Navy SEAL dead in Afghanistan in reported suicide

Navy SEAL dead in Afghanistan in reported suicide

WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:06pm EST (Reuters) -
A senior member of the U.S. Navy's elite SEAL unit has died in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said on Sunday, and media reports said the death was a possible suicide.

Commander Job Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died on Saturday of a non-combat related injury in central Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province, the Pentagon said in a statement.

"This incident is currently under investigation," it said.

Price was assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the statement said.

NBC News and CNN quoted unnamed military officials as saying that the death was being looked at as a possible suicide.

Well not too much to add that the full article doesn't already mention. I add to the condolences to his family, friends and fellow shipmates. Still too early I suppose to know what the true cause of death is, but it's likely we the public will not know the truth.

I often find it odd that these members of these "elite" forces off themselves though, quite odd. I suppose everyone has a breaking point, but these types of stories just never sit well with me.

Sounds like he may have known a little too much huh? This is the price you pay for looking back once you have ventured too far down the wrong path...

reply to post by chadderson


I think they all know too much per se, it's usually the ones that start telling others what they know or allude to telling what they know that end up having accidents, self inflicted or not.

War takes a huge toll on the human psyche. Depending on his beliefs he may have felt he was already damned and just decided to end his misery.

My brother was just a combat medic and when he got back from Mosul Iraq, he had a haunted look to his eyes. One of his friends was shot in the head right next to him by a sniper, and could have easily been him. War changes you forever.

reply to post by lonewolf19792000

he may have felt he was already damned and just decided to end his misery.

I won't totally discount that in the least and is just as probable as anything at this point. Either way, it's too bad it had to come to that, no matter the case.

I personally think we'd be getting ahead of ourselves to assume something nefarious happened here. It sounds like something tragic to me. I'd be curious how much personal life played in it and really, that's none of our business anyway. If personal life wasn't the issue though .... wow... I think its time we REALLY start looking at how hard and how far we've pushed our military forces. Suicides are bad in the ranks too but if the elite are succumbing to this from war related things, something is terribly wrong and that needs answered, IMO.

I don't think anyone is out doing away with Navy Seals for 'security' reasons though. I mean these guys are special precisely because they do the impossible with nothing and then come back and ask for something harder. Richard Marcinko recounts in his original non-fiction telling of his time with Red Cell (a Seal unit dedicated to testing U.S. Security as opposing forces in the 80's) how they not only planted a 'Gotcha' on Air Force One under the noses of the SS on duty....but got into to "Steal" a nuclear warhead at Seal Beach Depot when it was active and I seem to recall a certain snarky note left inside a U.S. Nuclear Missile submarine as well.

^^^^ That was the guy who literally formed Seal Team Six, so he was good without saying ....but as they say, they're all that good and .......even leaders....wouldn't likely want THAT group of people getting a legitimate sense they were being hunted. (like bad fiction anyway..lol)

Originally posted by lonewolf19792000
War takes a huge toll on the human psyche. Depending on his beliefs he may have felt he was already damned and just decided to end his misery.

My brother was just a combat medic and when he got back from Mosul Iraq, he had a haunted look to his eyes. One of his friends was shot in the head right next to him by a sniper, and could have easily been him. War changes you forever.

edit on 23-12-2012 by lonewolf19792000 because: (no reason given)

You can't blame all of this on War in general, although it plays a huge part. These boys are brainwashed to kill, murder innocent civilians indiscriminately simply because someone says so. It's not natural, especially if you don't agree with the reasons for the war like wars for control of resources like oil to make some people rich and maintain control over the masses. It's never about defending true Freedom anymore.

This brainwashing comes direct from your Uncle Sam, The U.S. Military. The worst offender of humanitarian atrocities done to it's own people willingly - and they expect you to like it. This boy was a Seal.. a more brainwashed killer than most. It's not surprising he took his own life. Good for Him. He's in a better place now and will never has to kill in some schmucks name again. He did the right thing for everyone concerned. For that, he should get a medal.

Go ahead, flame me. I don't believe in sugarcoating the truth. Why do you think so many people come back really messed up? It's a combination of war, and the training. None of these boys have been taught to use thier brains, only blindly follow orders. They can't say for themselves, I refuse to kill that child because that child is no threat, I have assessed the situation - doesn't happen. If he gets the order to open fire on that car with the guy holding a baby up waving frantically trying to say, " Hey, i'm no threat, Don't shoot" He HAS to shoot to Kill, even the baby.. or if you are the guy that has to give That order without being able to assess the situation.. I know people in such situations who blew their brains out after they came back home.

reply to post by UberL33t


There are odd bits that occur more often than is reported. One such event occurred during the fall of 2006 in Afghanistan, where an 18A (U.S. Army Special Forces officer) lost his mind and attempted to kill a Command Sergeant Major with an M1911.

