• Should Tucson soldier get funeral honors?
    34 replies, posted
[quote] [quote] [IMG]http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/azstarnet.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/a/64/e2e/a64e2e05-74e1-588e-9787-c03cdcb7a826-revisions/4c9ad25581af9.preview-300.jpg[/IMG] [B]COURTESY OF BARRETT FAMILY[/B] Army Spc. Brandon Barrett survived his duty in Afghanistan, but something in him snapped after he returned to the United States. Dressed in combat gear, he provoked a confrontation with Utah police and was killed. [/quote] Army Spc. Brandon Barrett saw a lot of blood spilled during his year-long tour in Afghanistan. Thirty-five soldiers were killed and more than 200 wounded as his brigade served in volatile Kandahar province. Barrett made it back alive. But his cremated ashes now sit in an urn at his parent's house in Tucson, awaiting a military funeral he may not get. Weeks after the 28-year-old infantryman returned from war and came home to visit family, something in him snapped. Dressed in combat gear and toting a rifle, handguns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, Barrett trudged into a luxury hotel in Salt Lake City - a city he reportedly hadn't been to before - and provoked a confrontation with police that led them to shoot him dead. His loved ones see it as a "suicide by cop" and question why the Army broke at least one of its own rules in handling the case. "We're not condoning my brother's actions by any means," said Shane Barrett, 36, a Tucson Police Department detective and the soldier's only sibling. "But if the Army had done some things differently, maybe it wouldn't have ended like this." Brandon Barrett returned in late June from his first deployment with the 5th Stryker Brigade based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. He arrived in Tucson a few weeks later in what his family assumed was an approved leave after deployment. The soldier confided to his mother that "he was having some problems readjusting" after seeing so much death overseas, Shane Barrett said. But otherwise, Brandon Barrett seemed to enjoy his trip home, going to dinners, movies and family outings and occasionally stopping to shop at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. "In hindsight now, we're asking ourselves, 'Were there signs we missed?' But at the time, he seemed to be doing OK. We were proud of him," Shane Barrett said. It wasn't until Aug. 19 - three weeks into the Tucson visit - that the family got wind of trouble. Shane Barrett got a call that day from Tucson police saying the Army was looking for his brother and had declared him absent without leave a month earlier. Shane Barrett questioned how that could be. Army regulations require the service to alert next of kin by mail 10 days after a soldier is deemed AWOL, and the family hadn't been notified. That's because no letter was sent, the Army now acknowledges. Had it been, Shane Barrett said, the family would have tried to intervene to get the soldier help. Shane Barrett also learned his brother had been charged with driving under the influence on his first day back from Afghanistan. He'd been found on base passed out at the wheel. An Army supervisor threatened to cancel the soldier's leave over the DUI, which would have prevented him from visiting his family, Shane Barrett said. He now suspects that's what prompted his brother to come home a few days ahead of his approved leave. Army officials called Tucson police when the soldier had started sending text messages to fellow troops, vowing to teach the Army a lesson because of how he'd been treated. "The general context was that he was going to show the world that they couldn't mess with soldiers home from deployment," Shane Barrett said. The Army hadn't issued a warrant for the soldier, but Tucson police went to check on him at the home of his parents, Gail Barrett and Bill Barrett, a retired Marine who spent 21 years in uniform. Their son had been staying with them but wasn't home at the time. When he got back and learned police had been by, he fled, Shane Barrett said. Frantic phone calls ensued as the family tried in vain to reach the soldier. They finally heard from an Army chaplain, who said Brandon Barrett was planning to return to base and set things right with the Army. Eight days went by with no further word. Then came news that left them reeling. On Aug. 27, a Friday afternoon, Brandon Barrett suited up in "full-military-style combat attire," armed himself and paced the sidewalk outside the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, police there said. News reports in the Salt Lake Tribune paint a bizarre picture of the soldier's final moments. He told passers-by he was "in training" and was placid when approached by a 60-year-old grandmother who stopped him from entering the hotel. "OK, then. You better call police," the paper quoted her as saying, recalling the soldier's last words. When police arrived and ordered him to drop his weapon, Brandon Barrett started shooting. One bullet grazed an officer's leg, and the officer returned fire, striking the soldier in the head near the edge of his Army helmet. The Tribune quoted soldiers from Brandon Barrett's unit as saying he suffered from combat trauma because of all he'd witnessed at war. The paper also reported that a sergeant had humiliated the soldier in front of his comrades after the DUI charge. Maj. Kathleen Turner, an Army spokeswoman at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, said she couldn't comment on the soldier's interactions with superiors. She did say he was properly screened and referred for counseling because of his DUI charge. Nothing in the soldier's demeanor suggested a potential for violence, she said. Turner said Army officials are investigating "to determine what did or did not happen." Shane Barrett said the family wants the soldier laid to rest with the dignity befitting a combat veteran, with flags folded and taps played. And they want his ashes interred in the Southern Arizona Memorial Veterans' Cemetery, surrounded for eternity by fellow warriors. But Assistant Army Secretary Thomas Lamont banned military funeral honors for the soldier on Sept. 9 "due to the circumstances surrounding his death" - even though the probe of those circumstances, being done by Brandon Barrett's unit, won't be finished for a few more weeks. "I don't know if an appeal is possible in this instance," said Col. Thomas Collins, an Army spokes-man at the Pentagon. Arizona's Department of Veterans Services, which runs the Sierra Vista veterans cemetery, initially called off the soldier's funeral, which was set for Sept. 10, Shane Barrett said. "My mother was standing in line buying roses for the funeral when I had to call and tell her. My parents were pretty upset." Dave Hampton, a spokesman for state veterans department, told the Arizona Daily Star the service was "postponed at the family's request." Hampton also said the funeral couldn't go ahead without clearance from the National Cemetery Administration, part of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs. But Michael Nacincik, a spokes-man for that agency, said the VA has no say over burials in a state-run veterans cemetery. On Wednesday, Shane Barrett said a state cemetery official had called to say the funeral now will be allowed - but without military honors unless the Army has a change of heart. He believes his brother deserves the gestures of respect due a combat veteran. His brother clearly suffered a mental breakdown linked to his military service, he said. "Nobody in his right mind would do what he did. "I'm not saying he should be buried like a war hero. But he fought in some of the worst combat imaginable to serve his country. "It doesn't seem right for the Army to judge him only by what happened in Salt Lake City." [/quote] [url=http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_8e6705d3-81f8-5714-9ec4-0d4b49667968.html] Tis the Source [/url] Yeah... I'm not sure which way to take this, but he should at least get some form of funeral honor.
