21-year-old Goodrich soldier found dead inside barracks at Alaska U.S. Army base

U.S. Army Spc. Shane Michael Holton, 21, of Goodrich, was found dead inside his barracks room Thursday, Nov. 14 at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska.

21-year-old Goodrich soldier found dead inside barracks at Alaska U.S. Army base

Really sad news coming from my neck of the woods today. Me and Shane were good friends back in the day, he was a really funny ass dude and just cool to hang out with. I shot skeet with him for a year, this guy seriously was hitting 24/25 all day long and he won a lot of our competitions as a result.

Anyways, back onto the article, it says he was found in his barracks in Alaska, and that he was an intelleigence analyst at the time (I didn't even know that's what he was). Furthermore it states that emergecy personnel were notified by his "chain of command", which is peculiar that it had to go that high up before they called an ambluence no? I guess the obvious and most glaring reasoning for his death is that of suicide, and is probably going to be the offical reasoning in the end.. it's just, I know Shane and I just truly can't picture him killing himself like that, I mean this guy would get along with almost everybody he came up to, I'd actually hang out with him sometimes just to have him talk to any strangers we'd have to deal with (vain I know). That being said, I understand the obvious biasness of my opinion and don't mean to influence you with my own personal story. Check out the article, it isn't long but the points on it are interesting, what do you think about it?

reply to post by doesntmakesense


Sorry that you lost your friend. Do you know him well enough that you know if he recently had any personal relationship issues or a drinking problem?

Especially with alcohol, long term abuse changes your brain in horrible ways. I know when I had a drinking problem my mood and demeanor changed completely. It makes you irritable and can turn very nice people into angry, depressed, and aggressive monsters.

Just an idea. If not then I don't know enough about the story but again I am sorry for your loss. Seeing people young die is just heartbreaking.

reply to post by OrphanApology


No actually he was engaged at the time, and she had actually just been on base with him for the first time only a couple days before it happened. Her parents wrote on his wall afterwards thankful that their daughter had got to be with him then, soo it doesn't seem to me like he was having any relationshiip issues at the time.

Now the alcohol is a really good point to be made because he liked to drink socially like at partys and stuff, but he also definintely had less of a tolerance to it than most others so he wasn't partying too hard... but I could imagine an Alaskan army barracks to be quite a liquered up place (From what i've heard soldiers love to party off-duty), so I could imagine that to be the place to begin a problem with it at.

oh and thanks man, our towns had more than enough share of them in recent times. I remember my senior year I came back from thanksgiving break to find out the kid who sat 3 seats down had killed himself that morning. But this kid acted much differnely than Shane- he'd be sleeping in class all day, he'd do projects but was too afraid to present them, he was the kind of kid that you actually worried about if you knew what to look for. i actually had the chacne/random idea to ask him to study with me and my friends one day because I was best friends with THE class clown in there... I hesitated and turned back on the idea. DONT do that people! When its a good idea just go with it, if you hesitate acknowlege the hesitation and still go with it. And whether or not Shane went down the same path, I still will regret not reaching out to him while he's been away even though I've had the 'random' idea to on more than one occasion.

"I show you sorrow" said the Buddha realistically. But through sorrow we find the ending to all sorrows- awareness.
^Read the Island by Aldous Huxley if you think thats some good stuff. He made it a year before he died and he considered it the culimination of all his life's work. If you could consider Brave New World as a blue print for the manipulation of society as a whole, then you will most definitely consider the Island as a blue print for the psycological recovery of an individual and society as well.

reply to post by doesntmakesense


With all due respect to your buddy, once you sign up, you sign your life away and I'll put it this way, how many other lives have fueled the military machine of fire?

reply to post by doesntmakesense


Also if it was an alcohol related suicide or even general death that could be why it moved to the higher ups so quickly. It's no secret that alcohol abuse is a huge problem in the military. It's also a really bad PR issue especially with someone so young falling victim.

I can only imagine how a base in Alaska would be as far as alcohol is concerned. I don't know enough about Fairbanks but I know certain areas out there can get remote and lonely. But all this is conjecture. It's just sad all around.

I actually just recently found out that a friend of my girlfriend(good friend) lost a significant other to suicide. She was young. It's just sad all around.

Unfortunately suicides leave more questions than answers.

Also Alaska has either led or been ranked 2nd in suicide rate per 100,000 for quite some time.

Alaska dispatch

reply to post by six67seven


Wow, didn't realize things were so bad over there. I know that it's pretty bad over there with the sun cycles and freezing colds and radiation levels and whatnot, but just wow. I've always had dreams of living there my whole life, now I'm not so sure anymore.

reply to post by doesntmakesense


Sorry about your friend. May he rest in peace.

OrphanApology
Especially with alcohol, long term abuse changes your brain in horrible ways. I know when I had a drinking problem my mood and demeanor changed completely. It makes you irritable and can turn very nice people into angry, depressed, and aggressive monsters.

