Nine weeks that made a kid a man, and a mom proud - Jason Scowden was a screwup. Now he's a soldier

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/01/Hillsborough/Nine_weeks_that_made_.shtml

By BEN MONTGOMERY, Times Staff Writer
Published September 1, 2007

FORT BENNING, Ga. -- On a cloudy Thursday, the day after sixteen more American soldiers died in Iraq, the day after President Bush compared the war there to Vietnam, a red rental car from Tampa pulls into a parking lot at Fort Benning and Sue Scowden steps out.

She walks past ARMY MOM T-shirts for sale and finds a seat in the crowded bleachers.

Sue Scowden searches for her son. She can't pick him out. snip

Sue supports Jason. Of course she was worried when he told her he was joining. She still does, but won't tell him that.

"If he has to worry about me, he won't be safe," she says.

She buys a lapel pin that says "Pray for our troops."

Her fears of him getting hurt or killed -- and she has thought about that -- don't outweigh the very real concern she had before: that Jason would waste his life. snip

An incident when he was 11 is burned into Sue's brain. A police officer told her Jason was under arrest for vandalizing a school. Jason said it was another kid, and he had just been playing football on the playground.

It's hard, she said, to see your 11-year-old arrested. She thinks her divorce pushed Jason over.

He bounced from high school to high school, Pinellas Park to Tampa Tech to Freedom. He moved in with his father, then got kicked out and quit school.

His mother wanted the best for him, but she felt betrayed. She wanted him to change. In person, she was tough, but she cried when she prayed, she said.

[leftofthedial]

1. now he's ARMY STRONG

[Toots]

7. There is absolutely nothing wrong with joining the Army

The USA needs an Armed Forces. What we don't need is how that Armed Force is being misused and abused. The Army is a very honorable profession. Out of the nearly one million people that belong only a small number (comparably so) have been killed or injured. While I would never wish the Army on my worst enemy I also would never trade my Army experience for anything in the world...It helped to form me into the person I am today.

[jzodda]

10. I agree with you....Its the way the army is being used and abused thats wrong

Not the army itself.

[leftofthedial]

33. you wouldn't even trade it for an Air Force experience?

[JVS]

24. Let's just hope he doesn't turn out ARMY DEAD

[grytpype]

2. Great, another psycho we can turn loose in Iraq.

[nini]

4. psycho? That's a bit much don't you think?

Sounds like he was a bit lost but not psycho.

[grytpype]

12. OK, maybe it is.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Aw. Best of luck to him--I hope he turns his life around and stays safe.

The military can be good for that--it gives some kids the structure, discipline and family they've been missing.

[nini]

5. I agree - it has helped many lost young men

I can understand how desperate that mom was to see her kid get his head out of his butt.


Sadly, joining these days is more risky than it should be. :-(

[NNN0LHI]

6. And if this was an Iraqi kid who wanted to join the Iraq army and come over here and kill Americans?

Would you feel the same way about the structure, discipline and family he has been missing and wish him well?

Don

[TwilightGardener]

8. What are you saying? We shouldn't have a military? No one should join up?

[NNN0LHI]

11. To go kill hundreds of thousands of people who never did anything to us?

Yea. Make that hell yea. People should not be joining up to serve under the current Crackhead In Chief. Or encouraging their kids to do so. I wouldn't encourage anyone to join up to serve under the war criminal who attacked a sovereign country to steal the peoples oil.

I wouldn't let my kids enlist under these circumstances. Anyone who would is as crazy as Bush.

Don

[nini]

13. I agree with you but there are also some people who are just this desperate

that the army is their only chance left. We wouldn't let our kids because we're aware of other options - some people just don't get that though.

Not all of them join with the intention of wanting to go kill anyone - they are desperate for a job and some kind of alternative to the path to nowhere they are on.

The fact they are so desperate is another issue (failed policies at home etc..) - but sometimes it's their only chance.

[NNN0LHI]

17. I agree with you that there are desperate kids out there

I am just as sure there are desperate kids in other countries too. But I hope that those kids parents in other countries are not encouraging their kids to join up with some group who wished to come here and try to kill Americans in an attempt to better their lot though. I don't care how desperate they are. I want those kids parents to do the right thing and discourage such abhorrent behavior as I am doing.

Lot less dead people that way.

Don

[TwilightGardener]

15. My husband is a career Air Force officer, and I'm proud of him. And if

my sons want to enlist or seek a commission, no matter who was President, I would be just as proud.

[NNN0LHI]

18. Even if Bush ordered the invasion of Canada which led to a million Canadian deaths?

A million Canadian men, women and children killed?

You would be just as proud?

Don

[TwilightGardener]

19. You're getting positively ridiculous.

[NNN0LHI]

21. A million dead Iraqi men, women and children is not ridiculous is it?

Its the truth.

