Fort Hood Shooting Once Again

[barbara]

Originally Posted by icenine

I find it almost impossible to believe the Army only gave him 2 days for his mother's death.

I have seen sailors sent home from the Persian Gulf for parents who were very ill or deceased. He may have really been upset about that and snapped.



Unfortunately Gun Galore was available as an outlet for his stress. Lapierre talks about good guys with guns but Lopez was one of these...unitil he snapped.

They are all good guys until they snap.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Numbers, Pete. We've actually had to lower our qualifications, both for previous behavior and for intelligence, just to make the numbers. If we carefully screened the volunteers, there's no way we'd have enough people.

John

That is the ugly truth. And, anyone who was in the military in the 1980s, when Reagan started stuffing it with as many bodies as he could, just to pump up the numbers.......Let's just say; It got very interesting. I recall being told by the career counselor that if I stuck it out I would rise quickly. Not necessarily because I was so spectacular, but because the competition was, as he put it; ......."....whatever walked through the door.".

In fact, one of the reasons I chose not to stay was because the Navy was filling up with such people.

Dave

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Pio1980

High-capacity Tactical weaponry in the hands of the general public is just insanely illogical, but nothing will change for the present and we'll just have to tolerate this clear and present occasional danger to public welfare.

How else can we overthrow the government when it becomes, you know, black......

John

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Pio1980

So can pretty much anyone.
Don't you know the 2nd Amdmt protects our God Given right to have the means of push-button mass-murder close to hand when we 'lose it'?
High-capacity Tactical weaponry in the hands of the general public is just insanely illogical, but nothing will change for the present and we'll just have to tolerate this clear and present occasional danger to public welfare.

Until the situation explodes.

Which is what it is going to take to knock some reality into people. The problem is that that's when all of the gun nuts nightmares come true and it comes down to strict registration, tight screening and prohibitions and even seizures. Even then, they won't see that it's because they wouldn't allow any efforts to rein in the problem now......

They'll see it as fulfillment of their "prophecy".

Dave

[BlueStreak]

An old man once told me; "Keep kicking the dog, sooner or later, he's gonna bite you."

Dave

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Here's a thought;

What are you paying a soldier to do?

Kill anyone you order him to. That's what.

So, is it any stretch to suspect that the Army/Marines deliberately have people around who don't mind or even enjoy killing? The trick would be in keeping such people harnessed.

Dave

Except that now the drill sargent deliberately pounds on these 18 year olds until they have wiped out their personalities - including all the proper things their parents tried to instill in them. Then they install this killer instinct that turns them into a killing machine. It would not be so bad if they could keep and re-install the original personality but they don't.

[BlueStreak]

True, but the point is the same, Rob. A killer is what the Army wants. Although, I'm sure they prefer the kind they can control.

Dave

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Except that now the drill sargent deliberately pounds on these 18 year olds until they have wiped out their personalities

That's not new, Rob. It's been a part of infantry training for a very long time. An infantryman in combat must be able to kill instantly, without hesitation or reflection. I was trained in just that way almost 50 years ago. Thank God I never had to put that training to use!

John

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

That is the ugly truth. And, anyone who was in the military in the 1980s, when Reagan started stuffing it with as many bodies as he could, just to pump up the numbers.......Let's just say; It got very interesting. I recall being told by the career counselor that if I stuck it out I would rise quickly. Not necessarily because I was so spectacular, but because the competition was, as he put it; ......."....whatever walked through the door.".

In fact, one of the reasons I chose not to stay was because the Navy was filling up with such people.

Dave

Things started to get pretty bad post-Viet Nam with the quality of recruits dropping particularly for combat arms troops. Drugs, barracks tension, suicides, troop-on-troop assault & crime, ect, ect. I was there and saw it.

[hillbilly]

I just heard on our news that the boy had came fwd and said he kept shutting down and wanted time away. A boy on base said the guy had been down pretty bad and they could clearly see it, but he was turned away for time off. It needs to be recognized and accepted that the military isn't for everyone.

That being said, I know several people, several that went to the middle east but there's one kid I watched grow and know very well that came back messed up mentally. He used to play every sport here but now will not go to the ball park around the friends and familes he grew up with. One on one I can still talk to him, but they keep him on meds so spaced out it is sad. One day nearly in tears he told me that in the middle east, it's hard to tell the good from the bad and sometimes the good die with the bad and you cannot forget.