it wouldn't matter to him cause he's dead.
Sounds like he went crazy. [img]http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews9/full-metal-jacket/full-metal-jacket-PDVD_00901.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=PrusseluskenV2;24998766]Barrett? Haha, wow. I bet he heard that a lot. "Hey, hand me the barrett" "Which one?"[/QUOTE] it's "beretta" :|
He should not get full honors, because he was killed while attempting to kill his own countrymen. It's treason.
[QUOTE=Ridge;24998798]He should not get full honors, because he was killed while attempting to kill his own countrymen. It's treason.[/QUOTE] When I hear the word treason I always think of the old ages with swords and bows and such.
[QUOTE=Laissez!Laissez!Laissez!;24998794]it's "beretta" :|[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.barrett.net/[/url]
Ah nevermind, -snip-
[QUOTE=Laissez!Laissez!Laissez!;24998794]it's "beretta" :|[/QUOTE] :silent:
[QUOTE=Laissez!Laissez!Laissez!;24998794]it's "beretta" :|[/QUOTE] Oh don't be silly.
my bad -__-
Of course he should, obviously the war did something to him that sent him mad, he should still get honors.
[QUOTE=Ridge;24998798]He should not get full honors, because he was killed while attempting to kill his own countrymen. It's treason.[/QUOTE] Actually, it's murder.
[QUOTE=Sir Muffin;24999879]Actually, it's murder.[/QUOTE] He didn't murder anyone, and it doesn't sound like he even meant to hit the one guy in the leg. It was a suicide by police.
[QUOTE=Laissez!Laissez!Laissez!;24999319]my bad -__-[/QUOTE] OffTopic: Don't use emotes around here OnTopic:He should get them, he fought in the war for his country, the war made him crazy, craziness led him to death. So in the end, he suffered and died for his country (in a way)
I read the title as Tuscon. [img]http://hilobrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/tusken.jpg[/img] Yes, I know it's "Tusken".
They drew first blood not him
[QUOTE=Scotty.;25000879]I read the title as Tuscon. [img]http://hilobrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/tusken.jpg[/img] Yes, I know it's "Tusken".[/QUOTE] The Tusken raiders shall receive a fitting burial: Being picked to the bone by Tatooine wildlife.
His actions were irrational and dangerous, and also his last. Although he should be honored for his service he made bad choices that basically said "Fuck any honor that I have."
[QUOTE=PrusseluskenV2;25002614]Are you dense? Barrett makes sniper rifles, Beretta makes pistols, SMGs and shotguns "Barrett, give me the Barrett!" v:v:v[/QUOTE] barrett does not just make sniper rifles turn the question on yourself, sir.
Uh hell yeah he deserves a military funeral, he served overseas and did his part. It's not like he came back and went on a killing spree
[QUOTE=Javascript;25010111]Uh hell yeah he deserves a military funeral, he served overseas and did his part. It's not like he came back and went on a killing spree[/QUOTE] His actions suggest that he would have if he wasn't stopped.
[QUOTE=Laissez!Laissez!Laissez!;24999319]my bad -__-[/QUOTE] This is why Garry needs to turn smartness back on.
[QUOTE=Ridge;24998798]He should not get full honors, because he was killed while attempting to kill his own countrymen. [B]It's treason[/B].[/QUOTE] Acts of violence against the government. :eng101:
give the man a fucking proper military funeral... i mean, the military turned him into that lunatic after all
[QUOTE=chronochicke;25000963]They drew first blood not him[/QUOTE] Learn to read, he shot someone. They didn't die, but he drew first blood.
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;25013243]Acts of violence against the government. :eng101:[/QUOTE] He shot at a police officer, a government official :smug:
War fucked up his mind. He deserves full honors because he literally allowed his mentality get shredded by the war.
Even whatever fucked up thing someone has done, I still think that person should get a funeral
They broke him. They can at least bury him properly. The burial isn't for the dead, it's for their loved ones.
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