Another Tragedy

This story, as much of a huge tragedy as it is, is difficult to know where to begin writing about. The end of the story reflects my initial thoughts.

Pietrzak's mother said she can't understand how Marines could have committed such a crime.

"Don't the Marines screen out people like this?" she said. "Didn't they know they had murderers under their roof?"

I was a Navy recruiter for three years. Only a recruiter or ex-recruiter can understand the extreme pressure that is applied to find "warm bodies."

The up-front cause of this tragedy may have a strong racial component, although I read that two of the accused are white and two are African-American, or maybe not. But I believe the underlying cause will be shown to be the recruitment of people that have no business being in the U.S. military and are only there because the military is scraping the bottom of the barrel.