‘Asian-American soldier was forced by comrades to crawl 100m on gravel while being pelted with rocks hours before he killed himself’

To dinkus maximus –

I don’t think you’re being particularly insensitive. And I don’t need to harden the f^%$ up, either. I am simply 100% convinced that you have no concept of the dynamics of a person’s mind who has resorted to suicide. You have thrown them all into a basket and labeled that basket “Pussies”.

As I said above, you have clearly done about zero research on suicide and I am 100% convinced that if you have ever known anyone personally who has committed suicide (and I doubt that), you certainly didn’t care enough about them while they were living to even wonder what was going on in their life that made them choose that path once they were gone.

Personally, my constitution has carried me through war zones on two occasions, wherein I was not shielded from some pretty gruesome things. I have known people who struggle each day just to keep from snapping. I work closely with one gentleman who suffered a traumatic brain injury from a rocket attack in Iraq a couple years ago and who has the misfortune of carrying PTSD with him as well. And although I have seen some s*%$ I don’t share even with my closest relatives, even I can’t imagine what this guy has to deal with daily.

If I called you insensitive, it would imply that you are informed and choose to be a bit harsh toward people who contemplate or have committed suicide. I can’t call you anything but ignorant.

RE: #8 – Absolutely correct. The US Army is NOT a place where treatment of an individual like this is ever acceptable. As much as Brendon pokes me and prods me about my character as an officer while on active duty, I can speak from volumes of experience that most leaders abhor improper behavior (as I did) and come down very hard on those who engage in it (also as I did on more than one occasion). I can recount numerous occasions when I was in a position to prevent unnecessary mistreatment of Soldiers by pseudo-leaders who felt that lower ranking personnel were their personal servants. Nothing boiled my blood more than when I saw or heard of a Soldier being abused by someone. If the worst versions of the story of the circumstances leading up to Chen’s death are true, there are some leaders who will be courtmartialed; others will be punished at the unit level, and still more will receive some sort of severe counseling that will effectively stop the progress of their careers. This will not go unpunished, even if the results are not made as public as some might expect.

The US Army promotes seven core values (as Brendon alluded to). They are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. There is also a Non-Commissioned Officer’s Creed (the NCO Creed) which all NCOs learn and are charged with living. The NCO leadership (and some of his officer leadership, no doubt) failed Chen, and failed in their duties as leaders.

In the next year or so, the US Army will be trimming its enlisted ranks. Those purges will be NCOs who are not progressing in their careers. Certainly those with discipline problems or poor performance will be cut first. over time, this is bound to improve the quality of those left behind, and with some prayer, the NCO ranks will be devoid of the kind of trash that allowed the hazing Chen.

This was a disgrace, and to suggest that Chen didn’t “man up” is an insult – a very ignorant one. He had people around him who were supposed to help make him stronger. Instead, they reveled in weakening him, because their OWN weak character starved for the misfortune of others to feel some sort of power.

To dinkus –

Yours appears to be the misdirected animosity toward the tool instead of toward the wielder of that tool. American Soldiers, Korean Soldiers, etc. are people. They are people who serve their countries for a variety of reasons. Some are patriots. Some search for employment. Some are looking for soemthing to do until they figure out what they will actually do with the rest of their lives. Most do not serve for some sort of status or recognition. They certainly do not want sympathy for anything that happens to them pursuant to their service. And to be truthful, they feel a sense of affirmation when someone like you proves that his freedom to put his own foot in his mouth is preserved – due largely in part to that service and the service of many who have preceded them. Thank goodness you are not a North Korean citizen. Putting your foot in your mouth there ensures you and your immediate family will spend an extended vacation in a not-so-luxurious camp near the Chinese border.

Chin didn’t die in combat. He didn’t die in a military vehicle accident, or of natural causes from a congenital birth defect. He died apparently as a result of bullying he received from those sworn to uphold certain principles that should have precluded them from such behavior.

You resent a soldier and offer no sympathy for his death. My guess is that you have never served, and that contributes to your ignorance. NO soldier relishes the idea of going halfway across the world to engage in combat. It involves leaving one’s familyand friends, and the risk that the return will be in a casket. But so many go willingly because they realize that freedom isn’t free, and the price of freedom is often paid in blood, the blood of people who feel indebted to a nation and a set of principles that provide them with a way of life most other nations’ peoples envy.

Private Chin was a human being, and no matter WHAT the circumstances of his death were, it is pathetic that ANYone would celebrate or minimize his death because he chose to serve a country he loved by wearing a military uniform. If you resent a nation’s policies, then write about that. If you hate the person who wields the hammer, blame them…not the hammer.

I concluded above that Private Chen was abused by his chain of command. But after re-reading the story and drawing from my own experience, I don’t think it is entirely clear that was the case.

According to the article, “[a] spokeswoman for Chen’s parents said investigators told them that on the day of his death, he was forced to crawl 100 metres on gravel with his equipment on as fellow GIs threw rocks at him.”

My take – this may be entirely true. But was he singled out and made to do this alone? Was this a hazing, or was this some sort of drill everyone was going through to simulate getting fired upon in an effort to provide some “field-expedient” training on keeping your ass down so it doesn’t get shot off?

The article also states: “Speaking through an interpreter, his mother said her 19-year-old son was called ‘dragon lady’ and derogatory phrases”. and “Soldiers made him give orders in Chinese while they mocked him. He was also forced to do multiple push-ups and sprints.”

My take – Again, while the words themselves may appear derogatory, one must wonder how the family came by these terms. Was “dragonlady” meant to make fun of Chen, or was it just a harmless nickname pointing at his Chinese ancestry? “Dragonman” isn’t actually something that rolls off the tongue. And what other derogatory names? What might appear derogatory to a Chinese family in New York City may be perfectly appropriate in a combat environment as a term of endearment.

As far as the multiple push-up and sprints – again, how many is “multiple” I will tell you that anyone ever doing push-ups is going to do multiple repetitions. It’s not a singular exercise. It’s meant to build strength and endurance. And the sprints? Were the sprints administered as part of a physical training effort? Was Chen singled out?

The context is missing here. And the author of the news article tells only one side, so it is next to impossible to determine what happened, what the family may be inflating, etc.

However, if it IS found that Chen’s superiors abused him, they will pay with their careers at minimum. If, on the other hand, it is determined Chen suffered psychologically independent of the treatment he received that has been described as abusive, then the cause of his suicide is a bit more complicated.

Either way, to ridicule him or hold no sympathy for him because he wore a military uniform is ignorant.