Iraq Vet Made Famous By Photo Dies Of Drug Overdose
PINEHURST, N.C. A former Army medic made famous by a photograph that showed him carrying an injured Iraqi boy during the first week of the war has died of an apparent overdose, police said.
Joseph Patrick Dwyer died last week at a hospital in Pinehurst, according to the Boles Funeral Home. He was 31. The photograph, taken in March 2003, showed Dwyer running to a makeshift military hospital while cradling the boy. The photo appeared in newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts worldwide, making Dwyer became a symbol of heroism.His mother said the military could have done more to help with post-traumatic stress. "He just couldn't get over the war," Maureen Dwyer said. "He just couldn't do it. Just wasn't Joseph. Joseph never came home." Read on...
For Dwyer, much like the Marlboro Marine and the thousands of other nameless, faceless Iraq veterans who served in those hellish conditions, coming home was a nightmare. PTSD and horrific suicide rates have plagued our vets, while the Bush Administration can't begin to handle the staggering numbers and provide them with the mental and physical care they need. I guess these guys just need to suck it up and deal, right?
About all they can hope for as far as support goes is a faded magnetic ribbon on the back of the Yukon.
"Joseph never came home.”
This war needs to end now.
I've got a friend who is a Korean War casualty. She wasn't in the war but her father was. When he came back he was a changed man. After dinner he'd say "Let's get the box of photos." Photos of corpses piled like cord wood. And then the beatings would began. After her older brother moved away - couldn't take it anymore - her dad started beating her.
I've got a neighbor who's a Vietnam War casualty. He served. Can't hold a job. Wakes up in the middle of the night strangling his wife.
WAR RUINS LIVES.
How sad to see a brave soldier die at home of an overdose because this administration doesn't want to deal with PSTD. You think the military would have learned from the problem with the VN. But we do they care its not their kid. To many young people are dead all for the sack of oil. Bush/Cheney and the republicans have blood on their hands. God will be their judge. We will judge them come Nov and we can sing that Bye-Bye Love. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
What a terrible shame.I wonder if Bush and Cheney ever lose any sleep over this war.
Do the mercenaries who are getting paid more than our soldiers have the type of problems our soldiers are having. Let's bring our troops home and let the soldiers of fortune fight in Iraq. It's apparent to me our soldiers are worn out physically and mentally.
How's this for a prediction...
On his second-last day in office, Bush pardons all of his gang members for any and all crimes committed during his terms.
He then resigns.
Cheney, pardoned the previous day, is sworn in.
Cheney pardons Bush.
Next day, the new president is sworn in.
Bush and his co-conspirators smirk off into golden retirement.
ya know @ 6:
That's an interesting thought... but NOT the right answer. It's precisely BECAUSE those mercenaries get paid so much that this war is costing us a BILLION DOLLARS a week. We can't afford to keep ANYBODY in Iraq... and why should we? Whether soldier of mercenary... THEY ARE NOT ACCOMPLISHING ANYTHING.
There is no "WINNING" there.
We must quit writing the checks... and bring 'em ALL home.
What a shame. How do we justify what we are doing to the Iraqis and to the people that we send over there? What, elect the democrats? That'll change nothing, just ask Nancy Pelosi. I just feel a terrible letdown when we elect Barrack, he's getting my vote but I'll be waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Rest In Peace Joseph Patrick Dwyer. I am deeply sorry you served your country at a time when the President of the United States only served himself.
"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.
Every one of these soldiers should be counted as casualties of war. If they cannot get the help they need, then they are none better than a soldier that has been left on the battlefield to die. But this administration doesn't understand that, do they?
I haven't heard of such trouble for returning soldiers from WWII or Korea or Vietnam.
Only under the Bush maladministration do we have such tragedy.
Perhaps the senselessness and atrocity and purposelessness has overcome those with conscience.
How utterly sad.
Here's a great idea. To those that serve our country as Congressmen and woman as well as Senators that have kids old enough to enlist in the armed services, please step forward and walk your child to the recruting office. That outpouring of support for the troops will probably get thousands to enlist. Oh, I forgot. They can't because their still sucking the financial life out of daddy's bank account.
Many of those who did enlist, did so out of patriotism in believing that this war was just. How wrong they were. Many came from areas of the country where their futures were bleak at best and the lure of large sign on bonuses were dangled in front of them in the old carrot an stick game. The only thing you had to do was live long enough to collect, and even then the government gave you a hard time.
Well Senators and Congressmen, are you ready to cut the umblicial chord yet and pray like we all do that they just might come home without a body bag or suffering the rest of their lives with psychiatric problems?
You wanted this lousy war. The least you can do is put your own kids in harms way and share in the burden you have the rest of us carrying for you. How about you Lieberman? Any kids of draft age? Mr. President, I'm sure Jenna wouldn't mind.
Long Tooth @ 11:
It must be really easy for you, Mr. Bush, to live in a world of priviledge without any sense of empathy; no sense of right and wrong and no conscience.
redsaunas @ 7:
You forgot the declaration of war against Iran. Just befor his resignation.
Am I the only one that doesn't remeber ever seeing this photo of Dwyer?
That being said it's horrible to hear he's dead.
Those young men sign on to serve and protect the Americans regardless of what the war become. The war for many, when the middle class was stripe from our society, a way out to make a better life for themselves. The war became a lie of those promises, but still they are bound by honor to serve regardless. When are we going to fight and protect them from the folly of our leaders that send them to this madness?
let's not paint this any other way than this kid is gone. condolences to his parents and family. we do genuinely care. something like this brings it home. sorry. ron
Andrew @ 14:
No, that is a horrible idea. The last thing we need is more cannon fodder to send off to war to die or be horribly wounded.
