Ohio soldier phoned mom before taking his life

Come on! We are the United States of America! Our soldiers should not be treated this way by their OWN... Have we not seen ENOUGH of this from our own side.. during this war? Story after story.. but yet still another story. And I do not mean to disrespect the families, this is a story to us today, but for the families this is piece of their hearts and souls with a piece of their family that will never be there again. But as an American who is proud to be an American, I am ashamed of the actions of so many who are taking their authority to the extreme. I have had generations of my family proudly serve in the different branches of the Armed Services... but we are at war with the ENEMY people , not making our own the enemy... For those soldiers who are proudly serving this country and who are serving with integrity and honor.. GOD BLESS YOU ALL! For those abusing your power and disprespecting your own country by doing so... GOD help you ALL! It is time to open your eyes to the bigger picture... and not to bring shame and dishonor to yourselves and by doing so, by bringing the black cloud of all of your actions to hover over the Armed Services of our country as well as bringing more dishonor to the United States of America... Many men and women has served our country... Many has lost their lives for our country.. It is an honor for our country to have men and women volunteer to protect and serve our country, for the families are are sacrificing for your country as well, God bless and keep you all... May we see this war resolved in our lifetimes... and may we also remember that we are Americans, and there is power to being an American, that is why so many still come here and want to be a part of who and what we are...

My prayers are with the mother of this young man. I am the mom of a Marine and I know many of the sacrifices a family endures as their son/daughter serves in the Armed Forces.

Something was horribly wrong here...and I pray all who are responsible of the wrong doing will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law. There is no excuse for such behavior.

Three of these four were non-commissioned officers.If this is true they certainly should be punished to fullest as the code of military justice provides.When soldiers perform acts like these against one of their it speaks to cowardice in the absolutely worst way.

It's bad enough that our men and women have to be their anyway, then to have this kind of action happen is so sad. How old are we any how?
My thoughts and prayers are with this family at this time of sadness. What a tough thing for this family to have to go through.
This makes me very sad.:(

I'm sorry for your loss. I also thank your son for serving in the military.

First I'd like to express my condolences to Wilhem's Family. Second these four male soldiers are a disgrace to the uniform. Recently I read and heard that these four people were to train the Iraq army. Now our these the people we want to train people. I say no. They derseve life in jail !

Some military, that can torture foreigners without guilt but going to go crying to mommy or kill yourself if your mates don't coddle you?

What a crybaby. I've known many veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and I never heard any of them crying about being bullied. You going to get your mommy to come hold your hand while you serve in the armed forces? This kid watched too much Barney, I'm afraid. These kids wouldn't have made it back in WWII. The Japs would have been laughing at us.

shame on his commander for not being aware of this and those who were directly involved should all pay the price. god help his family!!!

This is a crying shame. If we still had the draft we would get a better overall quality of soldier, airman, seaman and Marine. That's not to say that the majority of men and women serving in our military aren't top notch, but let's face it, in these economic times we aren't getting the creme of the crop like we did back during the days of the draft.

Teddy Jo Kopechne wrote:

Some military, that can torture foreigners without guilt but going to go crying to mommy or kill yourself if your mates don't coddle you?
What a crybaby. I've known many veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and I never heard any of them crying about being bullied. You going to get your mommy to come hold your hand while you serve in the armed forces? This kid watched too much Barney, I'm afraid. These kids wouldn't have made it back in WWII. The Japs would have been laughing at us.

Well you knew different people in a different time. I think this young man gave Barney up a while ago ! As for Vets not crying that's a lie. My uncle who was in WWII stepped on a mine in Ver Say France. Not sure of spelling of town,but any how he came home without his leg. Many of nights his wife would message his stub while tears came from his Irish eyes. And I've witness it with Vietnam Vets too ! So your comment don't have too much salt with me. How dare you put your wothless opinion about a man you never knew !

This is a tragedy for everyone involved as well as their families. There are consequences if they are found guilty as well there should be. Each of the accused has changed his life for the worse. Their victim, thankfully, is a peace. The most severe punishment should be applied. A shame that these sickos got to live out their horrid abuse fantasies under the guise of serving our country.

