Soldiers, many just back from the war, are being killed in vehicle accidents at a pace that has the Army alarmed. The fear is that soldiers' safe return from combat has left many feeling just as Tipp did: invincible. As a consequence, they drive too fast, sometimes under the influence of alcohol, and lose control of their cars, their trucks, their motorcycles or ATVs.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-05-02-soldiers-accidents-cover_x.htm

I think Karl Rove is having them assassinated so that they don't reveal the truth about what's going on in Iraq!

Boys back from the war tend to be pretty crazy. The conditions in Iraq have been really intense, meaning a lot of adrenalin pumping a lot of the time. These returning soldiers need lots of thrills to replace the intensity of combat. Combine those needs with the addition of copius amounts of alcohol & tons of bravado, and that's a fine recipie for trouble.

It was much the same upon returning from Viet Nam - everybody I knew bought some type of brand new hot rod and took it to their next duty station. In my case, that meant going to Fort Hood with roughly 35000 other recent returnees. G.I.'s driving every muscle car from the baddest 'Vette's to Super Beetles, and the local cops were driving American Motors Matadors. Ft Hood had been a sleepy out of the way army post with around 12000 troops for many years, until 'Nam began to wind down. Inside of a year, those 12K troops became 47000, plus families. In the early - mid '70's it was a really wild place to be.

It has been the same with every war. The aftermath of World War II spawned the Hell's Angels. The aftermath of the Civil War was the "wild west" period on the frontier with the gunfights and general mayhem. PTSD may be a new diagnosis, but it isn't a new phenomenon.

ES347fan;

You should see Fort Hood now I bet you wouldn't know it??? I left there in the late 80's and thought it was big then. I went back a couple of years ago WWOOWW looks like NY city and probably just as crazy.

I also agree with your post, these folks have alot of steam to blow off and they need some way of doing it.

Ain't it funny...

The army spends (at least) months training troops to deal with combat situations and to adjust to military life. Upon return troops are trained for jack shit. ES347 pointed it out. This has always been the case. soilders just arent ready for an immediate return to civilian lifestyle. If the military really cared about them there would be a transition period or at least mandatory couciling. But then again these guys arent catching bullets anymore so the military doesnt really care that much what happens to them.

Don't attribute statements to me that have not been written.

Again guerilla, you demonstrate just how much you don't know about the military. Counseling is available and the chain of command is much more aware than in times past. Soldiers can visit their medical clinics, outpatient mental health clinics, substacne abuse rehab centers or their favorite chaplain, for formal counseling, while there are also informal support groups available as well. Commanders at all levels must pay close attention to the needs of their troops. The military does care what happens with the soldiers.

Take this opportunity to visit your local recruiter so that you to can partake in the honor of serving one's country. Learn what it takes to wear that uniform - if you're strong enough, that is.

LOL, soldiers dont just vcome back from Iraq and not do anything but drive fast and die. they keep training for the next deployment. what they do in their off time is their buisness. if they are going to ETS they do go through a proccess., it sometimes takes a month or more. guerilla, as ES said, do yourself a favor and STFU about things you know nothing about.

sigh. do yourselves a favor a read what I wrote.

I said MANDATORY counciling.

ES - you said that every soilder you knew went out and bought a hot rod. There is no question that thousands of vets had much difficulty adjusting to real life. Its no different now.

The military does care what happens with the soldiers. Kind of (want to wear the same flak jacket from vietnam like all the kids in Iraq are doing?). It definatly cares much less about its veterans

in the honor of serving one's country...stong enough there is no honor in murdering innocent civilians, no matter how many 'bad guys' you kill. "strong enough" bwhahahaa nice little bit of bravado there ES. Strong enough to suppress my conscience? Strong enough to let other make all my decisions for me all teh time? Srong enough to shoot innocent men women and children without throwing up? Strong enough to rape people withglow sticks? Strong enough to catch a bullet? If thats what you mean by strong enough then Im a pussy and will leave the slaughter to you tough guy.

Originally posted by 500lbguerilla
(want to wear the same flak jacket from vietnam like all the kids in Iraq are doing

can you be any more ignorant? just shut your mouth you sound like a jerk who talks out his ass. either you dont know what flak jackets in vietnam looked like or you are just a liar. and by the way, it is not a flak jacket, is a flak vest. get a clue. post us some pics of men in iraq right now wearing vietnam era gear.

