this is disturbing BUT

unfortunately not surprising

Soldier punished in beating of Jewish trainee

By RUSS BYNUM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — An Army trainee will face nonjudicial punishment rather than criminal charges for beating a Jewish soldier so badly he was treated by a hospital, the military said Friday, in a move that keeps many details of the attack secret.

Fort Benning commanders decided not to seek a court-martial in the attack on Pvt. Michael Handman and will resolve it as a personnel matter rather than a crime.

"I'm infuriated," Jonathan Handman, the beaten soldier's father, said Friday. "The Army's continuing to do what they tried to do from the beginning, which is just shovel this under the carpet. It should be treated and charged as a hate crime."

Fort Benning spokeswoman Monica Manganaro said the Army would not release the name of the soldier responsible for the attack, the punishment he received or the results of a military police investigation because nonjudicial punishments are protected under the federal Privacy Act.

Handman, 20, of Atlanta says he was beaten by a fellow trainee Sept. 24 in a laundry room next to their barracks. He was treated at the Army hospital on Fort Benning in Columbus for a concussion and bruising to the left side of his face..............

could we be any LESS caring

about our wounded warriors? what are we thinking?

the we isn't me by the way. if i was in charge, they would be THE FIRST thing on my list to fix (with so many in second position my head is spinning just thinking about it).

Nearby Firing Ranges Complicate Soldiers' Recovery From Stress

By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer
FORT BENNING, Ga. -- Army Sgt. Jonathan Strickland sits in his room at noon with the blinds drawn, seeking the sleep that has eluded him since he was knocked out by the blast of a Baghdad car bomb.
Like many of the wounded soldiers living in the newly built "warrior transition" barracks here, the soft-spoken 25-year-old suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. But even as Strickland and his comrades struggle with nightmares, anxiety and flashbacks from their wartime experiences, the sounds of gunfire have followed them here, just outside their windows.
Across the street from their assigned housing, about 200 yards away, are some of the Army infantry's main firing ranges, and day and night, several days each week, barrages from rifles and machine guns echo around Strickland's building. The noise makes the wounded cringe, startle in their formations, and stay awake and on edge, according to several soldiers interviewed at the barracks last month. The gunfire recently sent one soldier to the emergency room with an anxiety attack, they said. ...........