How is this for an idea?
How about we stand in front of the recruitment offices and show photos of the wounded and hand out fliers about the current suicide rate among veterans? How about we remove the ability of our government to stay in Iraq by denying them soldiers?
xoites defends Constitution @ 20:
Now that's a good idea!
Thank you. :)
Mark Richards @ 13:
the korean war vets knew they were the bastard child of the american people never appreciated never given a second though by the average assholes back in the states , charlies getting his screw korea and the dumbasses fighting there, some blew thier brais out others just said fuck it all and did the best they could , nobody cared about them so heres to the grungy bastards who took porkchop , survives the chosin resivor, held the ocean from the chinese troops and screw them that dont like it!
I think i will start doing that. Just two hours a week. It would be good to do something everyone can do. Two hours is not too much time to stand and hand out info in a week. Perhaps more people will get involved and share the wieght.
God Bless him and his family.
Rest in Peace, Joseph Patrick Dwyer.
God Bless you and all war vets.
Obama will not end it.
He hired this bushie:
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/05/07/burnett-yoo-of-epa/
swampfox @ 23:
Somehow i missed your post, Mark Richards. In 1973 when i started working with homeless people all i knew were Word War II, Korean War and Vietnam War Vets. War is the great mind fuck. It matters not who is President. It does howeverr matter a great deal if a President sends off soldiers to fight and die lying his ass off to make profits for oil companies.
Marcinema @ 5:
Short answer? No.
A request for a sarcasm break, please. My cousin is back from a year in Sadr City and we're holding our breath waiting to see if he's going to be stop-lossed and sent back with his unit in early '09. He "suck(ed) it up and dealt" with a SAW strapped to his chest for many months. He and his men are dealing with returning in many different ways, some better than others, and we're very grateful that he's OK.
That said, please take a minute to look at the posts that accompanied and "commented" on the soldier's death. How many even acknowledged the of another American before tossing another piece of righteous invective? The original post from firedoglake had the "suck it up and deal" headline. That was commentary and not a quote (at least not as shown in the original post.) Perhaps we could not take commentary and hurl it back at the people who are doing their jobs?
The chickenhawks are showing their true selves through their cavalier attitudes and feckless commentary. I want to see every one of those bastards burn for what they've done. I come to this space for a lot of different reasons, inspiration to keep fighting them probably at the top of the list. It would be good if we didn't create a space where our cleverness and bitterness strips the humanity from what they're doing/ already done.
we have to just sit and wait to find out how many Timothy McVeighs and John Lee Malvos this war is creating.
xoites defends Constitution @ 10:
and it's definitely time we served bush and cheney and cundi to
the haigh for their crimes against humanity. the crimes against
the American citizens by bush/cheney/cundi are greater than
the crime committed on 911.
Mikel @ 30:
I hope you did not think i was being disrespectfull. I am certainly angry with Bush. If i said anything to upset you you have my appologies.
MADMAX @ 2:
"I will always listen to commanders on the ground."
No, this time its not a quote by this guy
Guess who?
Great. On the same page.
Obama has lost a lot of support from the left. I doubt he even has an inkling how much.
Mark Richards @ 13:
No, no - not true!!
My generation was made up of the kids of those dads from WWII & Korea. Believe me, it screwed them up. But they didn't talk about it. My dad NEVER talked about WWII or Korea & he was in both. He lied to join the Marines at 16 & was sent to the South Pacific.
He was an emotionally removed and destructive man the whole time I was growing up. He drank like a fish and smoked between 2 to 4 packs a day. You know how hard it is to smoke 4 packs a day? He drank til he passed out every night. More of my friends dads were like that then weren't. They didn't talk about it and real men didn't ask for help, so they drank and smoked and shut themselves off except for when they flew into rages.
I had several friends who I shared sleepovers with, because we were safer if we were together at each other's houses. Our dad's would behave better, or leave us alone. Or, even if they were drunk and raging, looking for someone to hit, at least we all understood, we all had it in common.
In his 70's my dad finally went to a VA shrink who diagnosed him with PTSD. Unfortunately, by the time he was in his 70's, his entire family had PTSD from living with him.
War is a contagious disease. It's a horrible gift that keeps on giving.
xoites defends Constitution @ 35:
i doubt he even cares!
xoites defends Constitution @ 33:
Appreciated, M. Not a specific complaint, but a general word. Just want to make sure we don't make the same mistake and use them as ideological props.
Mike @ 31:
Exactly.
I can imagine the media thinking with glee, Just think the ratings will get with each 'Nutcase shoots up McDonalds' story. What are the odds that a Netroots/grassroots movement to pass a law to draft any child or grandchild of members of Congress and the Executive Branch when military action is taken?
As much as I don't believe it, I really hope the fuck there is a hell so these mothefuckers can go the very lowest rung.
The bastards deserve nothing less than eternal damnation and suffering.
So many of our soldiers will "never come home", they will never be the same. and without treatment they may become a danger to themselves and others.