Teddy Jo Kopechne wrote:

Some military, that can torture foreigners without guilt but going to go crying to mommy or kill yourself if your mates don't coddle you?
What a crybaby. I've known many veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and I never heard any of them crying about being bullied. You going to get your mommy to come hold your hand while you serve in the armed forces? This kid watched too much Barney, I'm afraid. These kids wouldn't have made it back in WWII. The Japs would have been laughing at us.

You are one sorry piece of trash. I'll just bet that you could not make it 15 minutes in a combat zone.

I hope they are all convicted!! garbage that is what they are!!!

Teddy Jo Kopechne wrote:

Some military, that can torture foreigners without guilt but going to go crying to mommy or kill yourself if your mates don't coddle you?
What a crybaby. I've known many veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and I never heard any of them crying about being bullied. You going to get your mommy to come hold your hand while you serve in the armed forces? This kid watched too much Barney, I'm afraid. These kids wouldn't have made it back in WWII. The Japs would have been laughing at us.

Your perverse sense of humanity is disgusting. This should be what sets us all apart from non-human animals. In reality many other forms of life show a willingness to empathize with the suffering of others better than some humans.

These so-called soldiers who instigated this are what the concept of court marshal was created for.

You on the other hand just repulse me-

Everyone of the more than 4,000 American soldiers/heros who died because of this war based on lies is a victim of abuse from their so-called superiors. May their ghosts forever haunt their tormenters and all those that sent them to their death.

Dave Perry wrote:

This is a crying shame. If we still had the draft we would get a better overall quality of soldier, airman, seaman and Marine. That's not to say that the majority of men and women serving in our military aren't top notch, but let's face it, in these economic times we aren't getting the creme of the crop like we did back during the days of the draft.

So.... you don't want to say that our soldiers are not top notch, but you will say that they are not the creme of the crop?

Why do you hate the soldiers? They fought for your freedom to call them a bunch of wimps.

All 4 of these sob's must have all watched causualities of war. They need to be publically stripped of their rank and committed to a military prison with hard labor the rest of their lives which will probably be shorted lived in there. My prayers and thoughts are with this young mans family.

This whole thing leaves my stomach in knots. Pathetic are the people who effort to make a difficult situation even worse. Pathetic are the people who seek weaknesses in others to exploit for their own amusement. Pathetic are the people who find amusement, or satisfaction, in the hardships of others. Pathetic are the people who tear down a person's spirit. I hope there is a God, a just God, a compassionate God, a God who accepts this soldier and embraces him, and gives him an eternity in comfort, in confidence, and in joy. My hope for the 4 soldiers responsible for this is that they experince the deepest feeling of guilt while walking this world, and then be judged by God, and be given the opportunity to hug this soldier. And if they do not experience the deepest feeling of guilt, and repulsiveness, to the point of even considering taking their own lives, then they be judged, and there be no priviledge, gone, black is black, with the only knowledge of existance, and forever to be, "if I had only helped others".......

Jason wrote:

<quoted text>
So.... you don't want to say that our soldiers are not top notch, but you will say that they are not the creme of the crop?
Why do you hate the soldiers? They fought for your freedom to call them a bunch of wimps.

The only reason I am commenting on this is because of my experience observing the army from dec 79. Our soldiers we lured into the military at that time with promises for an education and benefits for their time served. These soldiers were there to get an education not protect our country as we were in peace time, their training was a few over night manuevers in tents ruffing it in the country. The spent their days within their units only to meet at the NCO clubs for a night of drinking or what ever all knowing tommorrow was just another day. This went on until the Clinton admin. reduce our budget by cutting our armed forces and then they started nit picking who they allowed in to get an education. Our miltary by the time it was needed was full of drunks, drug addicts and children who thought it would be a piece of cake to get their education paid for. Then we send them to war without the proper leadership and the inability to know what it takes to protect themselves or any one else.

Yes their are true soldiers in our military and they are what holds it together but because of our bleeding hearts be will be victims of our own demise.

People shouldn't be surprised by this. The military is a microcosim of our society. Everyone thinks that the military is the best of the best. While many of the people who serve are fine Americans, there is also alot of scum. When I was in the Air Force, I met some of the finest people I have ever known. I also met some of the worst. This is why I don't put service members on a pedestal, but I do appreciate the job they are doing.