If you wanna see equipment from the Vietnam era, join ROTC. :D

Hey Trav heres a tip
can you be any more ignorant? just shut your mouth you sound like a jerk who talks out his ass.

If these more modern flak jackets aren't preventing hundreds of legs and arms from being blown off -- keeping the docs at Army hospitals like Walter Reed burning the midnight oil -- at least they’re standing between more of our kids and the morgue. But too many troopers in Iraq tell me they still have Vietnam-era antiques that are about as effective as wrapping cotton batting around their torsos.
http://www.military.com/Resources/ResourceFileView?file=Hackworth_102203.htm
+++++++++++++++++++=

What came as a greater surprise was that Richard's mother had mailed him body armor because his entire unit was issued Vietnam-era flak jackets that are designed to stop shrapnel rather than bullets.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-12-17-turley_x.htm

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Werfelman's son, Army Spc. Richard Murphy, is a military policeman in Iraq. He was also one of my law students last year before being sent off for a 20-month stint. Upon their arrival, members of Murphy's unit were shocked to learn that they would be given the old Vietnam-era vests rather than the modern Interceptor vest. (They were also given unarmored Humvees, which are vulnerable to even small-arms fire.) Military officials admit that the standard flak jacket could not reliably stop a bullet, including AK-47 ammunition, used in Iraq and the most common ammunition in the world.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/093003E.shtml

guerilla,

This whole murdering of the civilians thing our troops are supposedly doing (they're not). Would you feel better if Saddam was murdering the civilians?

Guerilla is a man of strong emotions, it just amazes what he gets so worked up about. Saddam, the Iranian Mullahs, North Korean gulags not so much as a twitch from Guerilla, but boy, mention Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, the U.S. military or America in general and he's shouting from the mountaintops.

Originally posted by Darth Be'lal
Would you feel better if Saddam was murdering the civilians?

We supported him when he was killing off the Kurds...

No dose,

The U.S. supported Saddam when he was fighting Iran, there's a difference, and I've already explained the concept of the lesser evil when it comes to foreign policy decisions and don't wish to do it yet again.


Dammit.

So first of all let me get this straight Darth.

Do you think its OK to use chemical weapons on the military? Because that is exactly what the US, and in particular Rummy, supported.

The U.S. supported Saddam when he was fighting Iran, there's a difference, and I've already explained the concept of the lesser evil when it comes to foreign policy decisions and don't wish to do it yet again. So its OK to commit mass murder of civilians as long as your at war with someone else?

In 1988, Saddam’s forces attacked Kurdish civilians with poisonous gas from Iraqi helicopters and planes. U.S. intelligence sources told The LA Times in 1991, they “believe that the American-built helicopters were among those dropping the deadly bombs.”

In response to the gassing, sweeping sanctions were unanimously passed by the US Senate that would have denied Iraq access to most US technology. The measure was killed by the White House.

Senior officials later told reporters they did not press for punishment of Iraq at the time because they wanted to shore up Iraq's ability to pursue the war with Iran. Extensive research uncovered no public statements by Donald Rumsfeld publicly expressing even remote concern about Iraq’s use or possession of chemical weapons until the week Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, when he appeared on an ABC news special.

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0802-01.htm

The US installed a dictator in Iran. The US is the one who destroyed democracy in Iran.

The US also traded drugs from US trained S. American terrorists to get money to illegally arm Iran in exchange for the delayed hostage release to help Reagan win the presidency.

Spout the lesser evil bullshit all you want but I think its pretty clear who is condoning and making all these mass murders a reality. Besides that anyone with any sense of morals would not make a lesser evil argument. Evil is evil and should never be condoned in any form.

Darth - either you haven't been paying attention or you convienently forgot but I have talked plent of shit about the US installed Saddam and the US installed Shah. NK hasnt really come up much.

The lesser of two evils.......

Kill all the bad guys, or arm 1/2 of the bad guys so they can kill the the other 1/2 for us. We can worry about bad guys having weapons and what they will do with them at a later date.

I cannot believe you even made this argumant. Well, after some thought, it really isn't all that surprising. You drank the koolaid.

Originally posted by Echo2
The lesser of two evils.......

Kill all the bad guys, or arm 1/2 of the bad guys so they can kill the the other 1/2 for us. We can worry about bad guys having weapons and what they will do with them at a later date.

thats the sad truth echo

I guess using internationally banned weapons like napalm is OK too?

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=647397