"Shoot Me"

I saw this over the weekend--IIRC, it's at least the second time a soldier has asked to BE SHOT by a relative or friend to avoid another round of "front line in the war on terror:"

A Chicago Marine and his cousin have been charged with felonies after the Marine begged to be shot to avoid returning to Iraq and his cousin acquiesced.

Moises Hernandez had recently returned home from Iraq and was reportedly having nightmares about going back to the war, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

"Shoot me," the 19-year-old Hernandez allegedly told his cousin, who, hesitant at first, then allegedly shot Hernandez in his leg last weekend.

Hernandez initially told police he was hit by random gang gunfire, but detectives investigated and subsequently charged him with a felony for filing a false police report.

The cousin, Juan Hernandez, also 19, was charged with felony weapons charges.

Since the shooting, Hernandez has returned to his unit at Camp Pendleton in California, where the incident is under investigation by the Marines.

Moises' father, Ray Hernandez, told the newspaper his son was troubled when he returned home at the end of June, experiencing nightmares and shaking.

He said his son was in Indonesia after the December's tsunami and talked about the bodies saw floating in the ocean. In Iraq, he also saw death up close, his father said.

Say what you want about this young kid, but I'll guarantee one thing--he's still a lot braver than any of the chickenhawks who sent him over there to begin with.