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There is NO HONOR: US Army Ranger takes own Life
by stele Sunday, Aug 14 2011, 11:31pm
international / peace/war / commentary

The suicide of US Army Ranger, Sgt. Jared Hagemann, is not an isolated case; suicide is now the largest cause of death for US troops fighting unjust, civilian killing wars for Corporate profits.

Troops on the frontline confront the REALITY, as opposed to the media fiction, of WAR and today’s wars are among the dirtiest criminal wars ever waged. Where is the honour in killing innocent civilians and fighting for Corporate interests, I ask YOU?

The Corporate controlled government in Washington sends patriotic Americans to do the dirty work of Bankers, Corporations and Financial elites – US troops are fighting criminal wars for MAMMON; that is the TRUTH for anyone brave enough to face it!

There is no honour fighting illegal wars of invasion, occupation and PLUNDER. Regardless of allied impunity from war crimes trials, arranged by the nefarious elites at the Hague and UN, the REAL COST is now evident -- CRIME ALWAYS TAKES ITS TOLL ON THE INDIVIDUAL.

The honour and heroism of these wars remains with the brave DEFENDERS, fighting for their FREEDOM and the safety of their families in lands occupied by their ancestors for CENTURIES. No amount of mass media propaganda can alter historical FACT.

Look and SEE for yourselves, which nations are the REAL terrorists? Easy to SEE by SIMPLY counting the number of military bases the USA has around the globe --over 800, (outrageous!) -- or is it too much to ask the average citizen to exercise simple logic?

Which nations invade murder and occupy weaker nations TODAY? And on it goes, the TRUTH stares EVERYONE in the face? Is Libya a “humanitarian intervention?” Don’t make me laugh or insult the intelligence of my pet parakeet.

I leave you with the tragic story and ultimate cost one man paid for fighting filthy, unjust Corporate wars for Profit. Bear in mind the nefarious orchestrators of these wars NEVER expose themselves or their relatives to the dangers of combat!

If trained specialists require LEGITIMATE TARGETS to achieve PEACE and UNITY then direct your skills and weapons at the REAL enemies of humankind.

After Eight deployments, Army Ranger takes Own Life
by Keith Eldridge

JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. - A soldier's widow says his fellow Army Rangers wouldn't do anything to help him before he took his own life - after eight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army found Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann's body at a training area of Joint Base Lewis McChord a few weeks ago.

A spokesman for the base tells KOMO News that the nature of the death is still undetermined. But Staff Sgt. Hagemann's widow says her husband took his own life - and it didn't need to happen.

"It was just horrible. And he would just cry," says Ashley Hagemann.

Ashley says her husband Jared tried to come to grips with what he'd seen and done on his eight deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"And there's no way that any God would forgive him - that he was going to hell," says Ashley. "He couldn't live with that any more."

Ashley says her Army Ranger husband wanted out of the military.

"He just wanted to know what it felt like to be normal again," she says.

Staff Sgt. Hagemann had orders to return to Afghanistan this month for a ninth tour of duty.

Instead, on June 28, Ashley says her husband took a gun and shot himself in the head on base. She claims the Rangers never took his pleas for help seriously.

"There's no way that they should not have been able to pick up on it," Ashley says. "When he's telling them, he's reaching out ...."

And on Friday she found out she's not alone in wanting to speak out.

Mary Corkhill Kirkland lost her son Derrick to suicide more than a year ago.

She says doctors at Madigan Army Hospital considered him a low risk for suicide despite three earlier attempts. They sent him back to his unit - where he hanged himself.

Mary says she thinks the Army basically killed her son.

"My son did not want to die. He wanted help. He was crying out for help," she says.

Now Mary Kirkland is reaching out to Ashley Hagemann in her grief.

"You're in good hands, you're not alone here," Mary tells her.

"It's so nice to meet somebody else who understands," says Ashley. "Thank you so much."

KOMO News has contacted the 75th Ranger Regiment about Hagemann, but there is no comment as yet.

The two women are joining forces with several veterans and active-duty soldiers to speak out about what happened with Sgt. Kirkland - and what's being done to prevent further soldier suicides.

© 2011 Fisher Communications, Inc.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/127623973.html

COMMENTS

my husband SSGT Jared Hagemann
by ashley hagemann Monday, Aug 15 2011, 11:09am

Thank u for sharing my husbands story ...My husband was a smart man and for them [military] ignoring my husbands pleas and demands to get out of a voluntary unit I will make sure justice for jared is served.

Thank you again

Ashley Joppa Hagemann

Ashley Hagemann
by Editorial Team - Cleaves Publishing Monday, Aug 15 2011, 1:43pm

First, we would like to express our sincere condolences for the sad loss of your husband.

Regarding additional material, please feel free to utilise this site in whatever manner you wish in your fight for justice. Our Editorial team would be happy to assist you in matters of production and publication.

Thank you for your note and never forget that many people worldwide support you and others who have suffered hardship and loss as a result of the injustices of a corrupt and cruel military that serves money interests only.

SSGT Jared A. Hagemann
by Ashley Joppa Hagemann Friday, Aug 19 2011, 4:10am

Its sad how so many soldiers go in THINKING they are going to be doing GOOD. And when they finally realize the LIES and BULLSH*T its too late. The damage is already done (PTSD). There is no cure. And nothing can erase the horrible images that have burned themselves into our innocent loved ones minds.
My husband was by far VERY intelligent. The things he KNEW, seen and done while in the 2/75 Ranger Regiment are outrageous and by far criminal. Which makes me sometimes wonder if this MAY have been another Pat Tillman case??? Either way it IS the Rangers who I AM HOLDING RESPONSIBLE FOR MY HUSBANDS DEATH. And those specific Leaders know EXACTLY who they are. And if my husband does not receive his memorial that he respectfully deserves EVERYONE WILL KNOW who they are.

Thank you again for letting me share my husbands story/struggle. He was an AMAZINGLY strong person. So much good in one person, and thanks to this cruel inhumane government more and MORE soldiers just like him are being ripped away from loved ones. Until they (D.o.D) embrace the fact that they ARE FAILING and something NEW needs to be put in place, this will continue to be an ongoing and GROWING epidemic.

-Ashley Joppa-Hagemann-

Ranger's Widow Expelled from Rumsfeld Book Signing
by Jordan Schrader via skip - News Tribune Monday, Aug 29 2011, 11:03am

Two people were removed from a Donald Rumsfeld book signing Friday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, including the Yelm widow of an Army Ranger who blames the military for her husband’s suicide.

Security officers for the former secretary of defense escorted Ashley Joppa-Hagemann out by the arm, she said Saturday. She and Jorge Gonzalez, the executive director of Coffee Strong, a Lakewood-based anti-war group, confronted Rumsfeld as he promoted his memoir, “Known and Unknown.”

According to an account posted on Coffee Strong’s website: “Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann introduced herself by handing a copy of her husband’s funeral program to Rumsfeld, and telling him that her husband had joined the military because he believed the lies told by Rumsfeld during his tenure with the Bush administration.”

Joppa-Hagemann complained about Rumsfeld’s response Friday to her account of Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann’s multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and his death at age 25. Hagemann belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

The website said Rumsfeld’s “only response was to callously quip, ‘Oh yeah, I heard about that.’”

When Joppa-Hagemann continued to blame Rumsfeld, a group of five to six security agents and military police officers reportedly “dragged” them out and told them not to return, according to the Web post.

A base spokesman said Saturday that the pair were causing a minor disturbance.

“Two people were quietly and peacefully escorted out of the PX after they caused a disturbance at the book signing,” public affairs officer Bud McKay said.

Joppa-Hagemann said the pair spoke calmly and weren’t trying to make a scene. She should have been allowed to finish talking to Rumsfeld, she said.

The pair did take a picture with Rumsfeld after Gonzalez unbuttoned his shirt to reveal an “Iraq veterans against the war” T-shirt.

Joppa-Hagemann says her husband took his own life to avoid another tour in Afghanistan after Rangers pressured him to drop his plans to leave the military. She has been pushing for a ceremony honoring him. Her efforts were the subject of a front-page story in Thursday’s News Tribune.

She said Jared Hagemann believed when he enlisted that he would be fighting in Iraq for “justice for 9/11” and to find weapons of mass destruction.

“All I could do was just really be happy at that moment that I got to tell Donald to his face that he was a liar,” she said in an interview Saturday, “and put a face to a soldier that because of him is no longer alive.”

Copyright applies.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/08/27/1798800/rangers-widow-expelled-from-rumsfeld.html

persist
by Captain Sunday, Sep 11 2011, 7:23am

commiserations ashley, but try; if you persist in your fight for truth and justice for your husband other lives could be saved.

the rotten truth of psychological, physical and chemical abuse of combat troops may become widely known. The US military today is only a mercenary arm of the corporations, combat troops are viewed as completely expendable -- war for profit not honor is today's military reality.

veterans groups and others familiar with military crimes will help.

chin up girl, you are NOT alone.