'A Soldier's Officer' -- Soldier Charged With "Attempted Suicide"

'A Soldier's Officer' -- Soldier Charged With "Attempted Suicide"

www.washingtonpost.com

In a nondescript conference room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside listened last week as an Army prosecutor outlined the criminal case against her in a preliminary hearing. The charges: attempting suicide and endangering the life of another soldier while serving in Iraq.

Her hands trembled as Maj. Stefan Wolfe, the prosecutor, argued that Whiteside, now a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed, should be court-martialed. After seven years of exemplary service, the 25-year-old Army reservist faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Okay, the "endangerment" charge I MIGHT could understand.

But, charging her with "attempted suicide" as well?

This is nothing but another example of how LITTLE the U.S. Government cares about OUR soldiers. These poor men and women are nothing but cannon fodder to help line the pockets of the rich, powerful and evil.



J

www.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Suicide rates amongst US Marines is at a high as well.

If you want to know what an unjust war breeds, read this...
US Marine Suicides.

At least 6,256 US veterans took their lives in 2005, at an average of 17 a day

Many of these Marines simply cannot come to terms with what the US is doing... of course, theres always the usual household issues with being forced away from friends and family, but the huge increase in the number of suicides speaks for itself.

I could never take my own life,my instinct of self preservation is far too strong. So if there were a draft, and hence, a choice between joining the war or being called a criminal draft dodger... you might as well lock me up right now, there's no way I'm getting involved in this quagmire.

Luckily, I live in Canada. We tend to take a neutral stance, except for WW2.
So chances are, I'll never have to face that decision. Unfortunately, that comfort is less likely to be there for Americans in the future.


How many American soldiers have taken refuge in Canada? I can't remember, but it's enough that parliament is meeting to decide on whether they can grant citizenship to all US Soldiers seeking a way out.

Luckily for them, we aren't rounding them up and extraditing them.
... at least not until Parliament comes to a decision.

Sorry to read about this going on. The miltary is getting to be a rather second rate operation these days.
A woman I work with has a son over in Afganastan. I'm not sure which branch he is with. Their tour ends Christmas week. They were told they are own their own as far as finding a way back to the States. Several family members have taken up a collection to help them get back.

This country is going to hell in a hand basket. We are tethering on the brink of becoming a third-world country, if we're not already there in regards to health care. What a mess Bush and his administration have made of the good ol' USA in the eyes of the world.

Saddest story I've read in a long, long time

[edit on 2-12-2007 by newguyhere2]

BTW,
The military will spend more money suppressing this and thousands of stories like these than actually helping those in need. Trust me.

reply to post by SimiusDei

What the #?

They are going to charge her with a crime because she felt hopeless and depressed enough to kill herself? What good would putting her in prison do? She and many other soldiers are desperately in need of help, and instead of helping them our government is going to charge them as criminals. Those idiots sure know how to # over our servicemen at a time when they need them the most.

No wonder they are having such a hard time getting new recruits.

I never really understood the logic behind locking someone up instead of helping them. Most people who leave jail do the same thing that got them there.

When someone tries to kill themselves, I don't think "life in prison if she is tried and convicted" will help... if you could imagine.

Unfortunately, there is a history of pore treatment to veterans here in the United States. : (

Originally posted by newguyhere2
This country is going to hell in a hand basket.
[edit on 2-12-2007 by newguyhere2]

HEY!


Don't be ripping of my words dammit!!!!!!!!


Click Here


hahahahahahah



It is indeed heading that way fast. However, one should not make the mistake of thinking that Bush and the current administration are the only ones responsible.

This "quagmire" goes much much deeper.


J

Gah!

So they convict and put her in prison and she hangs herself.

Whereas, if they give her help and understanding, they (potentially) save her.

No wonder 'military intelligence' is the common example of an oxymoron.

Are soldiers no longer seen as a valuable investment? Making an 'example' of her will not work. < sadly shakes head >

reply to post by SimiusDei


Too funny. I will read your other post when i get a chance. yeah, I know it goes much deeper. That's why I included his administration in my paragraph.

reply to post by Nyorai

Yes mean 'ol United Stae..blah blah blah..
The bottom line is (as harsh as this may sound) she was property of the Marine Corp, when she tried to damage Marine Corp property, she broke the law. When you sign up you agree to follow the rules and regulations. You break them and you must suffer the consequences.

Ok you may continue with your bleeding hearts for this lawbreaker and bashing the United States now.

reply to post by Nyorai




This is the "you do nothing that you aren't told!" mentality.

In the nazi concentration camps, some prisoners would throw themselves on the electrified barbed wire to commit suicide.

When they did so the nazi officers would round up 20 or 30 prisoners, and execute them.

They didn't want anyone doing anything without their order. Not even dying.


SICK SICK SICK PEOPLE.


Their souls must be so black, they must have been so abused, unloved, or not provided for as children that they took out all their pain on other people. This is the only way I can imagine a human being being so dark.

These circumstances arise from warfare, poverty, and suffering. The greater the rich and powerful hoard and work their greed on the world, the more evil the world reaps. It's the hand that won't let go of things which creates scarcity.