The Republicans and Democrats need to stop posturing over their support of the troops and start doing something for them. Enough is enough and you military deserve better.
my son is a marine @ 36:
Violence in general is contagious. If you see it in yourself you have to try to change. Mass violence leads to all kinds of abuse, it is dehumanizing and long lasting. Creating a war is the ultimate obscenity and Bush is obcene. Soldiers who saw battle do not talk about it. They know noone will understand. We glorify it in movies and when i was growing up tv. I can name a few shows from then: Combat with Vic Morrow (my childhood hero), Twelve O'clock High, Rat Patrol. Then came Star Trek, high tech Imperial Expansionism. "We come in peace! Shoot to kill!"
F*cking our troops to death or insanity is the republican way of support the troops. But they make it all better with flagpins and bumper stickers.
angryspittle @ 40:
Unfortunately the bastards who hide behind religion to justify the wars and mayhem they create don't believe in Heaven and Hell anymore then you or I do. and that's the sad fact.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 44:
But they sure do love the concept! It keeps those donations rolling in.
Marcinema @ 5:
NO!
They have sweet dreams of oil flowing through their slimy hands.
Its what psycopath's do!
Andrew @ 21:
and the bastards bush and cheney will label you an
enemy combatant..........
Major General Smedley Butler (1935): War Is A Racket
Damn this war. Damn the people who prosecuted it. Damn the American people who failed to stop it. I hope we'll be forgiven our transgressions if we make sincere efforts to repair what we tore asunder. But in the meantime more Joseph Dwyers will die trying to find some peace while living with the horror of what they've seen and been a part of.
This sort of thing really tells the story behind the picture.
How long can our military stand? We are losing our best and brightest. Now we are recuiting criminals? Bush and Co. are the worst! They are traitors. Shame on us!
GFD.
dadams @ 47:
So?
My condolences to this man's family.
What a heartbreaking loss for his family. God, if only...
dadams @ 47:
If i have not been labeled an "enemy" by this administration by now i need to try a hell of a lot harder.
When someone asks why I hate the NeoCons' Guts all I have to do is show them this article and the clip of George Bush joking about not finding any WMD's under the podium while giving a speech. May the Neocons burn in Hell.
xoites defends Constitution @ 20:
How about stripping them naked (the entire Bush administration), tying their hands behind their backs, taping their mouths, and then putting diapers on Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld and every other GOP psycopath Fascist. Then, we drop them via parachute's into Baghdad square, along with a sign that says: They are all yours! Compliments of the American people! Please forgive us for electing such evil cowards and liars!
Long Tooth @ 11:
Say it all, I hate to say.
*Says* it all, sorry.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 58:
No thanks. I am not interested in surrendering my humanity. I will not treat anybody inhumanly no matter how horrible they are. It bares remembering that the most sincere form of flattery is immitation.
*bears (bare naked bears.)
Not one single person from the Cheney Administration will answer for or suffer for anything they've done.
Our service people are expendible to them. The rest of us need to make sure their needs are met now.
xoites defends Constitution @ 61:
And I want to be just like you when I grow up, xoites.
There is no need for revenge in any situation. It's a hollow and non-productive way to approach a problem, which the Bush/Cheney government most certainly is, granted.
It just needs to be removed and prevented from ever occurring again in the future is all.
abarts @ 63:
They need to come home.
hello @ 64:
Sounds to me like you are already an adult.
MountainMan23 @ 48:
the va hospital in marion ind is incorrect , its actually in marion illinoise, its where the vets from indiana go to!
God Bless all of the Vets who joined the Armed Forces in good faith to defend this country. May they find peace within themselves after they have fulfilled their military obligations. May they realize that many of us who have opposed this war from the start do not hold them responsible for inevitable tragedies at their hands. We realize that the circumstances of fighting in a hostile nation where combatants and innocents look the same makes it impossible to avoid civilian deaths. Instead we hold responsible those whose decision it was to place them in this hostile land with an impossible mission that was bound to bring pain, suffering and death to both them and those they were ostensibly sent to help, fighting a war before all other alternatives were exhausted.
Another casualty of war that wont be listed as their death being a result of the war. I remember in High School reading a book on some Army regiment that fought in Vietnam (forget which one) and I'll never forget how many of these guys died shortly after they returned to the U.S.
Suicide, drunken car crashes, overdoses and health problems like heart attacks that normally do not afflict people in their 30's, i was amazed at how many died young. It was PTSD that drove them over the edge. And now that same PTSD will claim
another generation of Americans. This man was pushed over the edge by what he was forced to see, even forced to do, and the associated guilt of having no legitimate reason for even being there. It's assured he will be joined by thousands of veterans in an early death from this war. May those who started it burn in hell for eternity.
my son is a marine @ 36:
all this sounds so painfully familiar . . . i never served in korea or viet nam, but those wars will haunt me to my dying day, because my father and uncles did . . . not a day of my young life went by without a severe beating from my enraged-at-life marines vet father, and that's the warm and fuzzy part . . . my father is long dead -- smoked himself to death by the age of 42 -- and i am much recovered from my own, veteran-induced ptsd, but i can never get back those years that i lost to it
yet so many of those who make the decision to send young americans to war don't live with the mental scars of serving, or the legacy of living with those who have served . . . i suppose that is why they are able to keep making war . . . whatever the explanation, i despise them for what they did to my family and me, and for what they have done to joseph patrick dwyer and his family
and i am left to wonder: how many of us who opposed the iraq war from the beginning did so because we still carry the burden of past wars?
TimeForNewLeadership @ 68:
Unfortunately you can't tell that to a human being and have him say, "Oh! OK!" Guilt (there are several kinds including survivor's guilt) is not something that goes away with a kind word. You words, however were indeed kind.
hello @ 64:
Its humor people, and I think (from a humor standpoint) its pretty damn funny to picture in your mind.
