thisistheglamorous: Pvt. Danny Chen, 1992–2011 When asked about his decision to enlist, his friends and relatives offer up myriad explanations: He planned to join the NYPD and thought the Army would be good training; he wanted a steady income to help support his parents; he thought college would be boring; he loved action and adventure, and wanted more of it in his own life; he was anxious to test himself and prove his mettle. Perhaps he was hoping to strike out on his own, to put some distance between himself and his parents. But one fact looms over all the ­others: He joined the Army because he wanted to, not because he needed to, and knowing all the while that he was likely to be catapulted into a combat zone. In fact, he was eager to get there. “hooah for leaving,” he wrote in his diary on his way to basic training last January. “Excited as heck.” Nine months later, he was found dead in Afghanistan of what the Army has described as “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Since Danny Chen’s death, details of his story have slowly emerged, relayed by Army officials to his family. A group of his superiors allegedly tormented Chen on an almost daily basis over the course of about six weeks in Afghanistan last fall. They singled him out, their only Chinese-American soldier, and spit racial slurs at him: “gook,” “chink,” “dragon lady.” They forced him to do sprints while carrying a sandbag. They ordered him to crawl along gravel-covered ground while they flung rocks at him. And one day, when his unit was assembling a tent, he was forced to wear a green hard-hat and shout out instructions to his fellow soldiers in Chinese.

thisistheglamorous:

Pvt. Danny Chen, 1992–2011

When asked about his decision to enlist, his friends and relatives offer up myriad explanations: He planned to join the NYPD and thought the Army would be good training; he wanted a steady income to help support his parents; he thought college would be boring; he loved action and adventure, and wanted more of it in his own life; he was anxious to test himself and prove his mettle. Perhaps he was hoping to strike out on his own, to put some distance between himself and his parents. But one fact looms over all the ­others: He joined the Army because he wanted to, not because he needed to, and knowing all the while that he was likely to be catapulted into a combat zone. In fact, he was eager to get there. “hooah for leaving,” he wrote in his diary on his way to basic training last January. “Excited as heck.”

Nine months later, he was found dead in Afghanistan of what the Army has described as “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Since Danny Chen’s death, details of his story have slowly emerged, relayed by Army officials to his family. A group of his superiors allegedly tormented Chen on an almost daily basis over the course of about six weeks in Afghanistan last fall. They singled him out, their only Chinese-American soldier, and spit racial slurs at him: “gook,” “chink,” “dragon lady.” They forced him to do sprints while carrying a sandbag. They ordered him to crawl along gravel-covered ground while they flung rocks at him. And one day, when his unit was assembling a tent, he was forced to wear a green hard-hat and shout out instructions to his fellow soldiers in Chinese.

Notes

  1. ikiwisi reblogged this from grindlebone and added:
    and will anyone in the army of any consequence be held accountable? don’t hold your breath. Some low level grunt will be...
  2. tarasquad reblogged this from thisistheglamorous and added:
    This is sickening. So horrible that people are still treated like this.
  3. tft reblogged this from grindlebone
  4. the-giant-skeleton reblogged this from velveteenrabbit
  5. insidegiraffeshead reblogged this from velveteenrabbit
  6. bonerjuice reblogged this from grindlebone
  7. velveteenrabbit reblogged this from cargohoo
  8. buschkamps reblogged this from thisistheglamorous
  9. notentirely said: that’s monstrous.
  10. rata-del-desierto reblogged this from cargohoo
  11. oh-noo reblogged this from grindlebone
  12. grindlebone reblogged this from thisistheglamorous and added:
    Bastards. Fucking bastards.
  13. allisonunsupervised said: Makes my heart hurt every time.
  14. itsjustabunchofbullshit reblogged this from thisistheglamorous
  15. jaypringg reblogged this from cargohoo and added:
    fuckin disgusting
  16. cargohoo reblogged this from thisistheglamorous
  17. thisistheglamorous posted this