[Peace-discuss] reality of war and abandonment

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

The death count continues to increase from battle participation.
This is what has happened, is happening, and wil continue to happen do to 
abandonment of military personnel once they come home.  
 

Reservist Commits Suicide After Return
 
By Associated Press

March 19, 2004, 2:54 PM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Army reservist who unsuccessfully fought city officials 
for an expected promotion after he returned from service in Afghanistan has 
committed suicide, police said. 

Lt. Brandon Ratliff was upset that he couldn't afford to pay for an attorney 
to fight the city to get the job, according to an e-mail sent from Ratliff's 
account to The Columbus Dispatch on Thursday. 

The newspaper said Ratliff was found dead in his home about three hours after 
the e-mail was sent. Police spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio said Ratliff's death 
was ruled a suicide. 

Ratliff said he was promised a promotion and a raise in September 2002 before 
he left to serve in a medical unit in Afghanistan. But when he returned, the 
higher-level job had been filled and he was forced to resume his old job, 
which pays $4,000 less per year. 

"I didn't think that I'd have to fight over there and come back and fight 
these guys," he said last week. 

By law, employers must take back reservists returning from military service, 
with few exceptions. But health department spokeswoman Liane Egle said Ratliff 
didn't formally accept the promotion before his deployment and the city 
believed it didn't have to hold the higher job for him. 

A department statement said: "Brandon served this department, this community 
and this country with high honor and valor. His death is a tragic loss." 

Kelly Hennen, a co-worker and friend of Ratliff, said whatever anger Ratliff 
had about his work was tied to depression he'd suffered after returning from 
Afghanistan. "He had seen children die," she said. 

Ratliff was executive officer of the Army Reserve's 909th Forward Surgical 
Team. The unit provides medical care on the front lines, and Ratliff's duties 
included retrieving wounded soldiers from the battlefield. He was decorated six 
times.