Having said that, if I could REALLY do something to these creeps, I would much rather take every penny they have, put them in prison where they belong (where they would toil in hard labor for endless hours every single day) for the rest of their miserable lives!
No privelages, no money (that would be the worst for these greedheads) although they would get Habeas Corpus before their imprisonment; and nothing but time to think about what they did to so many other people!
Maybe the hard work and exercise would keep Cheney alive for another 40 years to enjoy it all.
Perhaps if you let us know ahead of time we can chuckle at your humor.
No, even as humor i don't think so. Sorry.
I heard about this a few days ago. I didn't know if I was depressed or enraged. probably both at the same time. I can't say anymore.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 72:
redsaunas @ 7:
it's not at all funny when i picture it, because i can see that chimpy still has his smirky little grin on . . . i want that smirky little grin gone forever, and taking his money is probably the only thing that will do it
and that is a good reason to impeach him, because unless it is demonstrated that he acted outside the authority of his office, he's untouchable financially . . . reparations made for his crimes will come out of our pockets . . . out of the pocket of joseph patrick dwyer's mother, too . . . chimpy will keep his dollars and that fucking grin
We can forget impeachment and we can forget justice. This Congress and the next President (who ever it turns out to be) wants none of it.
xoites defends Constitution @ 73:
Sorry, but it is. Get a sense of one, and qiut being so uptight!
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 77:
I won't argue about your humor, it is in the belly of the laugher. Didn't strike me as funny. Get used to it, i never appreciated the Three Stoodges either.
xoites defends Constitution @ 76:
i have no intention of forgetting it . . . or that most members of congress have violated their oaths of office by not supporting it
if there had been a mechanism for impeaching hitler and the germans didn't take it, what do you suppose we'd be saying about them now? and what do you suppose history will say about us when the true scope of the death and destruction in iraq is finally known? or, heaven help us, george bush nukes iran?
the sumbitches should be sent to the hague just for what they've done to americans.
innocent bystander @ 79:
No Incumbent Left behind?
innocent bystander @ 79:
Actually i did not mean to imply that we should forget it. I am predicting it probably won't happen because our nation no longer persues justice. Not when it comes to the powerfull. Find a poor guy who stole a meal or a kid who smoked some weed and we throw the book at him. Three quarters of a million people were arrested for smoking pot last year. No war criminals as far as i can recall.
This is what happens when you send moral men to an immoral war based on lies. This is what happens when these mens leaders lie to them and tell them what they are doing is "for the good of the country" when in truth it is not for the good of ANY country at all but only good for a small handful of truely evil scumbags.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory Over SCLM and DIEBOLD! @ 81:
except for the thirty or so who sought to do their duty . . . you betcha!
xoites defends Constitution @ 78:
I don't know. I used it at a party a few days ago, and about 15 people laughed their arses off. Including a couple of repuglicans across the street (yes, hard as it is to beieve, there are still some people that like Bush), and they even laughed.
Guess there must be a lot of Stooges fans out there.
Very sad. Condolences to the family of this brave, unfortunate man.
swampfox @ 37:
I am so upset about this FISA because it is an constitutional issue and Barack said he would support even with the new immunity. I ponder this because he is a constitutional scholar when he became a lawyer. Someone who major in the field of constitutional law would be someone that would be knowledgeable in most ways beyond the muck lawyers we have now for the Bush administration.
Barack graduated at the top of his class unlike McCain at the very bottom 6 of his class at the academy, much like George Bush story. It is too late to regroup for a viable candidate for the Democratic party. All we got is Barack is a hell of a lot smarter than McCain, and we been lied to as for the FISA bill support with immunity. There is no way for McCain to dig us out of this hole to save our economy. I have a feeling that the republican are going to steal the votes. One reason why I am voting for Barack is to force their hand to steal the vote but more blatantly than before.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 85:
Sorry, in the right setting your joke is probably gold. This is a thread about an Iraq War Veteran who died of an overdose.
My bad.
xoites defends Constitution @ 82:
funny you should mention the hapless thieves/pot smokers . . . when i was a student at a prestigious, ivy league law school, i wrote a criminal code that removed the government's authority to prosecute citizens for whom the government had failed to uphold its end of the bargain . . . you know inner city kids living in sub-code housing amidst rampant crime and attending your average inner city zoo, i mean school . . . got a high pass for it, too, from a prof we called "low pass joe" . . . that's back when i still believed that we had the capacity to change, that we as a nation where still interested in finding that city on a hill . . . i was young and, if not stupid, idealistic
paranoia @ 87:
I am going to stuff cotton up my nostrils and put a clothes pin on my nose and vote for Obama.
What choice do i have?
innocent bystander @ 89:
Stay idealistic. We need more older people to stay idealistic. We are up against a lot of powerful demogouges with all the money and all the media. We can at least irritate them if nothing else.
MountainMan23 @ 3:
America celebrates it's war veterans with a spot at freeway off ramps to hold their homeless - need food signs. The veterans organizations are a bunch of drunks who gather to praise Bush McCain and Cheney.
xoites defends Constitution @ 20:, That's a very good idea indeed! My work makes it hard but I will try to arrange to do just that once a month. And to get as many as I can to join me. Thanks xoites for a great idea for protest aginst this insanity that is destroying our country!
Terrible @ 93:
You are welcome. It is hard to do things like that alone. Find a friend to take along.
