He Shot Himself In Front of His Men in Iraq -- Full Story Finally Emerges

Last December, a remarkable article appeared in Army Times, titled: "Not us. We're not going: Soldiers in 2nd Platoon, Charlie 1-26 stage a 'mutiny' that pulls the unit apart."
It was written by Kelly Kennedy, who had been embedded with a platoon in Iraq, and was just one part of her far-reaching series on that unit. Kennedy has continued to write about the plight of soldiers and veterans as a top Military Times reporter.

Kennedy back then described several incidents that caused many soldiers in the unit to take a stand -- and "stand down" in Iraq due largely to the unbearable stress they had been under, particularly after witnessing many colleagues brutally killed. Among other things, they were afraid they would take their anger and frustration out on innocent Iraqis.

One of the triggers, Kennedy explained, was a quite shocking and, as far as we knew, a first in this war: Last July, a much respected first sergeant had taken out his weapon while on a mission and, after shouting, "F--- this!", killed himself right in front of his men. His name was Jeffrey McKinney. This was just one of dozens of recent "soldier suicides" that I have chronicled but certainly the most public.

A preliminary investigation had found that McKinney, after all the recent deaths, felt he had let his men down, although there was scant evidence for this. He had been having trouble sleeping, and even communicating, and was on medication. Beyond that, there was great mystery, including: Why was he not in treatment somewhere?

I contacted McKinney's father, who had not yet seen Kennedy's article. When he did read it, he replied, quite politely, that he would not be commenting at that time.

Now, in recent days, he has started to speak out, first in an interview for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and now, quite fittingly, in a far more in-depth way for Kelly Kennedy.

Her update appeared at Army Times last week. Here is an excerpt. The entire article can be found here.

McKinney had been on the scene after a 500-pound bomb left five of his soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter dead; he was in a vehicle when another bomb blew up just two feet away, almost killing him and his men; he had consoled a soldier who lost a leg to a roadside bomb.

And he had stopped eating, stopped sleeping and become convinced he was not doing enough to keep his soldiers safe.

But even after a soldier found him sitting in a wooden supply shack, staring emptily into space, even after his face grew gaunt from weight loss, even after he was unable to form the thoughts necessary to give a morning briefing, McKinney kept going out on patrol.

And that is the part that everyone -- soldiers, commanders and family -- must now struggle with, each and every day....

As of May 3, 139 soldiers, 25 Marines and seven sailors have killed themselves in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones, according to Pentagon data.

Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, more suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other problems. But getting combat vets to seek help is difficult.

Studies by the Army, the Defense Department, Rand Corp. and others cite the same reasons why troops with mental health issues don't seek help: fear of being seen as "weak," inadequate access to care, concern that asking for help can hurt a career, and guilt about letting battle buddies go out on patrol without them.

Among the troubling factors is that, like McKinney, many of those who choose suicide aren't young first-tour junior troops. Forty-seven percent of soldiers who have killed themselves in theater are older than 30. And half were in paygrades E-5 or above. Experts are concerned that it's harder to spot signs of potential suicide in such war-hardened veterans.

McKinney's family believes that if his chain of command had paid closer attention to the symptoms, his death might have been avoided. And they hope that by talking about it now, months after his death, they might help prevent other suicides.

"It will not be in vain if it helps just one soldier to get the help they need," said McKinney's mother, Kay Watson. "And I want everyone to know what a good man he was."

Greg Mitchell's new book includes several chapters on soldier/vet suicides. It is So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq. He is editor of Editor & Publisher.

Comments

[mom2sons]

Yes, the war is a tragedy and they should all be prosecuted! Period! Stop condoning what they've done!
I have a 20 y.o. son and he is not going, draft or not!

[TunnelRat]

Ah, more in the long line of Mr. Mitchell's "The Troops Are Psycho Suicidal Maniacs And It's All Bush's Fault" narrative.

With over 100,000 troops in Iraq, Mr. Mitchell seems to have an uncanny ability to highlight to most fouled-up cases so that he can sell his books portraying the Iraq War as a lost cause.

I can't say I blame him, considering the success of the surge and good news coming out of Iraq. If your whole career is based on marginalizing the troops and perpetuating the myth of the brain-damaged vet, I guess you have to do what you can to stay in business.

[PeaceCzar]

With all due disrespect, WTF?!??!?!

Good news?

Maybe I missed the part where illustrating how severely overstressed and stretched thin is in any capacity regarded as "marginalizing". Maybe I'm misinterpreting that as "concern" and "empathy"

Seems to me that your name should be TunnelVisionRat, because you're clearly not grasping the bigger issue, let alone the HUMAN issue at work here.

Or do you expect the troops to simply carry on to infinity like drones? In your scenario, you are the one marginalizing the troops, by expressing zero regard for the hell on earth that both they and Iraqis are currently experiencing.

[Jacksonian]

TunnelVisionRat. Good one. :o)

[TunnelRat]

Yes, I know it is shocking. If you allow the troops to due their jobs, they can turn things around in Iraq -- although no one on the left would want success in Iraq because it would be devastating to their political goals.

