Posted on 07/14/2012 2:05:16 PM PDT by tired&retired
Here is the link to http://youtu.be/Pvr8SBu0dLg
Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Eisenhauer is a two-tour veteran of combat in Afghanistan and an airborne trooper with the distinctive red beret of the 82nd Airborne Division.
The 1999 graduate of Fossil Ridge High School is also a criminal defendant, housed in a maximum-security prison in Raleigh, N.C., facing a raft of serious felonies and, according to the Army and his family, suffering from severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
What happened Jan. 13 in Eisenhauer's apartment outside the gates of Fort Bragg seems inexplicable to those who know him. Authorities say Eisenhauer opened fire on police and firefighters responding to a small fire on his apartment deck, then engaged in a prolonged shootout that nearly killed him. His attorney and family say the events make sense only in Eisenhauer's head, where he apparently thought he was defending his post from an attack by insurgents.
"Joshua was not in his right mind," said his father, Mark Eisenhauer. "He fired warning shots into the ceiling at the beginning. After that, the shots seemed to be at some target he was visualizing that wasn't real. Joshua is very good with all types of guns, and yet he didn't hit anybody, thankfully. Wherever he was in his mind, it was not in North Carolina."
Eisenhauer's family and attorney say that his post-traumatic stress disorder is so severe that the only place he should be prosecuted is in
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
The red beret is Field Artillery.
The Airborne beret is raspberry.
He isn’t the only FT. Bragg soldier to have been involved in a violent off base incident. The soldier who killed an officer a few weeks ago was due to begin serving a prison sentence for assaulting a woman while home on leave as soon as he left the army. In fact he had been scheduled to appear in court the day after the shooting.
http://www.hutchnews.com/Todaystop/Fort-Bragg-shooting-involves-Hutch-man
“His attorney and family say the events make sense only in Eisenhauer’s head, where he apparently thought he was defending his post from an attack by insurgents.”
I will make NO comment on the veracity of the claim. He may well have done what he did because of insanity induced by extreme PTSD.
What I will say is I “hope” it is not so. We don’t need a decade’s worth of veterens stigmatized as what happened after Vietnam. IF more “PTSD” related incidents keep happening, soon all Iraq and Afghanistan vets will be under constant scrutiny as potentials for going “postal.” I DO NOT want to see that happen.
Also, it gives the gun grabbers another group to disarm because they are a “threat to society.”
“The red beret is Field Artillery. The Airborne beret is raspberry.”
Actually, I have always called in “Maroon.” The Special Forces wear “Green”, the Rangers wear “Tan”, the Airborne wears “Maroon”, and the general forces wear “Black” when they are allowed to....like in a class a uniform...fortunately no longer while wearing a field uniform that went on from around 2001 to 2011 when it ceased.
BTW - It may actually be formally called “Raspberry.” Most of us think of it as “Maroon.”
With many of our soldiers - especially the Army, the ONLY military branch that is sent on deployment for twice as long as other branches - and that many times, especially for the AIRBORNE units who were sent to remote, isolated, Taliban infested hells - for 15-16 months a stretch!
Many were involved in several HUNDRED firefights and watched their buddies get blown up in front of them - week after week after month after month.
Add to that, obamama’s new ROE, his Taliban-friendly rules of engagement, that prohibited - among other things - them for taking the first shot - letting the enemy get on top of them and shoot at them first - before they were allowed to defend themselves, and the new rules that often refused air cover because the “might be” a civilian on the mountain somewhere - enough, don't even get me going.
What these soldiers have been put through is inhuman and those who put them in the EXTRAordinary circumstances should be on trial.
And for this. alone, they should be on triel - after the hell our troops went through in "The Most Dangerous Place on EArth" and lost, by far thei highes KIA of any units - the so-called CIC just handed the velley back to the Taliban with out a shot fired. TOTAL BETRAYAL. And dint' the Taliban gloat...they not were given back to valley - but the weapons - the rockets, the missiles, etc, which the promised to use to kill our soldiers with - a promise they kept. WHY ARE HEADS IN DC MADE ACCOUNTABLE? Oh, you didn't even hear about it did you? Well watch this one video of one of the most famous little firebase, "Restrepo" (see the movie). Why is this not TREASON? (Yes, this is AlJezera news - but I can personally attest that this is REAL - this IS Restrepo. Live link nexzt post. You give a damn. give our soldiers the respect of 4 minutes of your precious time and watch this. live link next post.
http://defensetech.org/2010/04/20/american-troops-pullout-of-the-korengal-taliban-move-in/
live lilnk re above post - can you give 4 minutes of YOUR precious time for what our soldiers have been put through - can you watch this and tell me why the so-called CIC isn’t hanging from a yardarm?
http://defensetech.org/2010/04/20/american-troops-pullout-of-the-korengal-taliban-move-in/
correction: “WHY ARE HEADS IN DC MADE ACCOUNTABLE?
Why are they NOT made accountable
Watched the video. Truly heart wrenching.
Heh heh... I made reference to it, because it was a guaranteed laugh to piss off a paratrooper by singing “Raspberry Beret” at the top of your lungs...
Oh, the memories. I was still on Active Duty when Shinseki-san ordered us all to accessorize with black berets, thinking it would improve morale. The Rangers were especially ticked off when that happened.
Our chain of command made a quiet protest, by keeping us all on field status so we’d wear the patrol cap and not the beret. We blessed them for it.
“Our chain of command made a quiet protest, by keeping us all on field status so we’d wear the patrol cap and not the beret. We blessed them for it.”
Plus the dang thing was a hassle to wear; and it wasn’t “uniform” in appearance; each person looked different in the way it fit them. I’m glad we moved back to patrol caps for garrison. However, for officers, they will be required to start wearing “bright rank” this fall....instead of subdued “sown on.” That is the way it was with BDUs before the beret, why should it be different now? The new CSM of the Army is spearheading a return to a more professional look. Soldiers won’t be able to walk and talk on cell phones, or walk and smoke. Some of it is the usually BS, but I think it is a step back in the right direction. I personally have never felt comfortable wearing a beret....that is a special troops distinguishing mark. I haven’t earned, and don’t want it. The NEXT big step is to get rid of the ACUs which “camoflage” in all environments some, but not in any well.
BTW - What is the “correct” color destription of the beret the Airborne troops wear? I used to think only 82nd AA troops wore them, but recently found out “any” soldier, jump qualifed, and assigned to an Airborne unit wear them. I see a lot of 173rd AA Brigade troops with the “maroon” beret/
Hmmm... that’s a good one...
The correct word is “maroon”, and hearkens back to WW2, when the 509th Parachute IN RGT was presented maroon berets by the Brits.
Green for SF;
Tan for Rangers;
(and here’s something I had to dig for)
Maroon is for Airborne-designated UNITS - e.g. if you’re assigned to 82 ABN DIV, you wear the maroon beret regardless of whether or not you’re on jump status.
And one final note: in 1951, the Marine Corps experimented with green and blue berets, but dismissed them because they looked too “foreign” and “feminine.”
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