Almost Speechless

A scared man , fearful of being deployed took it upon himself to murder some of the youngest and bravest members of the armed forces. I have few words , if any , to describe my emotional spectrum , but I will say this . There are a hell of a lot of people who join western forces praying to never be deployed , praying that the world is peaceful , hoping that everything works out okay . And it doesn't always work out as planned .
Yet , thousands of people venture into foreign lands all over the world daily with every uncertainty , yet still do what they can to do their jobs with competence. Mothers , fathers , sons , daughters - they accept their fears and families' fears , and work their asses off. For the most part , they come home with emotional scars , sometimes catastrophic injuries , sometimes they come home in their burial bed .

Today , a man took the lives of his comrades . And there will be blame . People are blaming religion or nationality . The thing is , we are talking about a guy who for all intents and purposes was a secular American doctor. He accepted the scholarly benefits offered to the best and brightest , but with a caveat . He traded the opportunity for an education most of us would die for for something he might have to . And he did not want to honour his word . I am never going to put myself in the position of a military psychiatrist. Even on home soil , he probably heard the worst things imaginable . But as a member of the medical field , he should have had the wherewithal to seek out HELP .

We are seeing so much tragedy on our bases home and abroad , and while the tragedy at Fort Hood today is forefront , it is not the only one . Suicides and panic murders are becoming more common than so many realize. And I don't know any real answers . How can we know ho is going to snap under the pressure? We don't . We have no idea what it means to walk a mile in the shoes of the people who CHOOSE to act out by taking the lives of others .

What I do know is that folks like Major Hassan have for some reason decided to take people away from their families . No reason , crime , or trial .

And that's MURDER , and thusly a lifetime in a cell is the punishment due an individual who takes life and liberty from the law-enforcing .

Sometimes suicide really would be the most honourable end.

To the families of the brave who never got their chance , I am beyond words . For what it's worth , you are forefront in my heart .