Article says he joined in 2011, and wasn't stationed in Alaska until 2012. That's not nearly sufficient time to develop a serious alcohol problem, much less 'long term abuse'. So, I think I'd rule that one out.

Zcustosmorum
With all due respect to your buddy, once you sign up, you sign your life away and I'll put it this way, how many other lives have fueled the military machine of fire?

Agreed.
The way I see it this is how the whole machine works:
- You have a 'Shadow Government' which are the people that hold true power
- Than you have what we know as 'The Government' which is only enforcing the will of the former, and
- Finally 'We the people' which both of the former think of as 'dispensable'. Soldiers included.

reply to post by IamTheManWithThePlan


You can develop a drinking problem in that time period easily. It doesn't take long, and long term abuse is considered any alcohol abuse that begins to have negative effects on social and health status.

Don't spout nonsense if you don't know what you are speaking of, especially in regard to alcoholism.

reply to post by OrphanApology


Believe you me, I know exactly what I'm talking about!
A lot more than what I would like to know, in fact.
And NO, definitely NOT enough time to develop a drinking problem that is so serious, that you might think of ending your life.

reply to post by doesntmakesense


I am very sorry to hear about your friend.
I hope that his family can find some peace and answers, as well as his friends.
I actually saw a headline last night referring to this. When I just went to my local news sources to find it,it seems to be gone. I will continue to look for it, it's got to be available somewhere. I will post it if I can find it again.

I spoke too soon. Here's the link. Although there is not really anything new.

Wainwright soldier

doesntmakesense
reply to post by six67seven

 

Wow, didn't realize things were so bad over there. I know that it's pretty bad over there with the sun cycles and freezing colds and radiation levels and whatnot, but just wow. I've always had dreams of living there my whole life, now I'm not so sure anymore.

yeah it's the darkness and cold that get people. It can be rough if you not used to it, there are ways to combat it a little bit with I can't remember the name of the lights but they have a sun like glow and you shine it on you for a few hours a day it's if you have SADS. But a friend of mine had one and he would turn it on when we were doing physics and it was actually pretty awesome.

reply to post by sandman441


They actually call them sad lights. A friend of mine has one as well. They really are nice.
Seasonal affective disorder is cabin fever on steroids.

reply to post by IamTheManWithThePlan


If you are speaking from experience that is considered anecdotal evidence. Alcoholism effects everyone differently. It took me approximately six months to form an addiction and start suffering physical effects of alcohol abuse. It is different for everyone and also depends on the type of alcohol being consumed and how your body reacts.

If you think that three months of heavy drinking hard liquor for instance doesn't effect your body and mind in very detrimental ways, I don't know what to say.

woodsmom
reply to post by sandman441

 

They actually call them sad lights. A friend of mine has one as well. They really are nice.
Seasonal affective disorder is cabin fever on steroids.

ah ok I thought that's what they were called and I was typing it and was like that doesn't sound right. I want to get one too but don't have the money right now. I don't have SADS but still they are a nice pick me up at times.

doesntmakesense
I guess the obvious and most glaring reasoning for his death is that of suicide, and is probably going to be the offical reasoning in the end.. it's just, I know Shane and I just truly can't picture him killing himself like that, I mean this guy would get along with almost everybody he came up to,

Very sorry for your loss of a friend. I was wondering where the suicide came from? It was not mentioned in the article you posted, nor in the other article that was posted. The thing that strikes me as odd is that his job was to gather intelligence. What might he have found that could be fatal(to the finder)? Again sorry for your loss.

So sorry for the loss of your friend. I've lost a few over the years. By your description of him he seemed like a well rounded average guy. I have read about a few instances in Alaskan military bases where rapes and other illegal activities wind up with an accident or suicide. If he was an intelligence officer, maybe he found out something he shouldn't have. This new GF's parent's were quick to post a comment about him(just odd IMO). I just had to say something, that comment you made about hesitating/second thoughts, it just creeped under my skin until I had to give this response. If he's a good friend, I'd dig deeper into this. Do not settle for the official explanation, we've all been lied to before.

reply to post by OrphanApology


Yes, I am speaking from personal experience, and yes I am quite aware that the correct term for it is anecdotal evidence. Still what we're talking about here is a guy who's in the army, and is not really a General. What that means is that he's got many people who rank above him - in a highly disciplined environment. So if we base our opinions on logic, we'd probably come up with a conclusion that someone would've picked up on his hypothetical drinking problem.
Having said that, my point that this period is not enough for a person to develop a drinking problem so serious to actually consider taking his own life still stands.
I'll apologize for my stubbornness if you post an example to the contrary though.

reply to post by doesntmakesense

Holton's death is currently under investigation. Brown said there "weren't any early indications at all" of the cause of death.

Read more here: www.adn.com...=cpy

Hmm. No indications at all? Sounds to me like you should keep probing.

The US Army has been experiencing more suicides than personnel Killed-In-Action (KIA)

My condolences.