Soldier in Afghanistan committed suicide amid call to Fort Irwin

[Kadie]

August 03. 2006 7:52PM

Soldier in Afghanistan committed suicide amid call to Fort Irwin

By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press Writer


Army Spc. Andrew Velez, the second of two brothers to die during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, committed suicide, his family and military officials said Thursday.

Velez, 22, died last month in Afghanistan, a little more than a year after his older brother, Cpl. Jose "Freddy" Velez, 23, was killed in Iraq. They are the first brothers to die in the two conflicts, the military said.

A memorial service for Andrew Velez was planned for Thursday evening. A military document, confirmed by the family, says Velez shot himself with a mini-machine gun on July 25.

Velez had apparently been talking on the telephone in a base office near the barracks before killing himself. The document says the phone was found off the hook, with the last call made to Fort Irwin, Calif. Velez was assigned to the Corps Support Battalion, Theater Support Command at Fort Irwin. Soldiers often contact family members by routing calls through their U.S. bases.

snip...
Roy Velez said the suicide makes his son's death more difficult to accept "because Andrew was not a person who would be capable of doing something like that at all without being pushed to that limit," he said.

more...
http://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060803/APN/608030965

[uppityperson]

1. my condolences to his family and friends.

[Nikki Stone 1]

2. That poor family

There are just no words for that

[cynatnite]

3. K&R

:cry:

[Olney Blue]

4. Oh no.

[skylarmae]

5. Wow! so sad..condolences to Velez family n/t

[gumby]

6. How horribly, horribly tragic.

My condolences to the family and friends of Army Spc. Andrew Velez.

[flyarm]

7. so damn sad..and such a waste of a young man's life..! my heart

aches for his family..when will we stop this carnage??

so so sad..

fly

[me b zola]

8. If I'm not mistaken, I saw this father interviewed on either cnn or msnbc

It was one of the few interviews with the family 'of the fallen' who did not spout pro-war bs. Of course, neither did the interview reveal any other feelings about the war or administration, and it made no mention that the second son's death was being called a suicide.

Heartbreaking.

My condolences to the family. :cry:

[w8liftinglady]

12. I saw that ,too-that dad's sorrow made Me cry..

I wish some msm would focus on these boys...sending them back again and again..keeping them beyond their date...with families at home...it f*cks with your head,people.I know-it f*cked with my son's head.

[lebkuchen]

14. Check out Dad's comments in this article.

“It’s not easy to sleep,” he said. But “I’m proud of my sons. I miss them, but it was to defend their country, their God. They volunteered to go.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14176043/

If that's not pro-war religious extremist bullshit, what is?

[tabasco]

9. RIP, Soldiers.

The senseless tragedy and ugliness of war that neocon chickenhawks will never understand.

[babylonsister]

10. This makes this story that much sadder, and I didn't think it

could get any worse.
Thoughts and prayers to the Velez family.

:cry:

[roguevalley]

11. I can feel the despair in the air in this country. I so grieve for them.

[lebkuchen]

13. Dad says his sons died defending "their country, their God"

Interestingly, that's what the Muslims are doing. I wonder whose god and which country will win at the end of this nightmare.


“It’s not easy to sleep,” he said. But “I’m proud of my sons. I miss them, but it was to defend their country, their God. They volunteered to go.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14176043/