Since most of the troops are not psychotic head cases, contrary to Mr. Mitchell's attempts to portray them as such, they have made great strides in securing Iraq. And I doubt too many of them appreciate being portrayed as brain damaged pawns of an evil administration, which is the stereotype the left loves to portray.

[Jacksonian]

Your reference to the "success of the surge and the good news coming out of Iraq" underscores your blind trust in Republican talking points, presents a shallow analysis, and reveals a willingness to subordinate truth to fiction in the classic mode of a zealot.

You couple this with an ad hominem attack on one of the lone voices today speaking out about the problems facing veterans both here and in Iraq and Afghanistan. So much for the GOP hue and cry to "Supprt the Troops!" Instead of seeing Mitchell's work as expressing concern for the military, you accuse him of using it to further an already distinguished career.

When your discussion turns to what you call the "myth of the brain-damaged vet," it makes me wonder if you yourself may have come into contact with an IED and thus suffer from a cerebral impairment.

The myth? The MYTH? Do some research-- and some soul searching on your ability to evaluate fact, discern meaning, and express independent thought.

[ICanHasDemocracy]

I guess tunnel rat thinks that the offal kicked his way is good enough to digest. The truth overall, not so much. People like TR are classic cases of abused children/s­pouses...t­hey keep saying to themselves "but they can change", and lack the courage/spine to walk away. Sad really.

Apologists for this occupation are so starved for good news that they lap up any sugar coated LSD cubes with vigor and say "see, we're winning!"

Winning what? Winning more money to give away in 2500 chunks to Iraqi families who are vicitms of combat misadventure?300 BILLION in fraud waste and abuse into the pockets of KBR and Blackwater? That's winning? 50 dead today, how many tomorrow?
There is no honor or duty binding those Hessians.
Pfft. Go back to Michelle Malkin and play with the zombies.

[SiberianRat]

What has been done to thousands of our young people and millions of Iraqis is unforgivable and will go down in history as an egregious crime, perpetrated by zealots in an imperial empire. I'm so sorry that Mr. McKinney and others had to endure such horror before meeting their deaths, by their own hand or others'. My hope is that we learn from this and develop the courage to NOT wage war--to not change will certainly lead to our own demise...

[muktukcanuck]

What a heart breaking five year debacle. The men and women that instigated and condoned this sickening war should be made personally responsible for these lives that are broken or over.

[castlerider]

New book- Bugliosi's "The Prosecution Of George W. Bush For Murder"

Is very compelling, showing air-tight irrefutable evidence that Bush should be charged and arrested to answer for this crime. And indeed, it was a crime inflicted on all the American People, and innocent Iraqi civilians. Of course, it also brings in the involvement of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, et al.

[DMW1]

Read the text on the homepage slideshow:
http://www.stopthinkvote.com/

Then view the Must Read Military Facts:
http://www.stopthinkvote.com/facts/militaryfacts.html

I'm sure many will think there is no way the draft could be reinstated, but warning signs are appearing, especially if McCain is elected.

If we had all been told 2 years ago that gas would go over $4 dollars a gallon, I'm sure many would have thought that was crazy too.

[Orlando]

A tragic story. This administration is using and selling these soldiers out and treating them as disposable peices of equipment. They betrayed them when they lied them into an illegal war of aggression and occupation and they are doing it now by keeping them there, understaffed and undersupplied, tour after tour. This is how they treat their own citizens, they have been slaughtering the Iraqis for 17 years.

Unfortunately, violence is the way soldiers are trained to deal with things that cause them pain or threaten them. When you kill as a career, life must not seem to have the same precious value as it would should you spend your life as a teacher, chef, carpenter, nurse or other trade that would contribute to our common humanity. It should not surprise us when men who answer problems with violence continue the pattern in their own lives, and ours. How do you teach a soldier that violence is not the way to solve problems?

Bring them home from this optional corporate war now. Let us end this immoral horror.

[strifeknot]

Stunning. We need to get these men and women home as soon as possible, for their own benefit and for the benefit of the Iraqis. I fear President Obama will bring a too slow, too cautious end to this insanity.

[RickO]

Well, it's "not too important" according to McCain.

[apwerner]

Really? You think 16 months is not long enough to end the war? It's better than the 100 Year McCain way.

[strifeknot]

You're kidding yourself if you think Obama will end it within 16 months. Most of our troops will still be there well past then.

[MyAudacity]

Please, if any family member have concerns about a service member deployed or not, who may be suicidal, contact your local American Red Cross or the National Headquarters to have a message sent to that servicemember's command, so they can be advised of the critical situation. The message is handled with top priority!, and the command normally contact the servicemember immediately to assess the situation. When calling please be specific regarding your concerns, i.e, any statements made that are suicidal, the manner and means of carrying it out, depressed state of mind, and supporting statements as to why you believe the depression may lead to suicide. The war in itself is a tragedy, and it pains all of us for our loved ones to be there under this type of stress.