DON'T LOSE IT

An AP article in my local paper covering the death of Sgt. Joseph Suell, ruled a suicide by the Army, was accompanied by a photograph that just tore me up this Thanksgiving; that of the broken widow of Sgt. Suell, Rebecca, cradling a portrait of the couple in happier times. The poor woman's seeking answers for her husband's puzzling death. I wouldn't hold my breath in anticipation of her receiving any satisfactory word, but my heart's with her in her quest and the rebuilding of her life from here.

The article was actually pretty good, even including at its tail end reference to a case that has troubled me since I first got word of it. The case in question is the unfortunate story of Staff Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany, who has "earned" the unfortunate distinction of being the first soldier charged with "cowardice" since the Vietnam War. Sgt. Pogany's crime, you see, was that he had the unmitigated gall to unfortunately bear witness to the mangled, torn-in-two body of an even more unfortunate Iraqi civilian and actually being human enough to be physically shaken by it. Compounding this infraction, he actually had the nerve to seek help for his rattled senses. The Army, in its profound and benevolent way, responded and took decisive action by ordering Sgt. Pogany home to face a court martial. The charges have been reduced to "simple" dereliction of duty, but it remains beyond the pale that he still faces a court martial at all.

Note to deployed soldiers in hot zones the world over: If the stress of combat starts to wear on you mentally, DON'T SEEK HELP. It's better to flake out in the field, isn't it, rather than to face prison time back home.

EDIT: Apparently, a married couple faced cowardice charges during the Gulf War but were not convicted. No U.S. combat soldiers have been convicted of cowardice since Vietnam.