Y'all's thoughts and prayers please

[stealth007s]

I don't know if the news has reached the rest of the world yet but we had another shooting on Ft Hood this afternoon. I live only a few miles from the base and I'm fine for those concerned. Right now there are reports that 14 were shot and of those 14, 4 have been confirmed dead to include the shooter who took his own life. I also just found out that we have a member of our church congregation who was one of the victims, he was shot multiple times. Please remember to leave your politics in this discussion at the door and to be thinking of or praying for the Soldiers and families affected by this horrible tragedy.

[Aloha]

Oh man this is awful. 

[Chako]

It is on the news that is for sure. All I kept thinking was...AGAIN!?!? 

I hope those injured pull through and get 100% better.

[captain spaulding]

That's terrible to hear. I don't understand why people do this. If they wan't to take themselves out than go for it, but why take the lives of innocent people. Thoughts go out to all the families of the victims. 

[kirk13]

That's terrible news! My heart goes out to all involved

[RT1969]

Ok, I hope I am not out of line here, I intend not to aggrevate anyone.

Terry, you asked for thoughts and prayers.
First let me state: This is a tragedy for anyone involved.

I have heard from several cases of PTSD suffering soldiers going postal on military bases in the US. I heard it so much, I wonder if it is symptomatic, rather than single cases. Without further information, my thoughts are: It would be better to help these wounded soldiers, and there should be more help from the army as well as more dialogue about this with the general population.

Rather than just pray for the affected, use this tragedy as a starting point to talk about PTSD in your congregation, about ways to identify hurt souls and ways to get help to them.


And something general from a german point of view (Slightly OT)

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I sometimes adore the religious morality which seems to be play a bigger part in the US than in Germany. But I do not understand the call for prayers, rather than to talk about the tragedies or seek to help directly. This is where our cultures differ, and I am not the one to judge which way is better. It just feels totally different to me.

[derekmac]

I just heard this on the news this morning.  So very sad. 

IMHO, Soldiers do not get near the amount of support that they need/deserve after returning from active duty.  I have a couple of friends that are pretty messed up now because of it, and unless they do or attempt to do wrong, they're just thrown back into normal life with little to no help adjusting.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families involved, including the shooters. 

[Lynn LeFey]

This is not to sound flippant, and not to start harsh arguments, but in my time in the military, we had a number of folks with serious unaddressed mental health issues that lead to suicide. These weren't PTSD related. It's just something that happens. So, while PTSD is possible, I'd urge folks not to jump to that conclusion too quickly. Military life has all the stresses of civilian life, plus others.

I'd hesitantly add that there was also what I felt to be a mindset that if you DID have issues that should be addressed, you were expected to 'suck it up, and gut it out'. Maybe good advice if it's a march. Terrible advice if it's dealing with marital problems, clinical depression, or other issues. I feel confident in saying that this mindset was stronger in the Marines than the Air Force. Most AF folks never thought of themselves as 'tough guys'.

In any case, this is a truly tragic event. The most I could hope for is for some solid lessons learned, and a hope that it doesn't happen again.

My thoughts are with the victims and their families.

[RT1969]

You are right, I should have written mental problems instead of PTSD. German TV wrote, he was treated for depression and PTSD, that's why I formulated it as I did.

This 'suck it up' mentallety is the exact wrong way to address these problems and I hope there comes a change in perspective. A soldier Someone dealing with his problems is not 'weak', but shows how strong he is! 

I think learning from this tragedy comes only with talking about it. Prayers help, but they are only a part of the process.

And now I better stop writting before I get angry.

[RT1969]

Sorry if I left on a bitter note here... It was not my best day today...

I hope for the best for all wounded and for some solace for those related to the deceased. It's always a tragedy on all sides if such a shooting happens.
Just had to get this off my chest before going to sleep!

[stealth007s]

Sorry if I left on a bitter note here... It was not my best day today...

I hope for the best for all wounded and for some solace for those related to the deceased. It's always a tragedy on all sides if such a shooting happens.
Just had to get this off my chest before going to sleep!

It's ok RT. We all have our moments, differences of opinion etc. One of the reasons I love this forum is that we have such a diverse user population from all over the world that sees things differently. I started this thread with the hopes of getting a different view of things about this incident, kind of a how does our world view this. Our media is so attached to laying blame instead of getting the word out about the facts. Thank you for your input as well as everyone who has posted so far and will post later. My community is hurting right now and we appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers that are so greatly needed.


Sent from Terry's Texting Tool

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'm as military as you can get without having ever worn a uniform.  My father was military and I was raised on military bases.  To this day I am still somewhat confused by civilian life.  I don't have a unique perspective, but it is a bit of an odd one sometimes.

I think the "suck it up and gut it out" mentality is a good one in some cases and a very bad one in others.  A good CO will recognize the difference and use each one when they are appropriate.  That having been said, a properly trained and supported soldier will not go on a shooting spree in his own home.  While I might be armchair quarterbacking here, I have to say that there had to be some signs that were ignored before this guy decided to start shooting the people around him.  You can call it PTSD, you can call it depression, I think the fact is, there was something wrong that people either didn't see or didn't want to see.

It's terrible that this had to happen, and I think it's even worse that these guys (and gals, I'm not being sexist here) are just not getting the help they need.  Pills aren't a solution.  They need more than industrial grade antidepressants, they need real help, and the worst part is, the help they need doesn't cost nearly as much as what is spent every year on equipment.  Uncle Sam (and indeed militaries everywhere) should buy one less plane each year and use that money to support these guys who have issues.

Yeah, there would be one less plane in the sky, but there would be four more sets of boots above the ground where they belong.

Def

[JAfromMn]

Prayers sent.

all I can say is I don't understand

I know that kids lived through  in the red lake school shooting.

sorry to hear this

[Monrogue]

This is a sad thing.  It seems like there's a shooting somewhere every few months, and it's scary to think how this world is going.  Prayers for all the families affected by this tragedy

On a related note.  I have a coworker who is on vacation there, visiting her son and daughter I believe.  Both are in the Army, and one of them is stationed there, but I don't know which one.  Turns out they were off the base at the time of the shooting.  Talk about timing. 

[ironraven]

I've been saying for 25 years that the military needs to ramp up their mental health support and awareness, but there are other factors- as a nation, I think we're less stable than we were a few generations back. Lots of political ideology on that topic, but it's all just finger pointing and studies that support this person's expected conclusion or that group's agenda after they paid for the report. And I'll point a finger...

They need more than industrial grade antidepressants, they need real help

I'm going to be not the least bit surprised if he was on this stuff. Aggression along with suicidal and self destructive urges are not uncommon side effects of those meds. There have been some people with lots of degrees who've pointed out that a people have snapped after going onto or coming off these meds, not just high profile events like this (although depending on your sources, 75-90% of these head line shooters were on them).

I seem to recall that once upon a time, we didn't use little magical pills for wounded minds and souls. And holy smurf, it actually worked.