His name is Robert Bales. There is a photo of him in the ABC story linked here.
The U.S. soldier accused of going on a rampage and killing 16 Afghan civilians as they slept in their houses has been identified as Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, ABC News confirmed today.
Bales, 38, a husband and father of two, was serving on his fourth combat deployment in 10 years, the first three in Iraq. He was on his first tour in Afghanistan, where he'd been since December.
I am posting this because we will be hearing his name an awful lot in the next few weeks, and probably well beyond that, as the issue of PTSD comes further into the public consciousness. Hopefully this will precipitate real relief for all the victims of war- soldiers, civilians, and the families of all the casualties.
Ironically, as observed earlier today by teacherken, today marks 44 years since My Lai.