noimageatall said:

That's wonderful news and you are absolutely right about the amazing people here. I have gotten so much support at times when I was very sad and desperate and I am so thnakful .

noimageatall said:

OK, I wish more people knew how fucking amazing Buttah is and she's prolly gonna want to downplay shit but I will use one of these right now She's one of my very best friends here and now you know why Glad to know you have her on your side Good luck with all of this "honey"

Well, she's BOARD queen of the year to me right now.

noimageatall said:

Good on butterfly.

Looking at his recent threads I wanna nominate Theodore for BORED queen of the year!

I glad things are working out and this incident is being investigated.

foxyflawedhands said:

seriously, the org rocks

butterfly

April

thanks for all the kudos everyone but what I saw was a mama in pain and being a mama my self I know that pain so I went to see her baby for her because she couldn't. It's what we do as mamas. Every young soldier is my kid that is just how it is with good army families. I am not saying that everyone is like me but I know more people who are than who are not.

When I married this army guy some older and wiser spouses sat me down and told me the basic tenant--WE TAKE CARE OF THE SOLDIERS AND EACH OTHER. 15 years later it is how I live my life. Welcome to the family mama

Great talking to you on the phone April, sorry we had to meet under these circumstances. Just know that I have my eye on that baby of yours. Don't worry.

butterfli25 said:

Ok, now I am sitting here crying like a baby because I am so relieved. This has been too stressful, and I swear after my grand-baby leaving this earth I don't think I can take much more. I am just so overwhelmed at the kindness and concern for someone never even seen face to face. Just when I think the world is shit and no one cares, things like this happen. I don't care what anyone says about the Internet being only a place for "evil," or it's made up of people who are "corporate scammers, pornographers and people wasting their time." That is NOT TRUE!

Without the Internet and amazing folks like butterfli, I would not know that my son is ok and now has someone close by to keep an eye on him. I spoke to my son again and he's still laughing and saying, "Mom..I swear I don't believe this."

I know that butterfli's visit made him feel like someone cared, as he was feeling lonely, hurt, and so far away from his family. He says he's definitely coming over for dinner, buttah.

Thank you so much again and again....

"y" to "i" edit
[Edited 4/15/08 8:51am]

Stuff like this is what's made prince.org my internet home.

I'm SO GLAD this has worked out like it has.

Blessings come from EVERYWHERE.

April

Nothinbutjoy said:

You know...most of my family, when they see me on my laptop, are always asking me, "Mom, are you on that prince board again?" Rolling their eyes at the same time. See, lately with this illness, and being on LOA from work, as you all have probably seen, I have had much more time to "mess around" online. I have more posts here in a little over a year than I have on another board that I've been a member of for 6.

Last night, I told all my children what happened and what butterfli did. They were all really worried about their brother...angry and feeling helpless too. You should have seen their faces as I told them about it. Jaws dropping. Eyes bugging out.

Christopher said to me, "I swear I will never tease you about that place again, Mom."

My family does the same thing



again 'cause I'm so happy it's working out well

Nothinbutjoy said:

You and me both!! I wish with all my heart I could give butterfli the biggest REAL hug right now. Hell, I am feeling so wonderful I want to hug everyone here.

And I will update on the case as I find out what's happening.

foxyflawedhands said:

I agree that they should be told, but its as rowdy as a college campus on any weekend....do colleges tell prospective students that they have problems with underaged binge drinking, date rapes, and the like? No, because its counter-productive....and the other aspect of that is you'd expect these young adults to be able to act like they have some sense...we (meaning leadership at all levels) hold weekend safety briefings and conduct all kinds of safety and responsibility training, so its not as if we're letting the inmates run the asylum...but there are some, like those who committed this crime, who will still go against standards and norms and do dumb stuff....so that's why I think its wrong to put it out there like its a bar-fight mentality throughout the Army or military....just like any other walk of society, you have boneheads who will muck it up for the rest of us...

reneGade20 said:

Don't you think the culture of the military has a lot to do with it? And I'm talking from the top down.

butterfli25 said:

so why haven't you checked in on me lately, missy???

seriously, I'm glad he's got you looking out for him.....

