Just the news bite caused me to fear and grieve. I couldn't watch the actual piece on it. I hope that God puts me in charge of animals when I get up there, and puts me in charge of enlightening those who harm. I love critters. There HAS to be a heaven for them, just has to be......

I havent seen the video and I am in no way saying what the Marine did was right. What I can say is this, my father is a Retired Marine, 23 years of service, did two tours in Vietnam. He has many horror stories of war. The worst story I was ever told was from my mother. When my father returned from the second tour, he was emotionally drained. One night as he lay asleep next to my mother, she told me she had turned from her side to lay on her back, before she knew what was happening, my father was on top of her choking her, as he still slept. She was able to wake him up, thank God, before he killed her.
All service men and women are deeply trained in things the average person would never dream of. War DOES do something to the person, and not until recently did our Soldiers have someone to talk to about their feelings, because in the end, they are humans too, with feelings. Training only goes so far, and after the war is over, the pain and suffering sets in when our Soldiers have to deal with the fact that they killed another human being. Innocents are casualties of war, so the Soldiers have been told, but when all is said and done, people are people. Don't be so harsh to judge until all the facts are present.

the main thing that worries me is that people aren't seeing that this was wrong .. be it a Marine or myself or a teenager or a priest or a army guy or a street sweeper .. the fact that he has been taught honor makes it worse ..

for the love of God..kill this thread

At least the debate is staying civil.

you are nice fear..i have scars from yesterday...i took a lot of shrapnel

Noticed this yesterday, didn't really read through it much. Sorry, would have had your back mate.

now YOU have honor.....

Slight clarification: The soldier was home-based in Hawaii, but the incident occurred in Iraq. I have a close friend who is a civilian contractor over there, and he said it's caused quite a stir because of the video.

your replies are repulsive & completely self centered...

and egotistical and without conscience


why don't you cry for all the innocent human victims of war ???


including the soldiers who are there keeping the enemy at bay

for your unappreciative self too

you who seem to have no heart for people,

only animals

that is right.. ..


thank you so much Chuck

your opinion may be your right ,

but it is atrocious, nonetheless

I am against cruelty to any animal. I did not look at the video. I do not want to see that.
I am a cat lover. My cat was rescued. She was neutered and declawed by the rescuer. She is an indoor cat and never gets a chance to hurt another animal. We live on the 3rd floor. I love the birds and squirrels too. My cat sat with me when my dad died and wiped away my tears with her clawless front paws. She has been and continues to be much comfort to me and I to her. I would have loved to have a dog, but, I am too sick to walk a dog. So, I have Sweet Pea-I did not name her. She had a name tag on when she was rescued. We are good for each other.

Was the marine Michael Vick???

Marine or no marine...he is an ass, He should be discharged dishonorably. Or even do a little time in the brig. They say...first it is animals then humans. He should have help.
Being a soldier has nothing to do with his actions. I don't care how many people he killed for us or how much anything he does. Never ever any reason to kill anything that wasn't harming him.
This is sickening. The puppy was alive. He threw it off the cliff for shidz and giggles.
I watched it on the news this morning. It made me very sad. Mad, and hurt my feelings. That poor puppy.

Kat

i do not harm pets and i know that some are very sweet...
it is very nice to know that some pet owners are very responsible...


I do not say that what the Marine did was right,
but i am just saying he does not deserve to be killed...



a friend of mine presented another scenerio
what if the situation was slightly different...

what if you were driving a car or truck along
and you were doing stuff in your car
to make you unaware of the things
going on outside...

You were looking for your day planner in the back seat,
or your child needed you and you looked back there
to shoo a bee away from your baby,
or you got a phone call
and you were searching for your phone...
any or all of this could happen...

or maybe you were out joyriding and going too fast,

not paying attention,
and a little poor innocent dog
came creeping out from under a car
and happened to stumble under your car
where you were not paying attention
and you happened to kill this dog....


Would you deserve a bullet to your head ?
You would be guilty of gross negligence at least,
while you were driving a 3, 000 or more pound weapon
of potential mass destruction
and you were not being as responsible
as you should with it...
and you killed an innocent puppy...


what should your verdict be?
Should you be shot and made to suffer
& die??




heck, with all the heinous crimes done against women
and children mostly
and the perpetrator's filthy defending attorney
is trying to save his foul self
and pleads that if he was given lethal injection,
it would be cruel and unusual punishment,

but he completely forgets the poor people
that were tortured for long periods of time
and murdered then in the most horrible of ways
by this same man who is so chicken and such a coward ...
that he can dish out the pain and suffering ,
but oh, he cannot take one second of pain


oh, but Don't let the murderer suffer in any way ?
that is one of the sickest things i have heard...


that kind of tragic unfairness goes on all the time,


but some can't find one bit of sympathy for a poor soldier who
just has seen so much brutal bloodshed and absolute carnage


and who happens to do something wrong...
if he did throw the dog, it wasn't right ,
but in comparison to what he has been exposed to
and his very young age,
and compared to the other extremely atrocious things
that go on and are undealt with properly,
i think that a death sentence of any sort
for this young marine is absolutely unthinkable...


i think he should be put in a mental health hospital..
for serious evaluations ...
but not killed...


have you read today's news about all the solders
who suffer from extreme depression
and other mental health issues because of
seeing their friends and other innocent victims die?

I never said it was right for him to toss the dog,
but what got me so upset was the pompous attitude
and the very hateful murder of the marine in question
suggested by the originator of this thread...

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
45 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - U.S. troop morale improved in Iraq last year, but soldiers fighting in Afghanistan suffered more depression as violence there worsened, an Army mental health report says.



And in a recurring theme for a force strained by its seventh year at war, the annual battlefield study found once again that soldiers on their third and fourth tours of duty had sharply greater rates of mental health problems than those on their first or second deployments, according to several officials familiar with the report.

All spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the findings ahead of the study's release Thursday.

The report was drawn from the work of a team of mental health experts who traveled to the wars last fall and surveyed more than 2,200 soldiers in Iraq and nearly 900 in Afghanistan. In the fifth such effort, the team also gathered information from more than 400 medical professionals, chaplains, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health workers serving with the troops.

Officials said they found rates of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and post-combat stress were similar to those found the previous year in Iraq, when nearly 30 percent of troops on repeat tours said they suffered a problem.

It was unclear how the new data might relate to a recent report showing that as many as 121 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007, an increase of about 20 percent over the year before. The preliminary figures released in January said that there were 89 confirmed suicides last year and 32 deaths that were suspected suicides and still under investigation.

"Although we have had many successes, there are also areas of concern," Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general, said in testimony prepared for a congressional committee hearing.

Soldiers in Afghanistan had rates of mental health problems similar to those in Iraq in 2007 with the exception of depression, officials said the new study showed. The percentage reporting depression in Afghanistan was higher than that in Iraq, and mental health problems in general were higher than they had previously been in Afghanistan. They gave no statistics, but a 2004 study conducted in the states with troops before and after they deployed to Afghanistan found that roughly one in 10 developed a mental health problem requiring treatment.

Though U.S. troops suffered their highest level of casualties in both campaigns last year, that came as violence was decreasing in the five-year-old Iraq conflict and increasing in Afghanistan, now in its seventh year.

Troops' mental health problems are linked directly to the amount of exposure they have to combat, and officials said that last year the level of violence was more pronounced in some places of Afghanistan than it was in Iraq. Some 83 percent of soldiers in Afghanistan reported being exposed to mortar fire and similar action as fighting heated up against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters, compared with 72 percent in Iraq, according to the study.

Having troops spread out and more isolated over the rugged terrain in a less developed Afghanistan made it necessary at times to bring soldiers in by helicopter when they needed mental health care, one official said. After the survey was taken, mental health professionals were dispersed more to put them nearer to the forces they serve, he said.

Officials said other findings included:

_Soldiers who underwent special "Battlemind" training reported fewer problems than those who did not. The program teaches troops and families what to expect before soldiers leave for the wars and what common problems to look for when readjusting to home life after deployment.

_Progress was made toward reducing the fear and embarrassment that keeps soldiers from asking for help with mental health problems. In 2007, 29 percent of those surveyed in Iraq said they feared seeking treatment would hurt their careers, down from 34 percent the previous year.

_Eleven percent of those polled in Iraq said their unit's morale was high or very high, compared with 7 percent the previous year. Individual morale was reported high or very high among 20 percent, compared with 18 percent the previous year.

Sending mental health advisory teams to do extensive surveys and focus groups in the combat theater of operations was a groundbreaking effort when started in 2003, the year the U.S. invaded Iraq. The goal is to assess how troops are doing at the warfront and how well behavioral health services provided by the military are working for the force.

Extensive reports have been produced after each survey and they have led directly to changes in the way services are delivered in the combat theater.

Among changes considered this year is whether more mental health workers might be needed at the war front. Since all troops there over the past year have been serving extended 15-month tours instead of 12 — and a larger number were there for repeat tours — officials questioned whether the ratio of mental health workers-to-troops that was appropriate in 2003 and 2004 is appropriate now, Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to Schoomaker, told a recent news conference.

The number deployed to Iraq has been pretty much consistent throughout the war — averaging about 200 psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and technicians, Ritchie said.

Jeffry Dahmer killed and mutilated animals before he did more horendous things. I saw the video and that guy makes me sick.

Yes, The marine was wrong. However, he isn't as wrong as some of these people who think he should die for it. I hunt. From what I have been reading here I am sure some of you would think I am crazy as well. That is fine. You can think what you want. But who are you going to run to for help if it is needed? It's sick to put the life of an animal before a human life.

I think if i met that soldier i would probably punch him in the jaw. If its a real video he should be punished - killed is a little extreme but definatlly punished.