Dead in 2013

[Munson]

Sally Starr

She used to perform at Ontelaunee Park when my grandfather owned it, and then eventually bought it from him I'm pretty sure. We've got a bunch of pictures of her performing with them and shtein.

Can't remember if it was her or Dolly Parton that wrote my grandmother a poem when he died.

[Geowhizzer]

Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, at age 94.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9ZVQP-O9Rg

[BigEd76]

This guy


ow

[Sgt PSN]

Ed Koch

[Sgt PSN]

Apparently, Muhammed Ali is on his death bed.  Could be gone in a matter of days. 

[MDS]

[Sgt PSN]

Thanks.  I was obviously very worked up and distraught over the entire thing. 

[Seabiscuit36]

Chris Kyle, The Devil of Bagdad, shot by a marine at a shooting range apparently while Kyle was working with him and his PTSD issues

[Sgt PSN]

Definitely a good idea to give a loaded gun to someone with PTSD. 

Kyle was pretty farging legit though.  Most confirmed kills by a sniper in US history.  This is definitely one of the more ironic deaths I can remember hearing about. 

[Diomedes]

He was also the only legit sniper to talk openly about his kills with derision and disrespect.  He thought of them as animals, whereas almost every other top-flight sniper ever interviewed spoke of his foes with some degree of honor.

[Seabiscuit36]

Do you honestly blame him?  It's not like he was up against trained combatants.  Rather he was shooting guys who strapped 10 grenades to their sister, and sent them into a market. 

[rjs246]

It isn't about blame, I don't think, with Dio's observation. There's an inherent desire for us to make something human out of a sniper (or anyone else who's job is simply to kill people from afar). We want to hear them talk about how much respect they have for the ant-speck that they brained from half a mile away because it makes us feel better. I actually commend the guy for talking straight about it. Overt disrespect for your targets might be sociopathic, but it's refreshing in its honesty.

[Sgt PSN]

Do you honestly blame him?  It's not like he was up against trained combatants.  Rather he was shooting guys who strapped 10 grenades to their sister, and sent them into a market. 

Exactly.  Snipers in WWI, WWII, Korea, etc were picking off trained soldiers who were simply doing their job.  Just as much as Americans were often drafted into combat against their will, the same can be said for the enemy as well.  Does anyone really think that every soldier in Hitler's army actually supported and agreed with Hitler?  Of course they didn't.  There's often a mutual warrior respect among enemies that extends beyond the battlefield.  The Japanese could have easily bombed any part of Hawaii they wanted to.  They chose to strictly attack the Navy yard.  There's an unwritten, but basically universal code that warriors attack warriors.  Yeah, it's cheeky and maybe even a bit corny, but it's still mostly true.     

In the case of Kyle, his targets weren't highly trained soldiers who follow any sort of warrior code.  He was shooting people who target innocent, unsuspecting people.  I'll even go so far as to say that his targets mostly were animals because they do not value human life in the least.  Their goal is to die for their god and take as many infidels with them as they possibly can.   

[hbionic]

Well, the other side of the argument is that they were targeting infidels only, and not just regular god loving civilians. Who are we to second guess their judgement.

[Diomedes]

Are people who suffer from PTSD often treated by taking them to an active firing range and arming them?  That just doesn't sound like a good idea.