The military's top tier guys definitely aren't immune to losing it. I'll add that this particular officer was on prescribed meds as well.

(This is based on personal experience; hence, no link to the story. And I am not that officer.)

.....................................................Maybe the guilt of all the innocent people they are forced to take out......knowing they are innocent. Navy seals are usually chose with great care so my opinion says its highly unlikely a suicide...though anything is possible.

I don't think seeing your fellow colleagues getting blown to pieces by roadside bombs is good for anybodys mental health. Being the commander, he probably had every one of his fallen comrades on his mind. My condolences to his family and friends. Bring the troops home now.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix

Originally posted by lonewolf19792000
War takes a huge toll on the human psyche. Depending on his beliefs he may have felt he was already damned and just decided to end his misery.

My brother was just a combat medic and when he got back from Mosul Iraq, he had a haunted look to his eyes. One of his friends was shot in the head right next to him by a sniper, and could have easily been him. War changes you forever.

edit on 23-12-2012 by lonewolf19792000 because: (no reason given)

You can't blame all of this on War in general, although it plays a huge part. These boys are brainwashed to kill, murder innocent civilians indiscriminately simply because someone says so. It's not natural, especially if you don't agree with the reasons for the war like wars for control of resources like oil to make some people rich and maintain control over the masses. It's never about defending true Freedom anymore.

This brainwashing comes direct from your Uncle Sam, The U.S. Military. The worst offender of humanitarian atrocities done to it's own people willingly - and they expect you to like it. This boy was a Seal.. a more brainwashed killer than most. It's not surprising he took his own life. Good for Him. He's in a better place now and will never has to kill in some schmucks name again. He did the right thing for everyone concerned. For that, he should get a medal.

Go ahead, flame me. I don't believe in sugarcoating the truth. Why do you think so many people come back really messed up? It's a combination of war, and the training. None of these boys have been taught to use thier brains, only blindly follow orders. They can't say for themselves, I refuse to kill that child because that child is no threat, I have assessed the situation - doesn't happen. If he gets the order to open fire on that car with the guy holding a baby up waving frantically trying to say, " Hey, i'm no threat, Don't shoot" He HAS to shoot to Kill, even the baby.. or if you are the guy that has to give That order without being able to assess the situation.. I know people in such situations who blew their brains out after they came back home.

edit on 23-12-2012 by JohnPhoenix because: sp

Never been in have you? I can tell because anyone who thinks the military is full of brainwashed killers who can not refuse orders has no idea what they are talking about. Thinking for yourself and on your feet is one the key things that makes the US militarty superior to so many other. You do not have to follow unlawful orders, you do not have to shoot babies or any such nonsense. War is not fun and bad things can happen but the outside of the people on the internet who have no idea what really goes on their is no brain washed killling going on. In fact you civilians seem to have the bug for targeting innocent people.

reply to post by UberL33t


NO FRIGGIN WAY this guy killed himself!! If you know what it takes to become a Navy SEAL, and the ethos that these guys live by, I CANNOT BELIEVE that SEAL would ever take his own life, let alone QUIT ANYTHING. I would be very interested in the outcome of the investigation. If you think it's hard to be a SEAL in the first place, think about what he had to have done to become commander of a SEAL TEAM.

If someone says a SEAL took his own life, I would have to regard that piece of news as HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS!

Originally posted by MrSpad


You do not have to follow unlawful orders, you do not have to shoot babies or any such nonsense.

You can't prove that, your just making a generalization. Don't you know it's unlawful to refuse a direct order? There are many orders that may be unlawful but that has to be proven in a court after the fact. You don't have the time or freedom to dispute that order when it's given in a wartime situation. Once that order is given, you HAVE to follow it or be brought up on charges yourself. This was the case where this fellow had to give the order to shoot a car with a child in it. The car drove past a first checkpoint. Standing orders were if a car passed the first checkpoint then that car had to be stopped by force before it could get passed the second checkpoint. You never know if it could be a suicide bomber. So this fellow in charge of the second checkpoint had to follow his training and give the order to open up on that car with a 50 cal. There was a baby in the lap of the driver who had been frantically trying to signal that he was not a threat.Yes, he should have stopped but for whatever reason, he did not. The fellow who issued the order was commended for following his training. The car, driver and child were ripped to shreds. No bombs or any hostile weapons were found in that car. The fellow who gave that order was haunted by this so much so that a few months after he was back in the states, he took his own life. There should have been a better way.

reply to post by sumgai


I agree and I too believe this guy did'nt commit suicide, he had everything going for him including a good wife and young children.

