Robert Bales' Family, Soldier Charged With Murdering 17 Afghan Civilans, Gets Help From Veterans Group

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), a congressionally chartered veterans group, is providing help for the family of Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier charged with killing 17 Afghan civilians.

VFW in Tacoma, Wash., recently raised about $2,000 at a benefit dinner for Bales' family, including his wife, Karilyn, and their two young children, the News Tribune reports.

Tom Darling, the organization’s state chaplain, told the news outlet that the fundraiser is standard procedure.

“It’s helping other veterans or families that have a need,” he said. “We have done a lot of things like this in the VFW.”

Robert Bales is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder following the killings of 17 Afghan civilians, including nine children, on March 11. He is currently being held at a military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the Associated Press reports.

When Robert Bales' name went public five days later after the shooting, the Bales family moved from their Lake Tapps, Wash., home onto Lewis-McChord, a military facility about 30 miles away over concern of retaliation, according to the Seattle Times.

The money raised will directly benefit Robert Bales' family, not the legal fund, according to the News Tribune. The source describes what the money will go toward and how people can help:

VFW Post 91 is accepting donations for Kari Bales and her children at its post building, 2000 S. Union Ave. in Tacoma. The money will supplement the family’s living expenses while they pay mounting bills. Donations can be placed in a secured box located just inside the post’s front door. Checks should be made out to VFW Post 91. Call 253-759-6995 to see if the building is open.

Comments

[slybarbara]

07:18 PM on 05/09/2012

I'm sure the intrusion of the VFW is going to have a BIG influence on the outsome of the trial of Sgt Bales. Or at least get the family ensconced (or enshrined in Rattlesnake, Utah in some dusty, Airflow trailer).
Sly Barbara

[slybarbara]

02:12 PM on 05/06/2012

Any VFW post had better have an un-ending source of funds before they can have any effect on a trial that is practically over, even though unconvened yet!
SlyBarbara

[slybarbara]

02:48 AM on 05/06/2012

There is no indication that Sgt Bales was ever given Lariam prior to his War Crime of the murder of 17 Aghan civilians.
The anectodal "story" that 15-20 soldiers were involved in the killing was never substantiated.
Further, Sgt Bales was the ONLY soldier to have been observed leaving the base at the time of the murders and returned a second time to be identified AS Sgt Bales upon the surrender of his weapon to American personnel. There were thus no15-20 American soldiers involved in the murder, as they would have had to come from the same base, and only one soldier was observed leaving the base and returning to it, twice.
SlyBarbara

[juandeveras]

08:12 PM on 05/01/2012

The media has not fully covered several facets of this story. First, Yalda Hakim, an Afghan-born Australian reporter, took a camera crew with microphone inside the building where the killings occurred, where six witnesses stated on-camera that there were between 15-20 soldiers involved, with helicopters overhead for the duration. Second, ten days prior to the killings, Bales had been given an anti-malarial drug called Meproquine ( aka Lariam) which has a history of horrific side effects. In 2002 at Fort Bragg, four Delta Force soldiers who had been administered the drug in Afghanistan killed their wives after becoming very disoriented. The US Army has attempted to keep a lid on this problem for at least a decade.

[stevador]

03:14 PM on 05/01/2012

Bales had severe problems before he went into the military. However, his name should never have been released to the media. The bottom line on the killings is: the responsibility lies with the presidents who took this nation into Iraq and Afghanistan. That would be 'W' Bush and Obama who should be tried for war cries.

[globaltrekkie]

11:15 AM on 05/01/2012

I am sure this woman did not want her husband to kill 17 people, including 9 children. If she could have prevented it, she would have.

[slybarbara]

07:20 PM on 05/09/2012

Tell us your secret. How do you prevent a crime before it has the potential for happening?
SlyBarbara

[rjallen71]

10:41 AM on 05/01/2012

I don't know about this one: yes the guy committed a horrible crime, but people should leave the wife be so she can support her children. The wife should not be outcast from society just because her husband committed a major crime. She still has a family to support. That's what's disturbing about this whole thing: the whole family being outcast just because of the behavior of one person. I never have, and never will agree with this paradigm. If that family had to resort to this, it is because of society's judgmental predjudices, more than the man's crime.

[activitygrrl]

10:49 AM on 05/01/2012

Completely agree

[cyanmanta]

01:43 PM on 08/10/2012

When was this ever about the wife or the family? Who was attacking the family in even the tiniest way? Sounds to me like you're trying to avoid the reality of the situation. And by the way, what about the Afghani families that were murdered in cold blood in the dead of night? What, because they're not Americans, you don't care about them at all?? Admit it: you just want to deal with that this man is a murderer, and that all his superiors in the military and the federal government share in the responsibility for his crime.

[justCannot]

10:29 PM on 04/30/2012

Whatever this man did, it has nothing to do with the support his family needs. Why is there nothing said? People commented about Lindsay Lohan for crying out loud! And while I'm at it, there are many Americans who sent donations to G. Zimmerman. To defend a man who killed someone who had never hurt him or anyone in his life! Does anyone besides me see how twisted this is? Especially with the political alliances that have drawn a line in this country! WAKE UP! This man hurt people unjustly, but he was also traumatized. That can't be said about the people who just want to be hateful here. Again, THINK and wake up!

[cyanmanta]

12:57 AM on 05/01/2012

Who are you responding to? There are only two comments in this field, and the other doesn't say anything that even remotely connects with what you're saying. Here's a tip: before you go around telling people they're wrong to think or feel a certain way, make sure you have at least a tiny idea of how they actually feel first.

[justCannot]

10:13 AM on 05/01/2012

The one prejudicial comment that there was. Why would what I said pi** you off so badly?

[rjallen71]

10:49 AM on 05/01/2012

Well see that's the problem: society castrating the whole family because of one man's behavior: it happens all the time. I do not defend Zimmerman because yes, he should be punished for killing an unarmed teenager and only if there is significant evidence to prove it, but this situation is totally different. The man's family is home, they are living their lives, and they were NOT the ones who killed 17 innocent lives. So why even bother them? They need to be left alone and go on with their lives and have to live with the fact that their husband/father is a war criminal, embarrassing as it is. If anyone needs to think and wake up it is people like you.

[justCannot]

04:02 PM on 05/01/2012

Sorry, I don't understand you. What did I say to pi** you off? I'm talking in support of Bales family, same as you. Why would that make you angry?

[ttsgw]

06:17 PM on 04/30/2012

Of course it can't be anything wrong with killing 17 Afghan civilians.