Autistic Marine's Case Raises Questions On Recruiting Practices

LA Times:

A few days after he arrived at boot camp here, Joshua Fry no longer wanted to be a Marine. He was confused by the orders drill instructors shouted at him. He was caught stealing peanut butter from the chow hall. He urinated in his canteen. He talked back to the drill instructors. He refused to shave.

Read the whole story: LA Times

Comments

[TheKurgan]

What can the world dream up next? I read this incredulously, thinking all the time that the well-trained, motivated, and honorable members of the Marine Corps unit to which Fry might be assigned would be in danger of him simply shooting one of them because he couldn't handle the pressure. What a terrible situation. When I was in Army Basic Training in 1987 there was a fellow in my platoon who was not right mentally. He did not have autism, but had other problems. I won't list his name here since he's probably done by now in Leavenworth. He was told by a Ranger Captain to buckle his chin strap, whereupon he took off the steel pot, buckled the chin strap, and then proceeded to cold-cock the Captain to the tune of a shattered cheekbone, six broken teeth, and a severe concussion (ending the Captain's career). Do we really want to give people with autism LOADED WEAPONS????? I mean, WTF was that recruiter thinking?????? Holy schlamoly. That recruiter should be the one who is shot.

[THE JEDI 69]

As a Former Marine I find that if this is true that the Recruiter is a dis-honor to his uniform...I have a son with learning issues...and this is wrong..just pushing numbers..we had a guy in our platton in boot camp like that his name was Holerman..and he didn't belong there..sad sad world we live in.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

Since you mentioned that you're an ex-Marine, you should remember that encountering people with learning disabilities in the Corps was not an uncommon experience. In fact, other Marines had a common word to describe them and you will remember it if you think back.

[JackRusselTerrier]

Does this make it ok? After reading a number of your comments, I see you make more excuses than give reasons why this is wrong.

[MrAverage]

As the parent of an autistic child I'm appalled and horrified. My son wouldn't last a day in boot camp nor 10 seconds in combat.

There was a similar case in Portland, OR in 2006 where an 18-year-old autistic man was recruited by the Army. The army released him from his obligation after the local newspaper published his story and faxed his medical records to the recruiter's superior officer. While I too would prefer they keep his name private, it may be important in keeping the pressure on the military to stop this practice.

If you have a chance, please watch the film, The Recruiter, a documentary about a Marine Corp recruiter in Louisiana that follows the recruits from their first contact through boot camp. Military recruiters will literally say anything to get young people to sign up. It doesn't matter if they make it through boot camp or not, they just need the signatures.

[JackRusselTerrier]

As much as I think it is important that this issue is exposed, I'm concerned that this kid is being overly exposed to the media and it will have detrimental effect on his life. I would rather the details stick to his situation and not his name, family etc. If I knew him as only "John Doe" that would be enough.

I would like to know ALL the details of this recruiter and the military personnel who have made one mistake after another concerning this particular case. They are the ones who should be raked over the coals.

[Artemis34]

He is not permitted to speak to the media.

[tomasedison]

the military loves people who do what they are told to do - without questions

[vinny]

what do you expect from the american war machine?

[GreenEyedGuru]

A 35-page motion filed by Fry's lawyer details a troubled childhood: parents who were drug addicts, an evaluation of autism at age 8, multiple stays in foster homes, behavior problems at Newport Harbor High School, an arrest for stealing iPods and a court-ordered stay at a facility for psychologically disturbed youth that lasted 15 months.

I don't know about you guys, but this is exactly the type of person that I would want to be given a gun and taught how to kill.

[MaryanneAZ]

My son is 23 and a high-functioning autistic. We have been beseiged by recruiter phone calls for the last 4 years. At first, I ignored the calls. Then I started picking up the phone and informing the recruiter that my son is autistic. He cannot handle loud noises, crowds, certain textures of material, certain textures of food (he barfs when he SEES melted cheese), and many other impediments to a military job. They did not seem to care about his disability and made their spiel that he join up and be weeded out in boot camp. I don't think so. What I do not get is how they do not know which young people are autistic, down syndrome, etc. since these people are on Social Security Disability and the government could supply their names to military recruiters as "do not call" people. We apparently do not have enough "intelligence" to weed out developmentally disabled young people from recruiting efforts. Now that's a scary thought!

[WA-violins]

Could you get a judge to issue restraining orders to the various military recruiting offices?

[MaryanneAZ]

I am going to ask his State of Arizona, Division of Developmenta Disability Adult Services Case Manager that question. What if something happened to me and he answers the phone one day? Yikes. That's a terrifying thought.

[Artemis34]

Military law applies to recruiters not civilian law.

So they'd be subject to that peculiar process called "military justice."

And as the article indicates, recruiters are seldom found guilty of wrong doing. I'd say even less so in time of war.