Mark Richards @ 13:, the few Korean War vets I've met were some of the most emotionally scared men I've meet in my life.
xoites defends Constitution @ 91:
i'm gonna overlook the fact that you referred to me as "older" and say that i have every intention of irritating the heck out of every person in authority who did nothing to stop the bush administration from destroying the lives of so many innocent iraqis and of servicemen like joseph patrick dwyer
xoites defends Constitution @ 94, I'm thinking it would be good too to wear one of my old military patches to show I am a veteran. Even though it wasn't in a combat era. That would hold more weight with any kids going to the recruiters wouldn't it? The more I think about this the more I think it is a good way to get the truth out. If every veteran and everyone else too took just one day a month to do this and get true information out to people surely we can put an end to this in our lifetimes.
Terrible @ 95:
I had a barber when i was a young man who told me that in one battle in Korea that he was in soldiers fell asleep from the fatigue of just pulling the trigger of their rifles. They were fighting human wave attacks that lasted for days. I can't imagine going through anything like that.
Wow, I'm so glad George Bush and Dick Cheney didn't suffer PTSD from Vietnam like this (typical) brave soldier, or we might not now be the great, benevolent, respected country that we are, and hey, thank GOD the Bush Twins will never have PTSD either...
Rest in Peace, Brother.
America's history.
The sooner we come to terms with that the sooner we can move on and start over.
innocent bystander @ 96:
Sorry, i will be 52 later this year. If you are younger than I you have no excuse. :)
Terrible @ 97:
An excellent idea. Especially since they are looking up to men in uniform who are trying to recruit them for answers.
xoites defends Constitution @ 100:
well, i'm not that much younger than you . . . but i'm really, really immature!
CowBoy Bob in Austin @ 8:
I see your point. They should all come home.
innocent bystander @ 102:
LOL! Good!
Maturity will kill you!
xoites defends Constitution @ 88:
I was responding to a guys comment about "what" he said should be done to these creeps. And I am very well aware of what the thread is about, thank you.
Some people deal with anger through humor. It is actually a very effective tool. In fact, most really good comedians (Carlin, Bruce) are venting in their routines. About the only way I can deal with most of the shit going on in this country today (without losing my mind), is because of my sense of humor. That, and completely ignoring the corporate MSM.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 105:
Listen, this is ridiculous. You and i agree on probably almost everything. I get pissed off at some people come on here and start saying the gowd awfullest things about what they would like to do to conservative assholes. It has been a pet peeve of mine because sooner or later a troll will come on an accuse of us hate mongering.
So i usually react in a hurry.
Can we drop this and be friends?
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace Says:
How about stripping them naked (the entire Bush administration), tying their hands behind their backs, taping their mouths, and then putting diapers on Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld and every other GOP psycopath Fascist. Then, we drop them via parachute’s into Baghdad square, along with a sign that says: They are all yours! Compliments of the American people! Please forgive us for electing such evil cowards and liars!
Nice thought, but we could get a little more creative in terms of a truly just punishment for the war criminals of the Bush/Cheney administration. I say we load the lot of them, The Decider-Commander guy, his two partying daughters, The Cheney's (yeah throw in the lesbian too), Rummy, Condi, Feith, Scooter, ROVE, Gonzo along with Monica Goodling, Addington & Yoo, Scalia, Alito & Roberts (but he's such a nice looking man.......nnaahhh fuck'em), Liebermann, Barbara & Poppy Bush, Tom Delay, Newt Gingrich, Mitch McConnell and good old John McCain (with Lindsey Graham in tow of course)....... load the lot of them into a big yellow bus (let Laura Bush drive)..... and to make sure there is fair and balanced media coverage lets include Rupert Murdoch, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Bill Kristol, Anne Coulter, Judith Miller, Rush Limbaugh and last but not least, the "Paris Hilton" of journalism, Jonah Goldberg. Make sure everyone on the bus is cranked on angel dust, acid, and (Georgie's fave)...cocaine. All onboard will be armed to the teeth with the best automatic weapons the Pentagon could buy, and the worst body armor, give'em all Party hats & noisemakers. Paint a picture of Jesus holding a sword and cross with a glock tucked into his sash on the back of the bus. On one side have a banner that reads "Allah sucks Satan's cock" and on the other side one that reads "We Are Stealing Your Oil - Fuck You". Make sure there are Israeli Flags flying above the front headlights and a bitchin sound system that blasts out 'Hava Nagilla'
at 120 decibels. Now call the bus "The Straight Talk Express" and send it on a run at 25 mph from the Bahgdad Airport to the 'Green Zone"... but make sure this momentous "Surge" is pre-announced to the Iraqi people and is covered as a pay-per-view event, with proceeds going to all those impacted by the war.
I'd pay to see that.
Wouldn't you?
I give up.
Mike @ 31:
I've given a lot of thought about that. Most of them have served 3 to 5 tours in Iraq. They can't get out because of the stop losses. Those that have gotten out, generally make it about 6 months before they get called back to active duty. When they do finally make it out. They will find no jobs; no healthcare; housing that is unaffordable; and food that is too expensive to buy. Let's not forget about the wife that has been screwing around on them with her meth addict boyfriend.
Who to say he not a troll himself just giving people like Bill O'Reilly something to talk about?
Anybody can come in and say what they want. The moderator can't be everywhere all the time.
For assholes like Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld who sit in safe offices, spew propaganda and engage in war profiteering, it's fine, they enjoy their 12-year-old scotch, or whatever it is that rich assholes drink, and they sleep well..................
for the rest of us who participated on any level... our service may have started with the best intentions and a deep sense of (albeit misguided) honor... but no matter who you are or what your specialty is... war stains your soul...
