No Charges for Father of Fallen Marine?

[Aught Six]

Charges Unlikely for Dad of Dead Marine

I don't know quite what to think of this, although I do admit I feel an urge to go with the Marines' decision not to file charges. I can't understand what Arredondo must have felt when he received the terrible news, but I would bet that he was not in his right mind. Still, I don't take to kindly to the destruction of military equipment, even a van, and the law-and-order side of me wants him to take responsibility for setting that fire.

Again, I have no problem with the Marines' decision to leave it be--I believe it's their call to make. What do you all think?

[bnhcomputing]

The guy needs physiological help. Most everybody I know has lost loved ones, and they didn"™t go setting vans or anything else on fire. An unstable individual if you ask me, and we shouldn"™t be putting him back in the gene pool.

[oldelkhunter]

bnh --Don't be so quick to judge..the next most important thing in my life after my God is my family and I can't imagine what I would do if any of them were ever taken from me.

[slugman]

I'm sure temp insanity can be applied here

[bnhcomputing]

Lets look at some things:

When the school shootings occurred, the parents of the injured or killed children didn't go burn down the houses of the parents of the kids that did the shooting. This is much more of a shock that the loss of military personnel. None of us would expect to have our kids shot at school, but everyone in the world understands that there is an inherent danger to serving in the military. We are discussing the actions of this parent. Loss of life, and the grief that goes with it, is part of life but we don"™t burn down buildings, vans, or trucks just because we are suffering from grief.

Why don"™t we all get up, and go after the government as an establishment. After all, do to the actions of the government, or lack there of, the government is responsible for the deaths of ALL the soldiers, as well as those who died on 9/11. See how ridiculous that sounds. The government may have allowed these things to occur, but the government did not kill all those people, our enemies did.

Accepting his actions, in my mind, is the same as supporting the anti-gun/hunters. The Marines did not kill this mans son, nor did GW, his son was killed by our enemies (yours, mine, and his). Going after the Marines is the same as going after the guns. People kill, not establishments or inanimate objects, people.

Temporary insanity is NEVER an understandable or acceptable defense. When we can no longer control our own actions, then we are no more than animals. If the human race is to survive, then we must remove those who cannot control their actions from the gene pool.

[kevin1]

While I agree with Bnh in principle ,
I would quietly arrange for him to make restitution after "letting him off of the hook" publicly . Once the shock wears off we find that responsibility isn't temporary .

[Georgetownboys]

While it is very sad that this guy lost a son, we all know that a Marine has made a choice to possibly die for his country. His father while suffering a great loss needs to stand tall and deal with it. As for pressing charges, kind of dicey, he did manage to burn himslf pretty darn good. While this does not pay for the van he is paying a pretty big price for his actions. JMO

[oldelkhunter]

It's every Parents nightmare to have to bury a Son or Daughter..it's not supposed to work out that way but sometimes tragically it happens. I am very close to my son and I don't know what I would do If something like that ever happened. I know that rational thinking would NOT be one of the qualities I would possess at the time I was notified. I value Human life way too much and recognize the sacrifice this Soldier performed as well as the ultimate price he paid and his family paid. Stop being so quick to judge, not only has the father lost his son but he is in bad shape himself and probably wishes he were dead.

[oldelkhunter]

It's every Parents nightmare to have to bury a Son or Daughter..it's not supposed to work out that way but sometimes tragically it happens. I am very close to my son and I don't know what I would do If something like that ever happened. I know that rational thinking would NOT be one of the qualities I would possess at the time I was notified. I value Human life way too much and recognize the sacrifice this Soldier performed as well as the ultimate price he paid and his family paid. Stop being so quick to judge, not only has the father lost his son but he is in bad shape himself and probably wishes he were dead.

[Whitehorse]

I've buried a parent & a brother, losing someone close hurts. This man needs psychiatric & psychological evaluation. While I understand the Marines reasoning behind not pressing charges, I believe that something should happen - like court ordered mental evaluation in lieu of charges - that shows this is not acceptable.