Nell
March 17th, 2009, 01:36 AM
Day after day, on mission after mission, Jason Klinkenberg strapped on his body armor, stepped behind the wheel of his truck, and took to Iraq's dangerous roads.
It was the fall of 2005. A violent war was growing deadlier by the day. The Army was stretched thin. And so it fell to Air Force personnel like Klinkenberg, a Utah native who had been trained to drive trucks and buses on the peaceful streets of stateside military bases, to take on combat roles once assigned to Army soldiers.
Police and Air Force investigators are now trying to piece together what led Klinkenberg to kill his wife, then himself, during a standoff with law enforcement officers last Friday in North Las Vegas. But Klinkenberg's family said the Iraq war veteran was suffering from post-traumatic stress brought on by his combat experiences. And, they say, he never got the help he needed.
Officials at Nellis Air Force Base, where Klinkenberg was assigned, say their airmen are routinely evaluated for physical and mental wounds when they return home from combat. But veterans advocates say the cracks in the mental health care system intended to treat war veterans are many and large. And if Klinkenberg acted murderously after failing to find the mental help he needed, he wouldn't be the first one.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11796571
Jasons MySpace~ http://www.myspace.com/klinkn9er
Crystals MySpace~ http://www.myspace.com/RuMpEr218
It was the fall of 2005. A violent war was growing deadlier by the day. The Army was stretched thin. And so it fell to Air Force personnel like Klinkenberg, a Utah native who had been trained to drive trucks and buses on the peaceful streets of stateside military bases, to take on combat roles once assigned to Army soldiers.
Police and Air Force investigators are now trying to piece together what led Klinkenberg to kill his wife, then himself, during a standoff with law enforcement officers last Friday in North Las Vegas. But Klinkenberg's family said the Iraq war veteran was suffering from post-traumatic stress brought on by his combat experiences. And, they say, he never got the help he needed.
Officials at Nellis Air Force Base, where Klinkenberg was assigned, say their airmen are routinely evaluated for physical and mental wounds when they return home from combat. But veterans advocates say the cracks in the mental health care system intended to treat war veterans are many and large. And if Klinkenberg acted murderously after failing to find the mental help he needed, he wouldn't be the first one.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11796571
Jasons MySpace~ http://www.myspace.com/klinkn9er
Crystals MySpace~ http://www.myspace.com/RuMpEr218