Don

[TwilightGardener]

22. I disagree with the Iraq war, but many of these guys joined up

because they thought they were fighting the guys who attacked us. Or they thought the war was otherwise just (WMD's, democracy, etc), and still do. Or maybe they just do what they have to, because it's their job to obey the Commander in Chief. The soldiers are not responsible for sorting out the justness of a war--that is the job of our President, his cabinet, our elected leaders, and we citizens. When enough people tell their representatives in Congress that the war must end, their mission will end--until then, they're only following OUR policy, as reflected by the actions and decisions of the leaders WE elected. My husband has deployed twice in support of the Iraq war, and he will again. He doesn't necessarily agree with it, but he will do it, because it's his job. Do not attempt to shift the moral burden to our soldiers--WE, as Americans, collectively carry the burden.

[NNN0LHI]

26. We went beyond the "Just following orders.", stage years ago

When it was declared that Iraq had not attacked or even threatened us in any way the jig was up in most peoples minds.

At least in anyones mind who does their thinking above the waist.

What we are doing in Iraq now is a war crime. Some may not want to admit that. And its okay that some don't want to admit that. But that doesn't make it any less of a war crime in the rational sense.

From the first U.S. bomb dropped on the first battalion of Iraqi conscripts to the last Iraqi who died minutes ago it has all been murder.

We have nothing to be proud of here.

And I want people in other countries to know that there are some of us who know and acknowledge this. Because I don't want them to come here and kill my family and other completely innocent Americans for what some Americans have been doing to the Iraqis.

Some of us know this isn't right. And when we get the chance we are going to put a stop to it. And then we are going to put some Rapture Ready Republicans into a Supermax prison where they belong for the rest of their lives.

Don

[bemildred]

27. Well said.

We did it to the Nazis at Nuremberg, and we can do it here at home. Long past due.

[TwilightGardener]

32. You're equating US soldiers to Nazis at Nuremberg? Please tell me this is a fucking joke.

[bemildred]

34. You bet.

Do you think we are special? Do you think we can do whatever we want and it's OK? If there are rules, they have to apply to everybody. The Iraq war is an aggressive war of conquest against a people that never did a damn thing to us. If that is not a war crime, then what is? We have destroyed their country, killed some hundreds of thousands of them (the number is in dispute), and about 25% of them are presently refugees in neighboring countries. For this we spent at least $1 trillion dollars.

But it's Bush and Cheney I want, not the soldiers. Bush and Cheney are more than willing to throw the troops to the dogs. I want the bring the soldiers home (edit: where they belong).

[TwilightGardener]

35. You're fucking sick. I'm done with you.

[bemildred]

36. Name calling is not an argument.

Read this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1714474

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. Yes killing innocent people is sick

The real heroes in this war are the soldiers who refuse to serve.

http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. Has he killed anyone?

I don't think I could live with myself if I had killed any innocent Iraqis.

[rocktivity]

31. DING DING DING! NNN0LHI, you're our grand prize winner!

People should not be joining up to serve under the current Crackhead In Chief. Or encouraging their kids to do so...Anyone who would is as crazy as Bush.

Those who joined prior 2000 had no say over what kind of a commander-in-chief they'd end up with. But to gamble your life on HIS track record of competence and honor? You'd have to be crazy, all right!

:rofl:
rocknation

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. I agree with you

No one should be joining up now.

[DemBones DemBones]

14. Good point! The military has been good for many

young men who were wasting time screwing around in college or in half-ass jobs. One in our family was told by his parents to enlist, they weren't paying for him to screw up his life anymore. It changed his life for the better, two college degrees and a good career. But that was in peacetime. In wartime the military is not a good place to park screwed-up young men while they get their act together. In wartime the military is not a good place for anybody but it really does not need screw-ups. War itself screws up enough normal people. God only knows what it does to the kids who were already screwed-up.

[nini]

16. I know.. it's a slippery slope to be sure

I know kids in the military now that were helped tremendously.

I also have a friend who's son was in the navy and developed worse habits than he had before he went in.

It's definitely NOT the best answer for everyone, but for some it is. Depends on the kid.

But most importantly, I wish NO ONE would be that desperate in the first place to do only have that choice as a good one - especially in today's world.

[Midlodemocrat]

9. Exactly what the army DOESN'T need.

The army, like any other profession shouldn't be the dumping ground for screwed up kids. There's too much at stake.

[iverglas]

20. what a fucking sad excuse for a society

that a person would, for whatever reasons (in many cases as much that society's fault as his own, if not more), have a choice between wasting his life and killing people. Or decides that his own best option to avoid wasting his life is to go kill some people -- I mean, if he could make that decision, he couldn't maybe have decided to just get a job washing dishes? Wasting one's life really isn't the only alternative to killing people.

And even if it were, I'd say that wasting other people's lives just isn't quite the right choice.

