A Tragic Tale

Yesterday's army base shooting in Iraq was allegedly the act of an Army sergeant undergoing treatment for mental issues.

The U.S. soldier who killed five fellow troops at a stress clinic in Iraq apparently used a weapon he wrested away from another soldier to carry out the act, a defense official said Tuesday.

The shooter was identified as Army Sgt. John M. Russell, according to Maj. Gen. David Perkins, the military spokesman who briefed reporters in Baghdad. Russell has been charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault after Monday's shooting at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad International Airport, Perkins added.

A 44-year-old communications specialist from Sherman, Texas, Russell is serving his third tour in Iraq and has previously deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo, Perkins' office said.

Russell recently had been referred to counseling by his commander due to unspecified words and actions, Perkins said. The commander also ordered that the sergeant's weapon be taken away.

A defense official said that Russell was escorted out of the stress clinic Monday by a fellow soldier. Russell and that soldier apparently struggled over the soldier's weapon in a vehicle after they began to drive away, the official said.

Russell then walked back to the clinic, the official said, after apparently obtaining the weapon.

Bosnia, Kosovo, and three Iraq tours. This man was still serving his country after a good 20 years on the front lines. I am very glad to see the Army tried to get this soldier the help he clearly needed...but it wasn't enough.

We often forget what war does to those who fight it. Not all wounds are physical.