Comments on: Soldier Who Killed 5 Was In Counseling

CBS Evening News: Sgt. John Russell's Father, Son Speak Out, Say He Just E-Mailed For Mother's Day

[julesarcher1]

he was angry, he had a gun and the rest you already know....
Posted by mejordelahistoria at 1:02 AM : May 13, 2009


You mean that he was a Texan?

[mejordelahistoria]

he was angry, he had a gun and the rest you already know....

[shameonbush]

It's called DEMONIC POSSESSION. This is a war based on lies. It is an evil war. I expect to see many many of these Iraqi vets at the "breaking point."

[lehnahund]

Sgt. John Russell needs to kill himself and hopefully he will
Posted by mrshoward73 at 7:05 PM : May 12, 2009

What a terrible thing to say. You should be ashamed of yourself and keep your mouth shut for a while..

Soms posts here are so mindless and without any feeling for that tragedy on all sides. It turns my stomach.


When you train a man to kill, you can't just turn it off when it suite you.
Posted by johnb8888 at 7:13 PM : May 12, 2009

Thank you for that.

we are just bystanders and should be very grateful not to be in such a situation. we exspect a lot from the soldiers and we should have a feeling of respect and responsibility for all sides of that tragedy.

The knowing all people and the ones always waving with the big stick and knowing the easy answers should be humbled and qiet for once.

[mariahwelch]

Thank you,
TonyCC1970
navnur69
OLDE7
dsnjl-2009

[ajjaxtheleast]

A "counseler" "arguing" with a "man on the edge"?

AND sending the man out the door with an argument
to end the session?

Hopefully this will be one of the military's "investigations"
that will report an incident as it happened,

The exact nature of the argument should tell us 90-percent of
what lead up to the tragedy.

Which will end up being .00001-percent of this war's tragedies.

Russle was in Iraq on his third tour, I like their word "tour", so
In afghanistan what "tour" will these soldiers on,,,fourth,
fifth?,,,,

These soldiers are making a career out of the army and
must go all the way to realize a good retirement situation.
but asking them to "go all the way", what,,, ten, 12, years
killing people IS "the problem",,,,forget the investigation.

[navnur69]

I was stationed with CDR Charles Springle in Rota. He was a fantastic sailor and good friend. He will be terribly missed. Our hearts go out to his family- The Killion Family

[Solarrays247]

Posted by mjinba07 at 9:05 PM : May 12, 2009

Any ideas on what, if anything, the public can do to help those in our military get the proper treatment where and when they need it? These brave, fellow Americans deserve no less! Any less....should be unacceptable to every fellow American!

[mjinba07]

ubrew12, seems so simple, doesn't it. Well, it isn't a case of simple straight-forward homicide, and the situation and the chain of command are both relevant.

In addition, a commenter here knew the man. Have a little respect.

[Solarrays247]

Posted by tonyCC1970 at 9:04 PM : May 12, 2009


Thank you for a wonderfully honest post, tonyCC1970. More needs to come out about this side of the war, and any stigma must be removed once and for all time!. None of you deserve this type of treatment!!

My father served in the Marine Corp on Iwo Jima during WWII. He was affected profoundly, and suffered silently until the day he died on January 8, 1999. I wish for no one else to ever have to suffer like that.

Thank you so much for your service, and I will keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers.

Peace.

[ubrew12]

Honestly, whatever the cause and excuse for his actions, he killed 5 people. He should be put to death, or life in prison, nothing less. Its sad, I am sure. No less than for the five people he killed and their families who must carry on without their loved ones. Chances are good they will carry on without feeling the need to kill five MORE people to exhorcise the demons within them. This guy should, and most definitely will, pay the price for his actions.

[mjinba07]

tonyCC1970 at 9:04 PM : May 12, 2009 -- Thank you for what you've given our country, and thanks for your thoughts here. Take care of yourself.

[mjinba07]

What a tragedy.

More counseling in the battle zone is NOT the answer.

1.When a soldier is in enough distress that his commander's concern warrants taking away his weapon, the man needs to get OUT of the combat zone.

2. The attitudes about counseling within all branches of the military are totally counterproductive to the counseling centers themselves. Some base commanders will even arrange for counseling centers to be in highly visible locations just to humiliate the soldiers being ordered to go there.

This is a particularly difficult "war" where stress on the personnel are concerned. Not only because of long, repeated deployments; not only because the civilians and the combatants are impossible to tell apart; not only because most of the civilians hate our occupation of their country even if they're not armed; not only because the "war" is poorly defined and therefore so is any state of victory; but also because modern weaponry makes the soldier more lethal than ever. Young men are carried along by testosterone and naivete, but a man of 44 is painfully aware of the implications of all this.

This troop should have been sent home, with honor, and with gratitude for the years of service he's given our country.

Counseling upon reaching home should be arranged for all vets in similar condition, and the vets should be ordered to attend before their discharge unceremoniously dumps them out onto the street.

[tonyCC1970]

You all speak of him like he isn't a person. He is. He has children that he loves and he was never a bad person everytime I dealt with him. We all dealt with things no one should ever have to deal with over there. And the stress is enormous.

The idea that you can lose everything is terrifying to a person sacrificing so much. He was a commo specialist with a clearence. That would have been taken with a PTSD diagnosis. Some people, that's all they have is the military. They give it everything they have.

My heart goes out to the families that have been destroyed, that includes his. He is also a casualty of this war. We need to stop at some point. I have seen this story and the suicides and the people who will never be the same after this war. Of which I include me.

What he did was horrific, but let's not overlook the fact that what we are asking these soldiers to endure REPEATEDLY is straining the Military past it's breaking point. Suicides are epidemic right now. The services are over commited. When is someone going to wake up!

[Solarrays247]

"The cost of defending ourselves"? Iraq never attacked us, Al Qaeda did, and Al Qaeda was not involved with Iraq until AFTER we attacked Iraq.

Your argument bears no weight.
Posted by democracy1

Sorry but that's just not true, as attested by Saddam's own commanders. Saddam was training terrorists right along with his own security forces...

That lie has been debunked over and over and over....Saddam was involved in terrorist acts, in fact he was paying terrorist $25,000 each family if one of their strapped on a bomb and blew people up.

I find it rather ironic that the democrats was continue to pull this lie out of the hat when everybody knows better.

As a matter of fact, Osama himself was running a terrorist training facility in Iraq IN PERSON!
Posted by AmericaGetsChumpChange at 8:23 PM : May 12, 2009



No, not everybody knows better! Certainly, I NEVER heard, read, or dreamed what you are claiming! Please post the links that will substantiate your claims in this post?
Thank you!

[Newster1]

JUST wait till these people come back stateside and watch the chit hit the fan with lots of news reports like this, I can see the headlines now... " July 5th, 2010, ex soldier back from Iraq shoots and kills 4 kids when one child sets off a firecracker nearby in the street, the suspect said he thought he was in Iraq and being fired on and just "snapped"

[johnb8888]

When you train a man to kill, you can't just turn it off when it suite you.

[Newster1]

"His life was over as far as he was concerned. He was gonna lose everything. I guess it was just too much," Wilburn Russell said. "

LO, well he made sure he did with this act didn't he!

[JoetheDumbass]

Soldiers are normally allowed to carry their own weapons into counseling.I doubt this reports claim that he "Stole" a weapon on base.

[donbl1]

Tragedy for all concerned.