But as long as the majority let the asshole minority get away with what they are doing it will never change... A great liberal thinking man once wrote a document for himself and his colleagues... it started out: When in the course of human events...
xoites defends Constitution @ 106:
Sounds good!
Mark Richards @ 13:
Then you are blind and deaf.
I am the ex-wife of a Vietnam Vet... you never heard of such troubles??!!! are you fracking serious??!! .. the diagnosis; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) came about BECAUSE of the war these soliders brought home. My ex included. Hell it got so I could tell who was a Vietnam Vet just by looking at the eyes.
And what so bang your head against the wall until you bleed wrong with the situation the Iraq and Afghanistan vets are going through is that we went through the VA denial and government crappola BEFORE.
This has all been done to vets before. Denial of benefits, down grading disability (thanks Reagan), stall, red tape designed to be either too complicated or too mush a hastle so the vet and their family gives up... WE BEEN HERE BEFORE
this is Déjà Vu all over again!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdqpceBvm6g
it is called imperialism and it has its price
we now have a mercenary army
if you join you pay the price
the military has become a function of corp america
war heros? to offer their lives for oil
how few americans care anything about the iraqis
we smelled oil and nothing was going to stop us from getting 40 years worth
soldiers you are being used and abused you have allowed patroitism and nationalism to overwhelm your rational minds
I Like Pie @ 109:
i've got to say that, your comment about the spouses of our servicemen is really inappropriate . . . they need us to support them, not diss them
V for Vonnegut @ 107, you have hit the nail on the head. Couldn't agree with you more.
Just think what could have been,or just maby, this man could have been a CHILD DOCTOR, OR A just maby a great reascher into childerans illiness. We the PEOPLE have to waken up to what the CORPORATE CONTROLED MEDIA, and BUSH CHICKINHAWKS has brought this country TOO.
blackjack @ 117:
he could have given his mother a kiss on her next birthday, but he will never do that again . . . that's enough motivation for me to condemn the way bush and the military industrial complex used and abused him
My wife said it best to me tonight, plainly:
This is just unbearably sad what is happening to our soldiers.
ABC trots out Ted Koppel to attack Obama
there really ought to be a law against total bullshit.
xoites defends Constitution @ 10:
President of the United States only served himself
AND FRIENDS
so, so beyond any words from me.
The casualties of war are not all in hospitals or dead. They are on our streetcorners begging for change, they are sitting at bus-stops in catharsis, they are under roadways, they are lost in an otherwise functional world. Part of the heartbreak for me, being a 7th grade teacher, is when so many of my students in our affluent community refer to the homeless as "bums" and "they chose that life." The heartbreak lies in the fact that, as with everything else, they are taught that. It then behooves me to teach them otherwise.
God bless everyone who mourns for someone. God forgive me for saying, "God damn you, Bush!"
Innumerable families have suffered for Bush, Blackwater and Blair's ambitions; and sadly many more will still.
Bush and Blair are both war criminals and should be charged/indicted.
Dwyer and other soldiers know what Americans mean when they save Support our Troops and as Dick Cheney would say So.
Bush is just the front man and could care less about our soldiers as he skipped out in Vietnam. We have seen Walter Reed do nothing for our troops and we see the White House give stop lost to those who want to come home. Yes Americans support Bush on the invasion but wont join the Military just let those who volunteered stand in Iraq until they die. Our Military is protecting the Iraq oil fields for the White House and Americans really don't care. This does explain by God is not blessing America as Satan is in charge.
This article was published last week in the Daily Kos....
by Jeffersonian Democrat
Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 01:05:00 AM PDT
That was the plea of another casualty of the Iraq occupation. But it wasn't cried on the far off battlefields in the deserts of Iraq, it was cried from behind the door of a small home in Pinehurst, NC on June 28th, as the police kicked in the door. On June 28th, Doc Dywer died of an overdose trying to suppress his demons. He died at a oh-so-young, but for many combat veterans an oh-so-old 31 years of age, leaving behind an estranged wife and daughter.
But rather than going on to enjoy the public affection for his act of heroism, he was consumed by the demons of combat stress he could not exorcise. For the medic who cared for the wounds of his combat buddies as they pushed toward Baghdad, the battle for his own health proved too much to bear.
"It doesn't mean you have a disorder that is going to be longstanding ... it is not just a federal responsibility, it is a national responsibility." - VA Secretary Peake
Jeffersonian Democrat's diary :: ::
Who is Doc Dwyer and what did he do?
Dwyer served in Iraq with 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment as the unit headed into Baghdad at the beginning of the war. As they pushed forward for 21 days in March 2003, only four of those days lacked gunfire, he later told Newsday. The day before Warren Zinn snapped his photo for Military Times, Dwyer’s Humvee had been hit by a rocket.
About 500 Iraqis were killed during those days, and Dwyer watched as Ali’s family near the village of al Faysaliyah was caught in the crossfire. he grabbed the 4-year-old boy from his father and sprinted with him to safety. Zinn grabbed the moment on his camera. The image went nationwide and Dwyer found himself hailed as a hero.
This Independence Day, a day of flags and parades and fireworks, of beer and BBQs, you may have a chance to speak to a veteran or two, but don't expect to meet too many
As Americans stock up on Fourth of July fireworks with battlefield themes, those with actual war experience are adopting safety plans instead. Combat veterans in Oregon and southwest Washington say they are heading to quiet campsites, small family gatherings or the basement with earphones. They'll pre-stage their dreams before bed, visualizing different endings.