Yah. Well, think about it.

The guy's an officer. Who does he talk to? I don't know Navy, but I did know some 18's, and I imagine it's similar.


It's going to be tough enough for the NCOs to talk about stuff that's bothering them to their teammates. You'd think you could, but seriously, are you going to admit to your buddies you have misgivings about what you just did, or you're just friggin tired and need to stand down a bit? It's worse for officers, they can't talk about such things to anyone, other than other team captains.

So you come back, and get a Skype that your old lady's banging someone else. Or another one of your closest friends just bought the farm. And all that on top of maybe a whopper dose of Lariam, and fatigue, and sleep deprivation, and no one to get pasted with, and bam, you hit that saturation point and bammo your brains are on the floor rather than deploy again next week.

I could seriously see it. These guys are getting worked to death.

Originally posted by sumgai

NO FRIGGIN WAY this guy killed himself!! If you know what it takes to become a Navy SEAL, and the ethos that these guys live by, I CANNOT BELIEVE that SEAL would ever take his own life, let alone QUIT ANYTHING.

It happens, though. You just don't hear about it so much.

reply to post by Bedlam


Which has me wondering why "we" are hearing about this incident...from the MSM stand point? I find it odd that they went with the "appears to be suicide" without an absolute, especially given his role. Just has my BS meter twinging a little more than usual I suppose.

reply to post by UberL33t


I have to admit, I usually hear about that sort of thing through the email net. Sometimes it hits the media a year or two after.

Of course, it's the era of communication. Back when, we wore onions on our belt and no one had cameras or "diaries" except someone who was supposed to. These days, they take trophy pics instead of just carving off ears for a necklace, like my Uncle Danny, then put them up on photobucket or the like with no privacy settings, and keep note logs on their phones. At least in Uncle Danny's case, no one except family knew what that was, unless he went swimming and forgot to take it off.

But, you know, the media are shaping public opinion for Fearless Leader these days, so if dead SEALS fit a public opinion profile for getting them out of Afghanistan, then that's what'll be pushed on the nightly news.

edit to add: if you wanted to just lose someone on purpose, you don't need them to commit suicide. There's too many ways to take someone out that looks like an accident.

reply to post by Bedlam

if dead SEALS fit a public opinion profile for getting them out of Afghanistan, then that's what'll be pushed

Makes sense, the sad part is, I think most everyone has some inclining that wars are not pleasant on many levels. Some levels perhaps more intense than what your average everyday Joe and Jane may be aware of. It's insanity to me that those in power push our men and women in the armed forces to these extremes, "to protect our freedom".

Suicides among troops who have served on serious operations are unfortunately surprisingly common, even among so-called 'elite' troops.

It is a known fact that more soldiers committed suicide who served in the Falklands campaign than actually died there. These were mostly Parachute Regiment and Royal Marines. Military are one of the most seriously at risk groups of suicide. The training that a soldier goes through prepares him physically for combat, but there is a long way to go before we can adequately prepare for the psychological impact. We do have some post-incident management (known as Trauma Risk Management or TRIM) but that is usually viewed as just being a tick in the box to reduce the militarys liability should problems arise post-tour.
Most of us who have seen serious fighting are placed under a degree of psychological stress that is unimaginable to those who haven't. We often come away with some form of problem, be it drink problems, beating the wife, fighting, emotional control issues or sleep problems. Unfortunately for some the strain becomes too much to bear and the natural coping mechanisms we have become overwhelmed, sometimes resulting in suicide. Soldiers are a macho group who often view seeking help with mental health issues as a sign of weakness and leave it too late.

For those who say there is no way he would have done this because he is a SEAL - have a read of Andy McNabbs book Seven Troop which is a (mostly) true account of his time within the SAS. While I normally don't go for this type of thing, this one deals with the stresses and strains of SF life. Several of the writers colleagues commit suicide due to these strains. One of these lads (Tom Read, referred to as Nish in the McNabb book) actually wrote a book prior to his suicide, called Freefall, which was irioically how he killed himself - He jumped from a plane with no parachute.