Passengers subdue Iraq vet on Fla. flight

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-soldier08.html

TAMPA, Fla. -- An Army soldier who had served in Iraq was tackled by airplane passengers after he ran down the aisle and rammed the cockpit door on a flight from New York to Tampa, an official said. snip

The soldier's brother told officials that he ''has some mental problems related to his Army service,'' Geoghagan said. The brothers were traveling from New York to visit their mother in Tampa.

[annabanana]

1. We will probably hear of more incidents ..

as more people come back needing the kind of help they aren't likely to ask for.

[kittenpants]

4. actually, his family says he asked for help and the army

said he was just making an excuse. Of course the military denies this...

[lonestarnot]

5. Yeah wait until they start gunning people down in the streets. Already

happening in AZ. Don't know if it's a vet, but could be.

[Sydnie]

7. Nor likely to get if he did ask for it.

That would be admitting that there were soldiers that were affected by their service. They won't do that for decades.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Irony is a beautiful thing. nt

[whistle]

3. Strange behavior for a person with a history of mental disturbance...

...sounds like he needs to be in a military institution for the mentally disturbed until determined to be mentally fit before being allowed again to mingle in the general society. Get ready to see a lot more of this type of behavior from returning Iraq war veterans. The real cost of war.

[MADem]

15. One has to discover what was in his head--if he assumed an air marshall

was aboard the flight, it could be construed as a suicide attempt.

[Olney Blue]

6. This is such a sad story. I hope he can get the help he needs.

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Nuts! I thought it took place on Limbaugh's plane, at first.

[Bobbieo]

9. This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

We may start asking ourselves - Do we really want them to come home and I'm not kidding. Oh George! what a f----- mess you have created.

[MADem]

10. Had a marshall been aboard, he would have been dead

I wonder if he thought there WAS a marshall aboard.

Wonder if he served in the Triangle?

[EFerrari]

13. I wonder if his last name ends in a vowel.

And I'm so glad he was travelling with his brother or who knows how this could have escalated. :(

[MADem]

14. Well, they tackled him and sat on him, the poor brother probably did

his 'splainin' after the fact. Actually, authorities haven't charged the guy to this point--they think he is off the page, apparently.

A bit more detail about the guy:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-passengerarrest06jul08,0,7743992.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state

...The soldier had no explosives or weapons, and there was no evidence that he meant harm to passengers or crew on the flight, Tampa International Airport officials said Friday. Relatives said he has mental problems.

...He was taken into custody under a Florida law that allows a person to be held without charges if they are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others, airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said.
The Associated Press is withholding the name of the soldier because no charges have been filed. The FBI is investigating, spokeswoman Carol Michalik said, and has 72 hours after the incident to charge or release him.

...Montoya said four other passengers restrained the man. He said there was never any chance the man would break into the locked cockpit.

...Army spokesman Sheldon Smith said the soldier was attached to the 1st Armored Division out of Fort Riley, Kan. He had been on leave since May 25, using up remaining leave time before getting out of the service July 12. He served in Iraq from September 2005 through January. He volunteered for Iraq service, the Army said.
"He was not a problem soldier," said Deb Skidmore, a spokeswoman at Fort Riley.
Reached by phone Friday, the soldier's mother said he returned from Iraq earlier this year. He is "delirious" and "depressed" and imagines that people are following him, she said....

[EFerrari]

17. Thank you. Somehow we have to find room and resources

for the casualties of George W. Bush's illegal war. :(

[MADem]

18. He's still the Army's problem--odds are good to excellent that this

imbroglio has stopped his discharge entirely--he isn't fit for duty, he needs to be med boarded at this point, and that can't happen until he gets some treatment.

I see a locked ward in his future, at least for the short term. Hopefully he will get some help and some meds.

[EFerrari]

19. I know a couple of docs that could have this guy up and running

in a month or two. Not "cured" but stabilized and on his own side. It doesn't look like he tried to hurt bodies. It looks like a paranoid reaction and that is so highly treatable.

We have SO MUCH undelivered tech. He'll probably never get to see docs that are that skillful.

It's a shame, all 'round, until it isn't.

[MADem]

20. Depends on where he ends up--the MMF psych wards are actually

pretty state of the art. And he will end up at a military medical facility, at least for the time being.

Oddly, when they did Dick Cheney's drawdown, the one military specialty that wasn't touched in the slightest was the medical corps.

Or maybe not so oddly, when you take a long view of it.

[Monkeyman]

11. Again we see a vet go off

Brothers an Sisters its going to get worst. One out of four according to the VA have PTSD now to keep the numbers down they are listed with PD. This also might be the result od DOD sending troops with mental problems back to Iraq on meds. I will not forget the statement from DOD we have to see how the military acts on meds in Combat. I just wish the media would cover that better. I work with these kids man now you can see why they are going homeless. The Republicans used these kids an then just toss them away like garbage.

[annabanana]

12. It is inexcusable

to trumpet how much they "support the troops" when they do no such thing.

The support they really offer is to carry them into the line of fire, then carry their spent selves back here, upright or prone.

[uppityperson]

16. Story of local Iraq vet going off after car accident, he hit & ran

He came to at his parent's house, said all he could figure out was when his big truck hit another car, jarred and went BANG he blacked out and ran for safety. He'd been in fighting areas, in places where hummers/etc got hit with car bombs. Fortunately there were enough other people not hurt in accident to take care of those who were, and this is a small town so they knew who he was and could track him down easily. I do not know if he is getting mental health care.