Right next to Hobby Lobby, off of Old Fort Parkway, sits the Murfreesboro military recruitment offices - or as I call it, "piranha row."I have never liked military recruiters. My father was in the military and since the day I was born, I've apparently been on their "must have" list.
By the age of 12, I was receiving US Army paraphernalia - bags, visors, Frisbees, sunglasses.
When I was 14, I joined my high school's JROTC program. This was mostly out of respect for my father, who was, at the time, the executive officer of the program.
I may not like the military, but I will respect the fact that my father served our country and the military has provided him and my family a stable living for the better part of my life.
When I was 15, a sophomore, the Army recruiter came to visit.
I, along with my fellow classmates, were told to come to school in dress uniform and give up our lunch periods to stand with the Army recruiter to talk with our fellow, non-JROTC peers.
We were supposed to sell the army life, despite the fact that we hadn't lived it. I just found it a useful excuse not to be forced to find a seat in our already over-crowded cafeteria.
After my sophomore year, I quit the JROTC program and devoted myself to the school paper. The "liberal" media was, and still is, the best way I have found to serve our citizens, because a well-informed community makes for a stronger country.
But even though I ditched JROTC and refused to sign-up or respond to any postcards, letters or e-mails I have (and still do on occasion) receive, I still held somewhat of a grudge against the recruiters that went after me and my high school friends with promises of money, fame, glory and candy.
After reading the article posted below, I feel sorry for military recruiters. With two wars, the majority of the world against us, the switching of executive administrations and the ever-mounting pressure felt by our armed forces, I'm honestly shocked that the suicide count isn't higher.
It makes me wonder how many attempted suicides aren't known to the public.
It makes me think about the lies the military executives tell recruiters.
It makes me question whether these people we ask to protect us feel like they are treated with any scrap of dignity - particularly by their superiors.
It makes me sad that our country has gotten to this point.
It's shameful.
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By: The Associated Press
Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson, a strapping Iraq combat veteran, spent the last, miserable months of his life as an Army recruiter, cold-calling dozens of people a day from his strip-mall office and sitting in strangers' living rooms, trying to sign up their sons and daughters for an unpopular war.
He put in 13-hour days, six days a week, often encountering abuse from young people or their parents. When he and other recruiters would gripe about the pressure to meet their quotas, their superiors would snarl that they ought to be grateful they were not in Iraq, according to his widow.
Less than a year into the job, Henderson — afflicted by flashbacks and sleeplessness after his tour of battle in Iraq — went into his backyard shed, slid the chain lock in place, and hanged himself with a dog chain.
He became, at age 35, the fourth member of the Army's Houston Recruiting Battalion to commit suicide in the past three years — something Henderson's widow and others blame on the psychological scars of combat, combined with the pressure-cooker job of trying to sell the war.
"Over there in Iraq, you're doing this high-intensive job you are recognized for. Then, you come back here, and one month you're a hero, one month you're a loser because you didn't put anyone in," said Staff Sgt. Amanda Henderson, herself an Iraq veteran and a former recruiter in the battalion.
The Army has 38 recruiting battalions in the United States. Patrick Henderson's is the only one to report more than one suicide in the past six years.
The Army began an investigation after being prodded by Amanda Henderson and Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Cornyn, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said he will press for Senate hearings.
"We need to get to the bottom of this as soon as we can," he said.
The all-volunteer military is under heavy pressure to sign up recruits and retain soldiers while it wages two wars.
Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command, acknowledged that recruiting is a demanding job but said counseling and other support are available.
"I don't have an answer to why these suicides in Houston Recruiting Battalion occurred, but perhaps the investigation that is under way may shed some light on that question," he said.
In all, 15 of the Army's 8,400 recruiters have committed suicide since 2003. During that period, more than 540 of the Army's half-million active-duty soldiers killed themselves.
The 266-member Houston battalion covers a huge swath of East Texas, from Houston to the Arkansas line. Henderson committed suicide Sept. 20. Another battalion member, Staff Sgt. Larry Flores Jr., hanged himself in August at age 26; Sgt. Nils "Aron" Andersson, 25, shot himself to death in March 2007; and in 2005, a captain at battalion headquarters took his life, though the military has not disclosed any details. All served combat tours before their recruiting assignments.
Charlotte Porter, Andersson's mother, said her son — who served two tours in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne and earned a Bronze Star — couldn't lie to recruits about the war and felt an enormous burden to ensure they could become the kind of soldiers he would want watching his back.
"He wasn't a complainer. He just said it really sucked," said his 51-year-old mother, who is from Eugene, Ore. "He felt like a failure."
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On the Net:
Complete Original Article: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20081222/Recruiter.Suicides/
Army Recruiting Command: http://www.usarec.army.mil/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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