[GeoLee]

It occurred to me that he may not be on a disability if he has for example a trust fund financing him. Living in Orange County, perhaps this might be true. as Orange county is one of the two or three richest income areas in the country, but the article didn't seem to give enough information about that...generally an adult with autism will be receiving SSI, however.

[Chernynkaya]

"Autism is not among the conditions that automatically bar a would-be recruit."

WHY THE HELL NOT??

"In 2006, a psychiatrist for the Orange County mental health agency wrote that, although Fry 'is high-functioning for a CHILD with autism, he exhibits the typical characteristics of anxiety, impulsive behavior, distractibility'...." (my caps)

CHILD(!) with autism? Good god. What's next- Downs' Syndrome kids? Actually, they probably would never want to fight, poor innocents.

This is criminal on the part of the Marine recruiter, and not only heartbreaking but potentially tragic for anyone in his unit. An unbelievable story. Let's get out of Iraq, Afghanistan ASAP.

[MaryanneAZ]

Actually, they do register people with down syndrome, autism, etc. with the selective service. They brought the forms to my son's high school life skills class and sent it home to be filled out. I asked whether he needed to fill it out since he is autistic, functions at 10-12 years socially/emotionally, and has many sensory issues and was told that all 18 year old men had to register with the selective service. They assured me that they would not actually recruit a disabled person. Right. Tell that to the young man in the story who is sitting in a brig.

[Chernynkaya]

Yikes. Horrible.

[nihila]

Autism is one of those syndromes that range in diasabling degree from severe to almost undetectable. It is not a disease (like tuberculosis or cancer) that has clear bacterial, viral, or cellular markers the presence of which define the diseases,

[who38]

What I don't understand is why this particular marine is being court martialed while the recruiter and other marines who have committed murder, but were acquitted by a military court, are still running free on the streets? Do the decisions regarding any of these people make you feel safer?

[Chernynkaya]

Excellent point.

[vinny]

it's a morally bankrupt institution

[AnotherMcIntosh]

"What I don't understand is why ... other marines who have committed murder, but were acquitted by a military court, are still running free ..."

When a person is acquitted of murder, an official governmental determination has been made that they did not commit murder.

If you make the mistake of accusing a person of murder after they have been acquitted, you might be exposing yourself to an unnecessary lawsuit. You might want to re-think what you are doing and certainly not accuse anybody of murder by name after they have been acquitted.

[GeoLee]

Acquittal does not necessarily mean innocent...O J is a prime example and I will call him a murderer til the day I die. Acquittal only means 12 or 6 jurors could not come to a unanimous agreement you committed murder or a single judge could not find enough evidence convincing beyond a reasonable doubt.. I am not sure a slander case would hold up in court in such cases that innocence could not be absolutely proven.

[skippypicasso]

Do you think that anyone will be fooled by you thinking you know what you are talking about? Did you just take a 'bluff your way through life' seminar and want to show off? Ever hear of "civil liability," or the "1st Amendment"? How about "venue" or "jurisdiction"?

[nihila]

Your mileage may vary.

[weatherwaxx]

The Army's been dropping its standards for years now. high-school dropouts, recruits with criminal records... Didn't Palin's son go to Iraq because it was that or a jail term?

[asta1968]

Yup!
Apparently caught vandalizing either tires or brakes on a school bus. Now who's the domestic terrorists.

[Tracy Hale]

As the mother of a severely autistic child this story breaks my heart and frightens me to no end.

I wouldn't give my autistic son a pellet gun, let alone a gun with bullets. One of the symptoms of autism is a total lack of empathy. That's just dangerous.

btw...I thought ALL of the militaries weren't allowed to recruit ANYONE with a mental deficiency. Autism is pretty BIG deficiency.

[LaurieAnn]

I hear you. I'm very concerned about this. As rule I don't like to see anyone excluded from anything, even the military, based upon a category they fall into but many young people on the autism spectrum could be easy victims here.

[Chernynkaya]

Here's the quote from the Times article, Tracy.

"Autism is not among the conditions that automatically bar a would-be recruit."

Can you imagine if, unlike you, a parent wasn't as protective with an autistic adolescent? Well, it would just be tragic.

[enhancedvibes]

This issue is currently being highlighted in a satirical comic book series by Kyle Baker. It's called "Special Forces."

[who38]

OMG.

[enhancedvibes]

Its actually really funny, but you have to take it all with a grain of salt. Kyle Baker is a very witty satirist, but he does not sugar coat things.

[ICorpsDoc]

Poor kid.

I wonder if he is still looking for those dragons he thought he was going to fight?

[Tracy Hale]

Is that supposed to be funny?

[Chernynkaya]

Is your moniker what you really are? If so, it's not just, as you say, Poor kid, but poor military too.

[JackRusselTerrier]

Look up his profile and you'll be even more concerned.

[vincent1]

Wow. This just makes me sad.

[who38]

The appropriate emotions should be anger and incredulity.

[PATina]

Me too.