(Haditha) Iraq vet charged in Hanford wreck

[Robbien]

Felony charges were filed Friday against a Marine accused of stealing a truck and crashing it into a Hanford house — acts he blames on stress from seeing his best friend die in combat and having to move the bodies of children in Haditha, Iraq.

. . .

His mother, Susie Briones, told The Bee earlier this week that her son last November helped remove bodies of 24 Iraqi citizens who were killed by Marines in an incident that has stirred international outrage. Roel Briones, now back at Camp Pendleton, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and hit his breaking point when he was arrested while on leave in April, she said.

Military officials know about her son's deteriorating mental health, Susie Briones said, and her son is now seeing a psychologist in San Diego to help deal with the stress.

. . .

Craig Dalle, owner of the smashed home, said Friday that he isn't buying Briones' story of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I've been in the military 16 years," said Dalle, a Navy lieutenant and pilot. "I was a rescue diver; I've recovered bodies. I've flown combat in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. I've seen atrocities, I've seen friends killed. ... But I have yet to go get drunk, steal a car, demolish a house and blame it all on post-traumatic stress.

"He's a Marine and he's served his country in combat. I don't want to take away from his contributions, but he needs to stand up and take responsibility for what he did."

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/12270531p-13006975c.html

Briones was not involved in the actual killing and was the first of his unit to speak publicly about the events.

[merwin]

1. Mr Dalle, some people aren't as hard and heartless as you.

Most of us aren't able to haul away the bodies of innocent children and watch our best friend die for an illegal war and still feel all bright and chipper the next day.

[atreides1]

3. Some of us can do our jobs, it doesn't mean were heartless

I guess just because he doesn't bawl like a little child, he's hard and heartless? How about he knows what he job entails and he accepts what it means.

Did Briones think that enlisting in the Marines was all about tea parties, did he not understand that as an infantryman he might actually get shot at, might see his friend get killed or wounded?

And how do you know that Briones thinks that this is an illegal war, to him and others this is all about protecting the "Homeland" and bringing democracy to the people of Iraq! From what I'm getting
the majority of the military really believe that they are doing something good and right, the ones who don't, are those that have refused to return and last count that was only about 8,000.

8,000 isn't a very big percentage of the military as a whole!!!!

When entire unit strips off their equipment and sits on the tarmac and refuses to board a plane going to Iraq, then and only then will any of us know how the military feels.

Saying that you don't think the war is right, but then turning around and going back, is like someone who keeps returning to an abusive relationship.

Get off the Lieutenant's case, just because he doesn't fit a profile that you think is appropriate doesn't mean he has no feelings about what he does, and he's right about this Marine taking some resposibility for his actions.

[merwin]

5. The guy is basically saying that ptsd does not exist

People with severe ptsd due to war are not responsible for their actions when the military fails to provide proper mental care, especially for people who are on their third or fourth tour in the middle east.

this guy does not believe that witnessing these types of atrocities can cause a person to snap. just because he is fine doesn't mean everybody else is. that is my justification for calling him hard and heartless.

Anybody with even the smallest amount of empathy must realize that everybody has a breaking point, and they aren't all at the same point.

[IndianaGreen]

10. General Patton didn't believe in PTSD either!

Like a grunt said about him in the movie Patton, "his guts, our blood"!

[Breeze54]

7. No,

"Did Briones think that enlisting in the Marines was all about tea parties,
did he not understand that as an infantryman he might actually get shot at,
might see his friend get killed or wounded?"

I seriously doubt that this kid completely understood what he was getting into at the time he enlisted.
That's why the military likes to get them young, BECAUSE they are impressionable.

The outraged person/neighbor doesn't seem to know much about PTSD.

[daleo]

13. I doubt that he considered the deaths of little children when he enlisted

Something tells me that the recruiters don't mention that you might have to haul around the bodies of little children, especially ones killed by your comrades.

[Fridays Child]

2. Well, it's good to know that Mr. Dalle is a PTSD expert.

The military can just start sending soldiers to him for diagnosis. :eyes:

I'm genuinely sorry that his property has been damaged but he should shut his mouth about this kid's problems.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. There is absolutely NO good that's coming out of the US's

involvement in Iraq.

[Cha]

12. Nada! When you

go into a war and kill innocents for profit you will go down in history as the murderous aggressor that you are.

[SOS]

6. Charged with DWI

People do crazy things when they are wasted on booze.
Most destructive drug out there.
I hope Mr. Briones gets help if he has an alcohol problem.

[daleo]

14. Lots of veterans turned to booze after WWII

Plenty of the greatest generation became alcoholics after that war.

[truthisfreedom]

8. BUSH needs to stand up and take responsibility for what HE did, soldier.

it goes all the way to the top.

[uppityperson]

9. all these people, my heart breaks for them.

The dead and the injured

[IndianaGreen]

11. Briones was ordered to take pictures of the Haditha aftermath

According to his mother, in another news account I read earlier today, her son has been deeply trouble by what he saw at Haditha, having nightmares about the corpse of a little girl whose picture he had to take. According to Mrs. Briones, the military confiscated all the cameras after the pictures were taken.

[GoldenOldie]

15. 16-years and only LT????

It bothers me when anyone claims they have seen worse and it didn't affect them when in fact they were not deployed into combat areas more than one time.....they served and went home, to try and put their lives back to some type of normalcy, whatever normalcy is. They weren't continually deployed 2-3 times into this madness. Just how much is the mind able to endure.....it can differ for each individual.

Is the Lieutenant pilot poster one who air-evaced the wounded? Did you know who your enemy was or where he was? Did you have to look into the faces of the men or women that you were killing? Were you able to go back to your home base and rest without the worry of getting it yourself? Have you held your comrades as they have taken their last breath?

Please don't be so ready to attack the enlisted troops/veterans until you can know their individual story. We have seen just how low the CON's can stoop to attack the Kerry's, Clelland's, etc., and we should know how the lowliest of the enlist troops are the only ones to be punished for the Abu Gahrib incidents while those that lead them have been rewarded.