Iraq Vet killing spree exposes a much larger and purposefully hidden problem

The recent report of an Iraq Vet killing of ex-wife and five in laws tops the news and has been for the last few days but what many are not talking about is the very large and often hidden elephant in the room.  Oh yes, they will mention the lack of services that are available to our service men and women and they may mention post-traumatic stress disorder.  They may mention the signs that lead up to the killing and how someone should have known and acted and of course they will spare no expense in finding something or someone to blame.  Some will stand in defense of the Marine while others will stand in defense of those who were killed and still a few will stand in defense of agencies who were established to help but was handcuffed.  All will have a point but none will discuss or even have the backbone to bring up the one true culprit.

Before we begin, let’s just get a taste of what we can expect from those who call the experts to give them their view of how they should report it.  This article was written by M.L. Nestel and as you look at what was the first thing he wrote “ARMED AND DANGEROUS’ Iraq Vet Who Killed Ex-Wife and Five In-Laws Is Found Dead” Now listen at how he explains it.  “A two-day manhunt throughout Montgomery County, Pennsylvania to reel in a retired Marine is over.  The ex-Marine who went missing after terrorizing multiple Pennsylvania communities by diabolically scratching off a hit list which included his ex-wife and five of her kin—has been discovered dead in the woods just yards from his home, police announced Tuesday.  For two days, numerous Philadelphia suburbs were reeling from one of the most deadly mass murders in the state’s history. That hysteria was compounded with fear of further bloodshed since Bradley William Stone, the Iraq war veteran armed with blades and guns who killed six and injured a teenage boy, remained on the lam.  Schools were closed and residents from Pennsburg to Lansdale were urged to stay indoors while authorities from local to federal agencies tirelessly went door-to-door hoping to find Stone.   Stone’s bloody story began with a gunshot at 3:30 a.m. Monday at his former sister-in-law’s home. Patricia Flick, her husband and teenage daughter were all slain. The lone survivor of the bloodbath was Flick’s 17-year-old son, who is recovering at a Philadelphia-area hospital.  In Lansdale, cops were summoned 90 minutes later to where Stone allegedly slaughtered Jo Anne Koder and her 75-year-old grandmother, Patricia Hill, at around 4:30 a.m.  The Marine reservist then went after his ex-wife, Nicole Hill Stone.  According to a next-door neighbor, Stone attacked just before 5 a.m. and targeted the mother of Stone’s daughters, believed to be 5 and 8 years old, inside her Harleysville apartment—mere feet from their daughters”.

Now I am sure that the writer is a good person but clearly has no true idea to what he is reporting on.  He uses words like terrorizing, diabolical, hit list and bloody story, all words to make his reporting easier to search for and sound more intriguing, a real page turner.  Sadly though, this is more about the lack of true understanding of the cause in regards to the effect.  There is no mention of a more detailed tracing of events and there is no clear reason given.  So to the intermittent reader, all it is about is another Iraq veteran losing his/her mind and killing people.  The bad guy gets his just reward by being found dead and now the community can go back to normal because this monster is dead.  Next assignment please.  Here is what they are missing.

They are missing the Marine Corps becoming soft thanks to the mothers who wrote their congressperson and complained about the treatment of their sons and daughters by Marine Corps drill instructors.  They missed the weakening of the executives who cowered to those whines about abuse to their precious sons and daughters.  They missed the Marines ending a tradition of conditioning their recruits to emerge from basic training as a completely different person than who went in.  They missed the formation of a boy into a man and a woman into a lady.  They missed the transformation of a mind-set where the fears and apprehensions were conquered and controlled.  They missed the preparation of all recruits to withstand almost anything that they may encounter while wearing that one-of-a-kind uniform.  They missed forming a regular person into one of America’s best and brightest ambassadors to the world.  They missed the respect and discipline that comes with the title Marine and they missed the connection to life that was drilled into each and every one of us emerging from the cocoon of Parris Island and San Diego.  They missed these things and so much more because so much more is instilled into a real Marine who endured 13 weeks of pure hell and emerged as the ultimate in a fighting force with respect for all.

So where do we look to right this ship.  We look to all mothers to stop this babying of our military because when you refuse to cut the apron strings and stop the nipple feeding of your children, you fail to properly prepare them for life.  You pick them up when they fall and you dust them off only to turn them loose to fall again but this time wait until they come to you for aid instead of running to them each time the slip.  We look to those who changed the transformation process of a Marine’s mind to adapt and overcome any obstacle.  We look to those who had the chance to explain clearly that this world does not belong to a Marine but the Marine belonged to the world.  We look to those who failed to teach the Marine that life is the most precious of gifts granted us by God almighty and the only instance where we shall be able to circumvent God’s desire is on the battlefield and not at home.  We look to those in congress and around the world who don’t think that post-traumatic stress disorder does not exist or exist only in those who have fired a weapon because it does exist even in those who has never seen war.  Any instance where you are made to realize your own mortality is PTSD.  It lives within all of us from police to firefighters, victims of crimes to those who commit them and combat as well as non-combat veterans.  We look to those who made the choice to send in Reservist to the front line instead of active.  This is the main issue because active Marines work at their craft each and every day that they serve while reservist only do so twice a month if lucky. 

You see, back in the day, reservist were only around to replace us as we went off to war at bases that was emptied so that service to our nation could continue while we were taking care of business in other countries.  Reservists were only supposed to arrive “in country” to take over admin and logistics duties when those active duty Marines in admin or logistics were needed on the front line.  Reservists were supposed to be only our last line of defense at quickly established bases and camp sites.  They were not as prepared as active duty to see some of the things that they would see and do some of the things that they would be required to do.  They were supposed to be the most talented and able back-up for active duty Marines but some highly educated extra-terrestrial made the decision to put them out front.  Don’t care to believe me, check the history, Marines are not punks who take what they have learned and use it to promote themselves.  They don’t sell themselves by being a spokesperson for anyone or anything that does not show decency to all people and they do not take a life unless there was no alternative.  Those who may be labelled Marine but do these things are only pretenders and nothing more.