how's things?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Not necessarily, because it was WAYYY rowdier the first time I was in the military (mid 80's)...so its not so much the culture as it is society in general....lots of the kids who come in the military are away from home and parents for the first time ever, so its easy for them to completely lose control and go buck wild....again, its not ALL, just a few....but its what those few do when they cut loose that causes so much drama...

and a brief intro to infantry units, since the guys who did this to April's son were in one....they are your "grunts", front line fighters who are historically among the rowdiest of the rowdy based on their job description....they run in packs and when they're riled up for whatever reason, they're dangerous...I was stationed at Ft. Drum where the majority of the post is light infantry, and whenever they were out of the field or just getting back from a deployment, all the other units on post knew it was probably safer to either travel to Canada or Syracuse for club hopping or to just stay home....liquor fueled grunts are mostly nothing but trouble looking for somewhere to happen....

reneGade20 said:

doing pretty good considering

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

thanks baby

noimageatall said:

can't read any further. tears

I'm sorry this happened to ur son....it's a sad bloody world where this can happen on ur own base ....as if there isn't enough people in the world to fight with

my dad's in the army and we were once stationed
@ ft. hood, and i have never felt so scared in
my life. dead serious. my dad once told us he was
at PT Formation and someone pulled a drive-by on them...
ON BASE. i hated living there and was very relieved once
my dad's orders changed...scary scary scary!

reneGade20 said:

You know what I was thinking? The situation really does remind me of some of the more severe cases you hear about on college campuses called "hazing", it sounds from your perspective and experience that these two types of incidents are similar/identical: you get a minority of knuckleheads in a large group of folks who (for whatever reason) want to act out and partcipate in stupid rites of passage type of stuff, and sadly some of it includes kicking the shit out of people. I actually believe in the saying "one bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch", so it's great to know about the countermeasures the military takes to at least try to combat this mentality.

emm said:

I know, they got me too.

But it sounds like things are going to be looking up and progress is going to be made.

Ottensen said:

We definitely do...but I'd be lying if I said that sometimes, its more reactive than proactive....a lot of the senior, senior leadership (the D.C. crowd) tend to live in the idealistic Army, where everyone is of high moral fiber, is rigidly disciplined, and lives, breathes, and espouses everything Army...unfortunately, I (and the rest of the rabble) work and live in the real life Army where some don't aspire to such lofty standards...so most of my day is spent on the 1% who screw up, not the 99% who deserve the attention...

reneGade20 said:

I meant more about how these kinds of things are handled, not that the top eschelons of the military are engaged in this kind of behavior. The culture of the military to not address these things in a realistic way. Like April will have to hold their feet to the fire for justice, not that it would happen naturally. Look at what happened at Walter Reid. It wasn't until reporters exposed what was happening that anything actually was done. It wasn't until Rumsfeld was confronted by a troop about the lack of armor and supplies that it really became an issue. The military isn't in the business of accountability. That's more what I was alluding too.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Well you shoulda said that then!!!

I agree since you put it that way....very reactive in response to issues and what not because the big dogs live in the idealistic Army where stuff like this just doesn't happen...so when it does, if you notice, its always lower/mid level management types who take the collar for it....

emilia1 said:

See, now that is just insane. I live in Chicago, where drive-bys happen a lot. School kids shot every day. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would happen on an Army base in TX. WTF are they shooting at each other for? You're telling me there is that much serious gang activity on military bases now?

What are the higher-ups doing about this?

noimageatall said:

I'm an EO rep, so I can tell you that we monitor and dissuade gang activity strenuously...from affiliations to tats, we're on top of it...but, much like our civilian law enforcement counterparts, the secrecy is deep...and the bangers take care not to expose their alligences....the Ft. Hood incident is a well known case, as is the gang related murder of a troop in Germany a couple years ago as a result of getting jumped into a gang....its a problem to be sure, but as long as troops get involved with gangs and pledge alligence to the gangs, there's not a whole lot we can do short of declaring martial law in the ranks....

I am so sorry I had not clicked on this thread earlier, I had assumed it was just a question for someone with military knowledge. But this is so painful to watch as a Mother. I would just die to see my son in that condition and not be able to be there for him. I am so sorry for what happened, I pray that your son heals fast and that action is taken against the assholes who did this to him. My prayers go out to you and your family. The power of the Org, is world wide.

PaisleyPark5083 said: