Posted on 07/21/2007 12:56:53 AM PDT by Nitro
AUSTIN, Tex. - "Aponte?" the Fort Hood soldier asked.
"I'm here to pick you up."
And with that, Bronx G.I. Jonathan Aponte was back in the hands of the U.S. military - his fate uncertain.
On the flight back to his base yesterday, Aponte came clean, admitting he indeed hired someone to shoot him in the knee, hoping to get out of returning to Iraq.
The alleged gunman, Felix Padilla, charged $500.
The cost to Aponte is now much, much more.
He faces charges in the Bronx and a possible court-martial at Fort Hood.
He also is dealing with the guilt and shame of what he has done, and the fear that led to the shooting in the first place: getting sent back to Iraq.
From the moment he boarded the JetBlue flight back to Texas yesterday, he ran a gauntlet of personal pain.
"Thanks a lot, man," the driver of a shuttle bus to the gate said to Aponte. "Hang in there."
As he hobbled on crutches through Kennedy Airport, the thanks kept coming like darts to his heart. No one seemed to know his shooting secret.
"I don't feel a hero at all," he told the Daily News.
It got worse as he took his seat.
The JetBlue captain welcomed Aponte over the public address system and everyone applauded.
And again, in Austin, a boy looked at his wounded knee and up into his eyes.
"Thank you for your service," the boy said.
"I'm scared," Aponte confessed on the flight back. "I hope they don't put me in the hole."
"I was confused," he continued.
"I didn't know who could help me. Out of desperation, I felt like this would be the only way," he said of the shooting. "I didn't want anyone to get in trouble."
Aponte, his wife, Alexandra Gonzalez, 22, and Padilla are all charged in the conspiracy back home.
He said he told the truth of his turmoil to the Bronx grand jury and hopes they'll spare his wife and Padilla.
And he still hopes the Army affords him counseling rather than harsh punishment.
As for Iraq, that's still the worst possibility.
Worse than jail and the military benefits he may lose when all is said and done.
"People don't see the blood and the body parts. If people saw that they would say, 'Why are we letting our sons and daughters get killed?'" he said.
"I want to be [back] there to help out my friends," he said. "But mentally, I just can't do it."
tel-ghobashy@nydailynews.com
Ping.
Too much press for this guy. Process him through and be done with it.
Ping.
Ping
From the moment he boarded the JetBlue flight back to Texas yesterday, he ran a gauntlet of personal pain. "Thanks a lot, man," the driver of a shuttle bus to the gate said to Aponte. "Hang in there."
As he hobbled on crutches through Kennedy Airport, the thanks kept coming like darts to his heart. No one seemed to know his shooting secret.
"I don't feel a hero at all," he told the Daily News. It got worse as he took his seat.
The JetBlue captain welcomed Aponte over the public address system and everyone applauded.
And again, in Austin, a boy looked at his wounded knee and up into his eyes. "Thank you for your service," the boy said.
How he deals with this stain on his name will determine whether he can accept his lumps and quietly recover some integrity ... or give in, make excuses and embrace dishonor by allowing himself to be recruited by the code pink crowd- who will contact him soon if they haven't already. The fact that he's doing interviews for the press bodes ill for his future recovery. If he was remorseful he'd avoid the press; that he makes himself the story indicates he is in danger of selling his soul.
But he's not the one who needs to feel the most shame, though... his wife certainly wasn't supportive. Had she been supportive of him and what he was doing in Iraq- giving him courage instead of tempting him this way he might not have to endure the embarassment and perhaps a broken spirit. I wonder what kind of wife keeps a thug on call while treating her man like an irresponsible boy?
"People don't see the blood and the body parts.
No, people don't see the blood and body parts unless the blood and body parts are those the media accuses the US of killing in cold blood, or unless a school shooting will help advance their antigun agenda. Americans killed by terrorists just don't get air time. If we were Israelis we'd be seeing blood and body parts just while going to work or school whether the media films them or not. But over here the media carefully "spares" us the sight of blood and body parts of Americans, and mass graves of Iraqis killed by Saddam Husein, for fear our response would be to fight with renewed vigor. We didn't see the dead or wounded in the 1993 WTC bombing, or in any murder that might involve the Religion of Peace. The media carefully "spared" us the sight of blood and body parts our sons and daughters and countrymen on 9/11 - not far from his Bronx digs he thinks of as safe - and because of that this guy has been duped into thinking he can avoid seeing this stuff by simply avoiding Iraq.
If people saw the blood they would say, 'Why are we letting our sons and daughters get killed?'" he said. "I want to be [back] there to help out my friends," he said. "But mentally, I just can't do it."
Which begs the question : "Why is he letting his friends get killed? Why did he let them down?" He had himself shot in the leg not because he is concerned about "our sons and daughters" getting killed but only because he was concerned about himself. He needs to just admit that and not try to hide behind mock concern for his fellow soldiers.
There isn't a hole deep enough for this subhuman. Well, maybe the Marianas Trench.
What is that articles name? I would like to read it.
it just so happens that the doctor that deliverd me at birth also delivered Chuck Conners and here you post his photo.
Eerie.
he joined the US Army while a war is being fought, what the hell did he think was going to happen?
If he had doubts about his physical courage, he could have joined the Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard and remained relatively safe, but he didn't.
And as you said now he has to face himself and his actions.
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