure he had adequate housing. Hell! I am surprised a deputy took the time out of his busy schedule to check on Mr Sutter.
Sorry he died.
However why did he not take care of himself?
That is a Vet trait I am used too.
This is a tragedy. I’m sure our fearless leader will go on TV and say what a tragedy it is this country has abandoned veterans.
Prayers for the repose of his soul.
Where are the neighbors. Where are the local guys from the VFW, American Legion, Amvets, DAV, etc. This is just disgraceful.
That’s when you find some of his cranky old friends or acquaintances to look in or the sheriff or firefighters. They are trained to handle situations like this.
He would have had to be at least 88 to have served in a war zone in 1944-1945. Did Brian Willams report this?
It is entirely possible. Many people didn't have birth certificates then, being born at home and many guys lied about their age and joined during WWII.
If I Recall the was a 12 Y.O. in the Navy.....(a guy I was friends with in high school looked 35...fooled every convenience store clerk in town and he was only 16)
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