Soldier Attempts Suicide, Then Charged With Defacing Wall With Suicide Note

Published on February 9th, 2009

It’s humorous on one level, disgusting on another. More importantly is the military can’t have soldiers committing suicide because of a war. That would hurt enlistments and would be an admission they aren’t dealing with mental problems properly that were caused by the war.

The day before Halloween 2008, Army Pvt. Adam Lieberman swallowed handfuls of prescription pain pills and psychotropic drugs. Then he picked up a can of black paint and smeared onto the wall of his room in the Fort Carson barracks what he thought would be his last words to the world.

“I FACED THE ENEMY AND LIVED!” Lieberman painted on the wall in big, black letters. “IT WAS THE DEATH DEALERS THAT TOOK MY LIFE!”

Soldiers called Lieberman’s unit, the 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, the Death Dealers. Adam suffered serious mental health problems after a year of combat in Iraq. The Army, however, blamed his problems on a personality disorder, anxiety disorder or alcohol abuse — anything but the war. Instead of receiving treatment from the Army for his war-related problems, Adam faced something more akin to harassment. He was punished and demoted for his bad behavior, but not treated effectively for its cause. The Army’s fervent tough-guy atmosphere discouraged Adam from seeking help. Eventually he saw no other way out. Now, in what was to be his last message, he pointed the finger at the Army for his death.
[...]
“You know,” [Lieberman's mother] fired at Phelps, “I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that my son is being charged with defacing government property and you people are more concerned about your wall than my son,” she stammered. Then she threatened, half jokingly, “I will paint that wall and make this stupidity go away.”

A pause, and then Phelps snapped, “We’ll contact supply and have them bring you the matching paint.”

And so, the Army allowed a mother to paint over her son’s suicide note. Heidi’s handicapped sister helped.
[...]
Just before Christmas, MPs fingerprinted and booked Adam for defacing government property.

31 users responded in " Soldier Attempts Suicide, Then Charged With Defacing Wall With Suicide Note "

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# 1 Paddy-O said, on February 9th, 2009 at 6:42 am

“The day before Halloween 2008, Army Pvt. Adam Lieberman swallowed handfuls of prescription pain pills and psychotropic drugs.”

That’s bad. He was probably on these drugs. Psychotropics are known to increase suicidal tendencies. I hope they stop drugging the troops…

Maybe, after a tour of combat these guys can be sent to Tahiti for a month of club med decompression.

# 2 dmstrat said, on February 9th, 2009 at 6:45 am

And people wonder why we have low recruitment numbers, with this and the other story where soldiers are being billed for lost or damaged equipment in a WAR zone.

Yeah, wonder why I left the military? There’s a perfect example. Serve your county, one sad bureaucratic bill at a time.

# 3 jimbo said, on February 9th, 2009 at 7:13 am

You only have to read the comments that appear on here sometimes by ex/current service personnel or their spouses to realise why this guy bit the dust.

Ignorant minds, violent attitudes… if he had nowhere else to go… which is hard to believe… i’m not surprised he did it.

As for letting the MA paint over it, how come America isn’t bothered about that?

If it happened in Ireland, chances are the people who were involved on the army side would have been shot by now.

So many guns, so many a**holes but nobody lifts a finger…

# 4 Paddy-O said, on February 9th, 2009 at 7:22 am

# 3 jimbo said, “If it happened in Ireland, chances are the people who were involved on the army side would have been shot by now.”

I don’t know if I would compare this way. Ireland hasn’t won a war in how many hundreds of years?

No, the PC crowd needs to stay away from military affairs. As long as we have an all voluntary force, people can decide for themselves whether to be part of it or not.

# 5 Bub said, on February 9th, 2009 at 7:40 am

The force is voluntary, but paying for it isn’t. A lot of the ‘PC crowd’ has friends and relatives over there, they are also paying the taxes that supply the cash pipeline. Telling people to stay out of it, who are you? Every American has a say in this conflict. Don’t tell me what my rights are. No one asked you.

# 6 Paddy-O said, on February 9th, 2009 at 8:16 am

# 5 Bub said, “The force is voluntary, but paying for it isn’t. A lot of the ‘PC crowd’ has friends and relatives over there, they are also paying the taxes that supply the cash pipeline. Telling people to stay out of it, who are you? Every American has a say in this conflict.”

I’m talking about how the internal policy is run. Not what conflicts we are involved in. Every officer I know thought both Iraq & Af invasions were a stupid & dangerous idea.