And here is where a lesson that wise men have taught must be heeded: only by love and generosity may the heart be free from want.


Though it makes no sense to say "if you want more, let go of what you have", you can see that in the long run this is true.


The world must learn to stop fearing what may be lost, but rather concentrate and hope on what may be gained.


I just hope we don't learn this lesson the hard way.

Originally posted by Sanity Lost
Sorry to read about this going on. The miltary is getting to be a rather second rate operation these days.
A woman I work with has a son over in Afganastan. I'm not sure which branch he is with. Their tour ends Christmas week. They were told they are own their own as far as finding a way back to the States. Several family members have taken up a collection to help them get back.

I think it is totally abhorrent that a country expects its service personnel to fight and die for their country, and won't even so much as give them a plane ride out of the theater of operations afterwards!!!!

It doesn't make sense!!

reply to post by Sanity Lost

A woman I work with has a son over in Afganastan. I'm not sure which branch he is with. Their tour ends Christmas week. They were told they are own their own as far as finding a way back to the States. Several family members have taken up a collection to help them get back.

What. Im sorry I dont believe this at all. Im not saying your lying.
My husband has served 2 tours in Afganistan - among all other branches.

NOBODY has to find their own way home and pay for it. The military sends you in - by military transport and sends you home.

Now if this person is STATIONED OVERSEAS - like Germany. Then YES, they have to find their own way home to the states from Germany. The reason being is because their overseas base is their home base - not the states.

And there is NO way he couldnt afford a flight home. They make SO MUCH money over there - tax free. And hardly spend any there. Trust me, I know. I spent it. hahaha



[edit on 3-12-2007 by greeneyedleo]

[edit on 3-12-2007 by greeneyedleo]

I feel horrible for this woman. But I can understand the charges.

Under military law, soldiers who attempt suicide can be prosecuted under the theory that it affects the order and discipline of a unit and brings discredit to the armed forces. In reality, criminal charges are extremely rare unless there is evidence that the attempt was an effort to avoid service or that it endangered others

1. She refused to seek treatment for her problems. Nobody knew she needed mental help. So out of the blue, she began threating other people.

As the tensions with the officer increased, Whiteside said, she began suffering panic attacks. She stopped sleeping, she said, and started self-medicating with NyQuil and Benadryl, but decided against seeking help from the mental health clinic because she feared that the Army would send her home, as it had recently done with a colonel.

2. She had a loaded weapon and threated to shoot others. She was a dangers to others:

She grew more agitated and twice fired into the ceiling

Nurses in the hallway began yelling, and Whiteside shouted that she wanted to kill them, the report said. She opened the door and saw armed soldiers in battle gear coming her way. Slamming the door, she discharged the weapon once into her stomach.

3. We dont even know if she was really trying to kill herself, or she was just freaking out and not thinking clearly:

Whiteside says she has little recollection of the events of that night. "I remember bits and pieces," she said. She declined to comment on whether she was trying to kill herself.

With all that. Its just a sad case. She threatend others lives, all because she refused to seek help for her problems. Too bad she didnt feel comfortable enough to seek that help.

[edit on 3-12-2007 by greeneyedleo]

reply to post by In Plain Sight

When you sign up you agree to follow the rules and regulations. You break them and you must suffer the consequences.

I would rather see her healthy then in prison for the rest of her life, even if it meant she would not be following the law. Because this law seems corrupt.

[edit on 3/12/2007 by Nyorai]

What a tragedy.

Aside of the obvious idiocy of attempted suicide being in the criminal code, what really annoys me are quotes like these (from the original article):

Military psychiatrists at Walter Reed who examined Whiteside after she recovered from her self-inflicted gunshot wound diagnosed her with a severe mental disorder, possibly triggered by the stresses of a war zone. But Whiteside's superiors considered her mental illness "an excuse" for criminal conduct, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

At the hearing, Wolfe, who had already warned Whiteside's lawyer of the risk of using a "psychobabble" defense, pressed a senior psychiatrist at Walter Reed to justify his diagnosis.

The captain wrote that her "defense that she suffers from a mental disease excusing her actions is just that . . . an excuse; an excuse to distract from choices and decisions made by 1LT Whiteside."

Col. Terrence J. McKenrick, commander of the Warrior Transition Brigade, agreed: "Although the sanity board determined that at the time of the misconduct she had a severe mental disease or defect, she knowingly assaulted and threatened others and injured herself."

Wolfe suggested that the military court might not buy the mental illness defense. "Who doesn't find psycho-babble unclear . . . how many people out there believe that insanity should never be a defense, that it is just, as he said, an 'excuse.' "

I truly hope that none of these people ever have a family member who suffers from a mental illness, because that kind of crap will not help. Mental illness has a stigma attached to it which often keeps people from seeking help, and people like the ones quoted are the reason for it.

Correction -

Sorry folks, but I was told only half the story it looks like. Their unit will be provided transportion back to Fort Bliss. I thought I heard otherwise. The issue this women had was finally explained to me. That once they are at Fort Bliss they are on their own getting to their homes.

That's not too unusual for the military is it?

[edit on 6-12-2007 by Sanity Lost]