Discussion Soldier shoots himself to avoid Iraq

[Roanapur]

NEW YORK - A soldier who recently returned from Iraq has admitted he paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid returning for another tour.

Jonathan Aponte, 20, claimed he had been robbed and shot but changed his story when police questioned him, authorities said. Aponte, who was facing another eight-month tour, had been scheduled to leave last Monday.

"As far as being shot at every day, I think it's better," Aponte told WCBS-TV in an interview that aired Friday. "Mentally I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it anymore."

Aponte was charged with conspiracy and falsely reporting an incident, according to the criminal complaint.

Joke became reality
Apone had joked with his wife about getting shot in the leg so he could avoid another tour, according to the complaint. His wife took the remark seriously, and said she knew a man named who could do the job.

Early Monday morning, the pair met with the man, who agreed to do the job for $500. Aponte told an investigator that he smoked a cigarette and closed his eyes before he was shot.

His lawyer has said Aponte suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and the military will evaluate him and decide whether he is fit for duty, provide counseling if needed and then send him back overseas, or discharge him.

Aponte's wife, Alexandra Gonzalez, 22, was charged with assault, conspiracy and harassment.

The couple was arraigned Thursday and released on their own recognizance. The suspected shooter was also arraigned and charged with assault, weapon possession, conspiracy and harassment.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19753800/

This is almost Vietnam-level desperation at work.

Do you feel that he should be ashamed for attempting to abandon his duty, which he should have known the dangers of before joining the military, or do you feel that his actions are not only understandable, but possibly almost justifiable?

 

[Do Kesubei]

I like how the wife is charged with Harassment.

I can sort of (but not completely - I'm not in the military) understand why he would do this, but this is what he signed up for. I find it hard to sympathize with soldiers who sign up for the military and then say that they refuse to fight in wars. This soldier isn't upholding his ending of the contract - if you won't fight as a soldier than you have no business being one.

 

[rabb]

"it's what he signed up for"... maybe.... i suppose it depends on the branch he was in. we have national guard and coast guard augmenting ground troops in iraq, neither of which are supposed to leave the are of the country. there are also medics from the navy getting killed because they are being embedded in Marine units, which dont have medics. the only branch not really taking hits is the air force, but they lose their share of pilots in the beginning... then there is the very real possibility he was told that he wouldn't be sent to iraq because of these conditions, or if he signed these papers, or whatever. and it wasn't just vietnam that people did this. i was reading an article a few days ago a doctor in Korea had written about a kid he had to fix up that had shot himself in the arm, and hit the major artery there. the doctor could tell he had done it himself because of the gun powder burns around the wound. in world war two and one, there were documented cases, as well.

what worries me is that the army, having failed to make its recruiting quota two months in a row, is now taking recruits that at first washed out do to pre-existing physical and mental conditions, such as depression, and obesity.

and the kid is saying he thinks its okay now, but i guarentee you, a few years from now, he will look back and kick himself for abandoning his friends. its a war mentality. thats why most volunteers right now are the veterans, not the green horns. they still have freinds on the front lines they want to look after.

 

[fxrznaruto23]

i would do it to

 

[Leen]

I was speechless after reading this.

I didn't know that Iraq war had become that dreadful for a soldier to endure.

But harassment charge toward the wife? What for?

 

[fxrznaruto23]

bush only whants oil why would i go fight 2 make him richer that bastered