# 7 Mr. Fusion said, on February 9th, 2009 at 8:28 am

#6, Cow-Patty,

Every officer I know thought both Iraq & Af invasions were a stupid & dangerous idea.

More bullshit from the specialist.

The macho front the soldiers are expected to present means they ALL WANT TO GO to war.

Geeze, you are an idiot.

# 8 the real billybob said, on February 9th, 2009 at 9:09 am

Mr. Fusion’s brain has fused… into a gelatinous mass.

# 9 Paddy-O said, on February 9th, 2009 at 9:59 am

# 7 Mr. Fusion said, “The macho front the soldiers are expected to present means they ALL WANT TO GO to war. ”

ROFL!

# 10 MikeN said, on February 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am

Liberals support the troops if they are victims to be funded, or when they shoot their officers.

# 11 grog said, on February 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am

my aunt is a psychiatric nurse newly serving in kuwait is part of the armed forces’ attempt to start helping to heal the wounds that no one sees.

we are very proud of her courage.

i think the war in iraq was the gravest mistake america could have made on many, many fronts, but that doesn’t matter, unfortunately.

what we need to do as americans is to welcome these young men and women home with open arms.

so many of these kids joined up right out of high school and have no real skills, and g.i. bill benefits don’t cover the reservists and guardists stuck on active duty for years at a stretch.

why not instead of armchair douchebaggery, how about you guys call up your local army base to see if you can help some recently discharged vet find a job, or maybe donate to the uso?

otherwise you’re just a douchebag in an armchair talking shit about the bravest among us.

# 12 bobbo said, on February 9th, 2009 at 10:23 am

#10–grog==What we need to do is make sure that our GOVERNMENT establishes the programs our veterans need and make sure it is FUNDED to meet the goals set.

The rest is feel good BS.

# 13 bobbo said, on February 9th, 2009 at 11:42 am

This thread shows 11 comments but only 10 appear. It ate my #11 so I’ll give it a rego just to see what happens?

#10–grog==what we all should want and work towards for our veterans is good and sufficient GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS funded thru tax dollars to HONOR our veterans for their service==whether they had any real options or not.

Everything else is BS.

# 14 Floyd said, on February 9th, 2009 at 11:50 am

My daughter has a military boyfriend with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, aka PTSD or (in an older day) shell shock. It’s the same thing this guy is afflicted with. The boyfriend has a milder version, so he’s back in the Middle East so the war can really mess him up. Seven months to go…he’s a nice guy, hope he can weather the rest of his hitch.

By the way, a lot of people that went to Vietnam also came back with PTSD. I got lucky (stayed in the US during my time in the Army), but I knew a lot of guys that came back from the Nam messed up by their experiences there.

# 15 Olo Baggins of Bywater said, on February 9th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

Floyd…seems like I heard about some interesting new treatments being developed for PTSD, and I hope that they are being implemented as often as possible. It’s too damn bad this is a growth industry.

Grog…I think you’d have to look real hard today to find people who would even consider treating vets with the same disdain the VietNam vets saw when they came home. I’m opposed to this war for every possible reason, but the soldiers are not the target of my opposition. I will honor them and their sacrifice every chance I get.

# 16 Gaolbird said, on February 9th, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Wimps should not join the volunteer military…

# 17 Floyd said, on February 9th, 2009 at 1:35 pm

#15: Uncalled for.

PTSD is caused by the stress of being in combat, but can also be caused by incidents happening to military or civilians outside the war zone. Examples outside warfare include people in accidents, victims of rape, victims of holdups, and so forth. Someone doesn’t know PTSD can happen to them until it happens.

# 18 bobbo said, on February 9th, 2009 at 1:54 pm

#16–Floyd (and Birdbrain)==right you are. I used to “question” the whole PTSD concept until it happened to me.

In my 20’s I used to scuba around the world. Ran into sharks 3-4 times with never much more than having to shove them out of the way. Not ever really nervous about it–just careful and would never dive in low visibility conditions as so many do.

But 20 years later one night in my swimming pool I got an uncontrollable phobia that there was a shark in my pool. I couldn’t stay in the pool without turning on the lights.

boogeymen. I no longer doubt what can happen to people put under REAL stress. We owe them a lot==even if they are faking/malingering, which most aren’t.

# 19 amodedoma said, on February 9th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

I guess the poor kid didn’t realize that serving the army in wartime means going out and risking your life while you kill people. I like the way the army still doesn’t have an effective strategy for PTSD, I mean c’mon, soldiers have been losing it since war was invented. The attitude where those who lose it were psychologically unstable to begin with, is just to shrug responsibility. You’d think our modern armed service would have a more effective strategy.

