Why did the 101st Airborne Chief of Staff Kill himself? - OOTF #shorts

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[WorldWarTwo]

This isn't meant to replace our regular OOTF by any measure, but we thought it'd be a great way to answer some comments that we thought were interesting!

This question comes in from Boo Kaufman. Thank you for the question!

[shep]

This guy had no jump training, yet he still dropped into hell with his men. Massive respect where its due...

[flip]

Jumping on d day as your first jump is crazy

[Significantpower]

This format has a lot of potential for questions that can be answered quickly, while main OTFH episodes do the complex ones.

[hotsaucehead]

After being a paratrooper myself, tramaic brain injuries can cause deep depression. I can see it as suicide after dealing with 3 myself.

[KronnangDunn]

Audie Murphy himself declared that when doing his amazing heroic feats he always felt gut wretching fear. He sufered PTSD for the rest of his life.

[jeanettewest]

My Uncle Robbie fought the Island Campaign in the Pacific from beginning to the Occupation. Was in Japan for about six months before getting out. Never got married after the War as he had horriffic nightmares ever night and was afraid he'd hurt, or worse, his wife should he marry. He didn't have a problem talking about the War and the things he did though, would chat about the most grisly of things like you'd state your breakfast favorites. He passed in 1985. Joined the Marines right out of reform school with my grandmother signing for him. Six feet eleven, a giant of man. Very scary, but never had even a short word with me. I miss him.

[glennchartrand]

Played a key role on planning D-Day

When the Glider he was supposed to use was no longer available he petitioned to go in with the paratroopers.

He and his men were dropped 15 miles off target, he gathered up as many men as he could and led them under fire back to the correct drop zone while vastly outnumbered and outgunned.

During operation Market Garden (his second combat drop) he and his men were shelled continuously for 72 days.

War isn't glorious.
Officers have to give orders that get men on both sides killed.

I don't think he could see that he was a hero, he could only see the bodies.

[lemmdus]

Some did that during the war, my uncle’s CO took his own life a few years afterwards. In WWII and post WWII seeking mental help was considered a sign of weakness and could land someone in a mental hospital for a long long time.

[CapWalks]

As a child of two WW2 veterans who spent their post war years in and out of psychiatric hospitals (suicidal thoughts/attempts) the answer is obvious. Seeing a lot of death changes a person. (Mom was American Red Cross and up front in Europe; Dad was USAAC - Pacific

[Purpmaster]

Tragic. No matter how hard you are, there comes a time when you have just seen too much. RIP Colonel salute 🫡

[Cybermat]

This guy was a badass.

We’ll probably never know why he took his own life, but, as another commenter said, not all wounds bleed.

Remember him.

[davidb]

My uncle, an infantry company commander, had to call in artillery on his OWN position shortly after D-Day. Though they didn't call it PTSD back then, he must have had it severely as it killed him just a few years after the war, age 48. Silver star for his actions in France.

[justalurker]

Honestly him being suicidal would track with risk-seeking behaviors like jumping when not trained properly.

[looinrims]

‘He did his first combat jump into an occupied continent with lots of hostiles’

[smokechub]

My dad served in WWII and he really didn't say a whole lot about it. What he did say was that there are somethings you do and see that you know at that very moment will never leave your mind. It will be with you forever. It's only with time, making to the next day and the next day and so on that when you get old you can say to yourself I can't believe that happened like it was another life. But it did and you just keep going on and try not to dwell on it because what else can you do. All bad things that happen in a person's life leave scars but in battle they go very deep.

With Market Garden being a screwup from the beginning and you happen to be put in charge of the airborne force that gets shot at like clay pigeons and your in it with them as it's happening! Now you are down on the ground with all the dead around you and you were the one in charge the one who only hours ago gave these same men a peptalk to get them worked up for battle and they never had a chance! How does one move on from that?

[akiwoo]

The answer to the video appears to be “we don’t know either”.

[nbswillruleall]

Glad this channel has the balls to oppose youtube, and the internet at large's apprehension to talking about suicide using real terms rather than dumb placeholders like "un-alive."

[horsdecombat]

The amount of hell on earth-gore, blood, and death these men had to face head-on is rarely mentioned. PTSD or battle fatigue as it was called then was considered a form of cowardice.

[Adonnus]

One possible idea. Some of his men died, and he felt intense guilt over it and blamed himself.