Depression, anxiety and drinking all spike around the Fourth of July, counselors say. "This time of year is stressful -- period," says Jim Sardo, a two-tour military psychologist who manages the PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) Clinical Team and Substance Abuse Services at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Unexpected bursts of noise, summer heat, crowds, traffic, forced gaiety and coolers of cold beer all contribute.
Of course, according to the VA, it is not a long-standing disorder.
If you are feeling exceptionally patriotic, maybe take a moment to write to your Congressman or Congresswoman to start drafting legislation on the Vet Commission's Recommendations, that would go a long way to help those of us still here on this earth battling our demons with minimal VA support. It is tragically too late for our hero Doc Dwyer, but not for the young man or woman down the street.
"Help me please, I'm dying" are not just Doc Dwyer's last words, they are also a cry to the nation from all of us who slowly physically and spiritually whither away in our own worlds and kill ourselves slowly with the booze and the drugs, or quickly with the bullet or the rope, as it is just too difficult and too long to get the proper treatment from the Administration of Veterans Affairs.
http://www.armytimes.com/...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/...
UPDATE: Wow, made the rec list, I don't know what to say. Thank you for helping to get the word out for everyone involved in the catastrophe, and please consider the action item to contact your representative about the Vet Commission. At the moment they are only recommendations, no one is doing anything about it and it is in danger of being shelved.
Perhaps we can also take solace that Doc Dwyer finally, although needlessly and tragically, found the peace he struggled so long to achieve
I'm so sorry Joseph Patrick Dwyer. To your family, I'm so sorry for your loss - it is our loss too.
I'm so sorry that our mental health system has failed our brave soldiers. Even regular people cannot get the help they need nowadays - hospitals do not have enough beds, people are forced to wait many hours in the emergency room for mental health assistance - getting an appointment as an outpatient can take 4-8 weeks. This is not the fault of the Bush administration - this started a long, long time ago.
Poor mental health care is the fault of those who thought that people with mental health issues could survive on their own in the world with a 1 hour Psych appt every two weeks. The insurance companies don't think 24 hour-long term mental health treatment is a critically necessary treatment; this viewpoint is directly responsible for the closure of thousands of mental health treatment centers over the past 25-50 years.
For everyone, with or without mental health concerns (frankly, I think we all have mental health concerns): If you want to know how to help yourselves, I might suggest a thorough, cover-cover reading of The Urantia Book. It explains how we got here, where we're going, and what we can do help ourselves.
Damn that's fuckin sad as hell! Damn you George Walker Bush, you fuckin sociopathic retard!!!
This mans death and so many others is on YOUR hands! ASSHOLE!
Its a friggin tragedy.... I hope Feith (who was in the wall street journal last week and again on 60 minutes justifiying the war) and the other neocons can live with themselves... these neocons should be the ones with post traumatic stress disorder... i doubt however any of these guys, including Bush, have ever lost too much sleep over this war...
more soldiers should be standing up to say this war was wrong and put the U.S. military through a bunch of bullshit...
and lets not forget about the fact that the U.S. has completely destroyed a proud country and people of nearly 25 million iraqis....
a friggin disgrace...
Gin @ 9:
Barak will end this war.... that is his end game... he will also not attack Iran or start any more stupid wars... McCain on the other hand... who knows?? he is one of the few who still 100% supports the war and thinks it was the right thing to do...
that is a shame & this war is a sham!
More death and tragedy for humanity. Why do the weak minded continue to enlist to kill people?
Soldiering today is not honorable. Wars are not declared here, and the military industrial complex
preys on the weak minded to kill for them. As parents, we must scorn the "job" of soldiering and
call it what it is....hired killing.
Phillip @ 129:
That's about right.
The war-mongers have no need for human beings who have human reactions to the horrors of war. Whether its Patton slapping around a "shell-shocked" man or McCain trying to pretend that homeless vets don't exist, there will always be people for whom the wounded will be just too damn inconvenient.
This is a very sad story. This young man was a medic, trying to save peoples' lives. Kind of like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500, I'd imagine. Another obit here.
Rest in peace, Spc. Dwyer.
In your final act, may you have continued to save lives by encouraging us to do more for others who are suffering.
I live in Albuquerque, NM. There are many "Nam vets who "live" here. I say, "live", because they are still suffering from serious PTSD. A number of them live in the mountains & can be seen in camouflage clothes & paint playing war games. They are not always easy to see but I've seen, out of the corner of my eye, a streak that looks like someone in camouflage running in the trees. They will come to town to the VA hospital for treatment or to get their Disability checks. I also have an Uncle-in-law who was a gunner on choppers in "Nam. Several choppers he was in were shot down & he was the lone survivor. Needless to say he has never recovered mentally & subsists on tortilla chips, salsa & Coors. Whether it is called Battle Fatigue, Shell Shocked or PTSD the results are the same - very seriously damaged lives.
FYI, suicide rates for veterans are lower than the national average. Otherwise, you are very correct that society needs to be more supportive of our veterans. Our country would not exist without them.
It is tough when you go over there with good intentions but find out that you are the bad guy.
Ray @ 136:
Oh Really, care to back up that statistic with citations? According to a CBS investigation (which I found with a simple Google search):
So it seems to me that you're wrong, unless you have some other source to cite.
[deleted. see the commenting policy. Sitemonitor]
Feel sorry for the war criminal? Pfft.