# 20 THE Soldier said, on February 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm

As a US Army Soldier, I can tell you that most commands take suicide and mental health very seriously. We have monthly training on suicide prevention and recognition and Soldiers are always encouraged to seek help for social/behavioral/mental issues before it affects their work.

BTW #2 dmstrat, the Army’s recruitment numbers are not down. If fact, last year all components of the US Army met or exceeded their enlistment mission.

# 21 waltersobchack said, on February 9th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

They should have had Halliburton paint over it while Blackwater guarded the place, guns cocked and ready to pepper anyone who looked at them cross eyed.

At least that way a 2 dollar paint job would have cost the taxpayers 200,000 smackers.

# 22 jimbo said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:01 am

Paddy-twat

We don’t fight wars because we aren’t DICKS!

# 23 Paddy-O said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:03 am

# 22 jimbo said, “We don’t fight wars because we aren’t DICKS!”

Oh! I thought it was because of being drunk all the time. Hmmm.

# 24 jimbo said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:10 am

God you are thick…get that from your cartoons?

We’re descended from vikings…the original warbringers…

You’re a bastard mix of all the crap that couldn’t make it anywhere else but in a place with more likewise crap.

Without Cartoon Network news paddy i fear you would be unable to post on this site.

Do you get CN in your company CEO/Army general/Flight technician/Senators office?

Still waiting on proof that you conducted urban combat ops….starting to think you’re bullsh**ting everyone…..but let me guess, you’ll ignore this paragraph and talk about taking me taking meds/being an idiot/not recognising sources or maybe you’ll just respond with those horrible net abbreviations you love so much…..

“ROFL” – come on now paddy, you have to be a fu*king moron to use those…and they aren’t easier, they just make you look like a badly educated American.

# 25 Paddy-O said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:21 am

# 24 jimbo said, “We’re descended from vikings…the original warbringers…”

Uh huh… ROFL

“The genetic evidence shows that a large proportion of Irish Celts, on both the male and female side, did arrive from Iberia at or about the same time as farming reached the Isles.

The historical Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age Europe. Proto-Celtic culture formed in the Early Iron Age in Central Europe (Hallstatt period, named for the site in present-day Austria). By the later Iron Age (La Tène period), Celts had expanded over a wide range of lands: as far west as Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula…”

# 26 jimbo said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:25 am

you ignored it again paddy-child

and you have not backed up your claim.

So by refusing to answer the afformentioned challenge to prove your qualifications you have effectively proved to me and everyone else that you were lying.

Dumb american, always ready argue your point, but never willing to prove it

# 27 Paddy-O said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:27 am

# 26 jimbo said, “and you have not backed up your claim.”

What claim are babbling about?

# 28 jimbo said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:31 am

“# 76 Paddy-O said, on January 15th, 2009 at 11:18 am

# 69 Nihility said, “It definately was not used for smoke cover, far too much of it.

Apparently, you know nothing about conducting urban combat operations…”

and you do?

If i had the time, there are about 6 other posts on this blog where you claim to be a CEO amongst other things.

ALSO

# 25 Paddy-O said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:21 am # 24 jimbo said, “We’re descended from vikings…the original warbringers…”

Uh huh… ROFL

“The genetic evidence shows that a large proportion of Irish Celts, on both the male and female side, did arrive from Iberia at or about the same time as farming reached the Isles.

did you pull that one out of your ass too? Because you sure as hell didn’t post a link or reference the source.

# 29 jimbo said, on February 10th, 2009 at 7:39 am

Also, as for my #24, your claim is that a “large proportion” of the pop. is not decended from Vikings, wheras I didn’t specify. Therefore it is perfectly correct for me to post that we are descended from vikings, as they did land here, did take irish wives, did have children here and did create a lineage.

http://www.ncte.ie/viking/vikage.htm

tells you a little about what happened

# 30 Paddy-O said, on February 10th, 2009 at 8:05 am

# 28 jimbo said, “# 69 Nihility said, “It definately was not used for smoke cover, far too much of it.

Apparently, you know nothing about conducting urban combat operations…””

So? What’s wrong with the post?

# 31 Paddy-O said, on February 10th, 2009 at 8:08 am

# 29 jimbo said, “wheras I didn’t specify. ”

Of course you didn’t. You don’t have a clue as to the origin of the Irish. How could you be specific about something you know nothing about?

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