And I'd say that anyone who is proud of his/her kid for marching off to kill other people's kids ... well frankly, I can't think of what to say. It may well not be her fault that her kid was what he was. It may not have been his fault. But it sure as fucking hell wasn't the fault of the people of Iraq.

One can certainly have sympathy and understanding for young people without prospects who join a military - and their parents - in many situations. In the present situation, sorry. That boat sailed quite a while ago now.

messy syntax fixed

[NNN0LHI]

25. That is exactly why a draft would do nothing to end this brutal occupation of Iraq

Too many parents just like this mother who would rather have her son die than be a burden on her.

My Republican parents were the same way.

Don

[gulliver]

23. This is something we should understand.

Probably the vast majority of the troops are there because it is an easy way to grow up. The risk of death and disability is secondary.

What the article does not mention is the other cases or even the rest of this one.

For example, suppose another Jason joined the Army 10 years earlier, say Jason Jones. The Army made a man out of him. He got married.

By the time George W. Bush started the Iraq war our fictional Jason Jones had two kids, one eight, one six. Jason's marriage was cooling off because of overseas deployments, low pay, and the rigors of the military life. Still, it had been peace time prior to Bush, and Jason was only 29. He had been thinking of going to college, possibly even Med School after his two remaining years of service were finished. Through many long, heart-to-heart conversations with his wife, she had agreed to try.

Then George W. Bush and his Republicans decided to start a war. Jason was shipped overseas for a total of three tours in all. He was so valuable that he was kept in the Army through a stop loss order. He could not get out. The Republicans needed him to stay.

During his second tour, Jason's wife met another man, a young Republican who supported the war but had remained characteristically stateside. Jason's wife asked for a divorce a month after Jason returned from Iraq. His eight-year-old son Chris loved his Dad and wanted to live with him, but custody of both kids was granted to Jason's wife.

Chris was an athletic-looking boy, but he could not play baseball or football like the other kids. His Dad was not around, and the young Republican "uncle" his mom had been dating didn't like baseball, or football, or, for that matter, Chris.

Jason left for his third tour a broken man. He often thought of suicide. He missed his children.

In his third tour, Jason lost two fingers. They were shot off by small arms fire. The bullet passed through Jason's fingers, severing them. Then the bullet continued ballistically into his best friend's chest, killing him. Jason was never the same after that.

He came home. He left the Army. But he could not hold a job. He couldn't concentrate. He was constantly angry and could not sleep. Every day was a burden. The booze helped.

Jason's children never knew the man he was before Bush started the Iraq War. His daughter was molested by her Republican stepfather. She never said a word. Her Mom wouldn't believe her, and she didn't want to tell her Dad. She knew what that would mean. In her twenties she became an alcoholic, divorcing her husband of four years. There were no children.

Jason's son Chris smoked pot, sniffed glue, and ate hallucinogens. He dropped out of high school. Chris was much like Jason when Jason was Chris's age, only much more troubled and much more lost. At least Jason's father had been around after his parents divorced. Chris's father was in Iraq and essentially never came home.

Chris joined the Army. He had trouble at first, but eventually he was able to find his manhood. He got married.

Two years later, another Republican president was elected. He said that America needed to go back into Iraq to finish the job. He convinced the American public that the Democrats had pulled us out of Iraq too soon and were responsible for the fact that Iraq was now run by a Shiite strong man affiliated with Iran. A new Shiite version of Al Qaeda had emerged to complement the original, still in existence and thriving. Chris was shipped overseas.

[Arugula Latte]

28. The combination of our horrible educational system, our crappy media,

the power of corporations that need cannon fodder so they can use their weapons and rake in the $$ by selling more to the government make so many kids vulnerable to the bullshit military propaganda. It's obvious that the military-industrial complex has drummed up several non-essential and downright criminal wars in the past few decades and tens of thousands of innocent brown people around the world have been slaughtered as a result. People who join up are enabling that, no matter what their intentions.

[depakid]

29. So she thinks the underlying problems are just going to go away?

My guess is that after returning from a couple of tours in Iraq, they'll end up much worse....

[rocktivity]

30. I can't believe my eyes!

"Her fears of him getting hurt or killed...don't outweigh the very real concern she had before: that Jason would waste his life."

No, HE won't waste his life--he now has a commander-in-chump who might waste it FOR him! Is she KIDDING???

:crazy:
rocknation

[last_texas_dem]

37. It makes me sad to read it

It reminded me of a guy I went to school with; he was a couple of grades behind me. He wasn't a close friend of mine or anything, but I liked him; he was a goofy, friendly kind of guy. I remember reading in the paper a couple of years ago how he had been convinced by some friends to join the army because he had started having problems with drugs and his life had become aimless. The reason I was reading about this in the paper was because he had just been killed in this stupid, pointless war.