How many innocent Iraqis have been slaughtered by the hands of america? So many lies...so many deaths. america blogs while the world burns. Nothing is being done to stop this atrocity.
MountainMan23 @ 3:
Yes, Yes, war ruins lives. The sad thing is these war veterans don't want to suffer this way. Each one of them changes - they can't help but change after what they have seen and experienced. Poor, poor lost souls. Pray for them - pray hard.
Mark Richards @ 13:
Then you didn't know any of them, every uncle I had came back from Korea a complete alcoholic, lost his family, his children, his jobs. Died alone in a VA in Calif. My Dad came back from the Pacific a functioning alcoholic. Please differentiate between COMBAT vets and NON COMBAT vets, the two are NOT the same.
These kids will get even less treatment than the Nam vets, trust me, I've slept with too many of our Nam vets to ignore THEIR damage. They just had a broader array of chemicals to kill the pain.
How sad. Hopefully one day justice will be served for those who never came home and those who did come home but at the sametime never fully left Iraq. I hope...
My older brother spent 13 months in Viet Nam, survived number of firefights where others did not. I visit him and other veterans he has made friends with often when they meet daily at a donut shop. Same thing everyday, cup of coffee, a donut, a few lotto bets and then light discussion of sports, the local hardware storm, etc. They are all very bright but to a one have poorly paying jobs, but they go to them everyday and do the best they can. Thats the point, they aren't the same. The spark they once had is simply gone. They are fundamentally damaged, but again, do the best they can. They cannot handle stressful or new situations. I care about them all but do not pity them, they'd hate that. And by the way, they would give you the shirt off of their back if you needed it. Its been hard to see them and know that the Bush Administration has created another generation of them.
Iraq Soldier 2004 @ 139:
Um... so what was it then?
Saving the Iraqi people? Nope, millions more were killed by Americans than by Saddam Hussein.
Protecting America from terrorists? Nope, we're less safe now than we were before 9/11
Weapons of Mass Destruction? Bullshit.
All of those things are just a big lies as the oil. Go ahead and keep murdering in the name of your Zionist masters, that's all you're good for.
My buddy just came back and I had to hold him off of killing some poor guy for no reason. H e saw this guys girlfriend eating stew out of cup and it set him off. He started crying saying "my friends are dying so you can eat stew out of a cup, why am I fighting...." It dosent make sense but in his mind Iraq and here are one connected place. He went from crying to absolute hatred in about one second, it was the biggest mood shift I've ever seen. I fear for the night no one. If something that wierd and trivial can make him want to kill a man, I'd hate to see the poor shmuck that really wrongs him.
IRAQ SOLDIER,
First, thank you for serving our country. I commend you.
May I ask you something? Why is our gvt paying enormous amount of money to a company that sends men over to Iraq for 4 times the amount of pay our soldiers are getting? Why is that? They have no laws to govern them, they do what they want and when they want. Result being innocent American soldiers and Iraqi citizens have lost their life because of this fact.
When you were in Iraq, were the Iraqi people better off than when Saddam was their leader? Did they have running water full time? Electricity full time? Is it safe for Iraqi people to be in public? Do they attend college, school?
How come Rumsfeld resigned? Was it because he was a respected leader and he did all he could? Or perhaps he was asked to step down because of the rotten job he did, you think?
Why is it that all the major oil companies have a share in Iraq oil? Is it because they are entitled for keeping Iraq safe?
Why is it that the American Embassy there in Baghdad is the largest of its kind anywhere?
There is so much that we know and there is a whole lot we don't know and we will never know, not in this century anyway..Bush has the key and he is taking it with him...metal burns.
Whatever hell these men and women go through, it's made infinitely worse by the psych drugs they're prescribed that are supposed to "help" them and only torture their frayed nerves by causing sleeplessness, agitation, insomnia, irritability, paranoia, nausea, shakiness, etc.
These drugs cause those symptoms in normal, non-depressed people. They're a death sentence.
I swear, the Pentagon is just killing off soldiers, just killing them off. It knows just what it's doing. They want a million Sheleys roaming through the heartland, massacring and terrorizing a whole state. Thousands of suicides, run down the population. Good for the nascent security industry. Good for Blackwater. Good for Cheney.
Any party that can reckon a terrorist attack as a plus for their candidate wouldn't hesitate to liquidate soldiers who have reached the limit of their usefulness and been bled to the bone.
As Indy Jones once said, "I hate those guys."
I don't believe in PTSD.
Did anyone expect less than this when we started this war? Besides, of course, the thousands who went and volunteered after 9/11. I'll never understand why ANYONE ever trusted the silver-spooned Georgie Bush, who never worked a hard day in his life, and was never sucessful at any job he ever held. Oh yeah, we wanted to have a beer with him. Maybe we should scrutinize our President's policy a tad more and make them fess up to where they stand on everything. Hear that mainstream press? bloggers? (press lite) and Obama/McCain supporters? Trust no one's word. Ever.
I think ever republican piece of shit, every cheerleading pile of shit in the press, every shill, every right wing bastard, every democrat in name only DINO piece of shit, blue dong's if you will, need to look at this image and come to grips with what the fuck they have done.
ah, I forget, to be a republican, you have to be 'bereft of conscience', and 'sell your soul to your fuhrer'...
what's the use. this is what America used to be. a very long time ago, in a handful of hero souls far far away on foreign soil.
canonize this man for his honor, his spirit, and his humanity. never forgive those who sent him, NEVER...............
Comments are closed on this entry