Death at war: 'My son was 18 and went to Ukraine as cannon fodder'

[ShatteredSerenity]

People have discussed CTB by fighting at war in places like Ukraine, well here's someone who volunteered to fight and died over there:

'My son was 18, British and killed fighting for Ukraine'

James Wilton, from Huddersfield, volunteered to fight so he could make a difference, says his father.

www.bbc.com

The story raises an important detail: there were 43,000 fatalities as a result of the war with another 370,000 soldiers wounded.

That means soldiers are about 8.6 times more likely to be wounded than killed. Getting wounded at war can be excruciating and debilitating, too. Also, whether or not a soldier is wounded they can be severely traumatized. So it is a CTB method with very high risk and cost of failure, but it may be a fit for someone who believes in the cause.

 

[leloyon]

The only genuine reason to go to war as a suicide method is if you live in a country with restrictive gun laws, therefore obviously allowing you to gain access to firearms as a soldier. Joining up and just banking on someone else killing you - actually killing you, is just absurd. You're more likely to lose your legs or something.

 

[NegevChina]

Id sure rather give my life for a nobel cause like a just war than just for a bad life. But In order to enlist you must be in good physical and mental condition. You must have a high motivation. Other wise youll cause more damage then good. There is a low chance a man considering CTB is in any reasonable condition and will not be able to get enlisted through initial screening but rather directed to mental helth specialists. The conditions in the battle field may be so stressing a man will become disfunctionall in a matter of minutes. Id love to give my life and die insread of those heros protecting there countries but it wont work. Id probably get CPTSD and be evacuated to a ward.

 

[ShatteredSerenity]

Id sure rather give my life for a nobel cause like a just war than just for a bad life. But In order to enlist you must be in good physical and mental condition. You must have a high motivation. Other wise youll cause more damage then good. There is a low chance a man considering CTB is in any reasonable condition and will not be able to get enlisted through initial screening but rather directed to mental helth specialists. The conditions in the battle field may be so stressing a man will become disfunctionall in a matter of minutes. Id love to give my life and die insread of those heros protecting there countries but it wont work. Id probably get CPTSD and be evacuated to a ward.

Yeah there is a minimum bar to be fit for battle, and mental illness is usually a big red flag. Someone who is suicidal could put their unit at risk in so many ways. Everybody needs to be focused on working as a team, and one person thinking about trying to get themselves killed instead is a major liability. For example if someone steps on a land mine intentionally and gets injured, now other soldiers will have to come to their aid and expose themselves to enemy fire and additional land mines.

I actually volunteered to go to Ukraine for the war earlier this year, but I would have been doing cybersecurity somewhere a bit safer instead of fighting on the front lines. It didn't go anywhere, either, which is good because I ended up falling into deep depression a few months later and I would have been useless. They need people who are much more dependable than that.

 

[L'absent]

War is humanity's ultimate farce, an explosion of senseless violence in a universe that cares neither for the dead nor the living. People fight over borders that don't exist, for ideals that crumble over time, for powers that vanish with the death of those who hold them. It is the peak of futility: men killing other men for reasons that, in a few centuries, no one will remember. In a world already devoid of meaning, war is the most ridiculous of tragedies, a grotesque theater where destruction reigns without purpose, without glory, without logic. It is the ultimate proof that humanity, unable to accept its own nothingness, would rather annihilate itself than look in the mirror and recognize its own absurdity.

 

[ShatteredSerenity]

War is humanity's ultimate farce, an explosion of senseless violence in a universe that cares neither for the dead nor the living. People fight over borders that don't exist, for ideals that crumble over time, for powers that vanish with the death of those who hold them. It is the peak of futility: men killing other men for reasons that, in a few centuries, no one will remember. In a world already devoid of meaning, war is the most ridiculous of tragedies, a grotesque theater where destruction reigns without purpose, without glory, without logic. It is the ultimate proof that humanity, unable to accept its own nothingness, would rather annihilate itself than look in the mirror and recognize its own absurdity.

Sadly Vladimir Putin's perspective is diametrically opposed to this. He behaves as if his entire purpose in life is to control Russia and restore it to its former glory through incessant wars. I remember his ruthlessness in the war with Chechnya where his true war-mongering nature was becoming evident. Then he invaded Georgia, then Ukraine. At that point it's clear he has no qualms about starting wars regardless of the cost.

There's less press coverage of Russia's military activities in Africa, but they fought in Syria and they're currently fighting in the Central African Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Russia doesn't need all these wars and fighting, it only hurts the people. Putin is the one who needs it, to maintain control and feed his hunger for power on a global scale. Sadly he's deeply entrenched, so his agenda of never-ending warfare will continue indefinitely.

 

[L'absent]

Sadly Vladimir Putin's perspective is diametrically opposed to this. He behaves as if his entire purpose in life is to control Russia and restore it to its former glory through incessant wars. I remember his ruthlessness in the war with Chechnya where his true war-mongering nature was becoming evident. Then he invaded Georgia, then Ukraine. At that point it's clear he has no qualms about starting wars regardless of the cost.

There's less press coverage of Russia's military activities in Africa, but they fought in Syria and they're currently fighting in the Central African Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Russia doesn't need all these wars and fighting, it only hurts the people. Putin is the one who needs it, to maintain control and feed his hunger for power on a global scale. Sadly he's deeply entrenched, so his agenda of never-ending warfare will continue indefinitely.

Putin and all his kind are nothing more than walking flesh with a delusion of grandeur. They are not gods, they are not superior beings, and above all, they are not masters of other people's lives. No one has the right to decide who should live and who should die—except the individual themselves. Yet war is precisely that: a handful of men, convinced they are more than they really are—dust destined to disappear—who arrogate to themselves the right to exterminate masses of people for an illusion of power that will vanish with their death.
Putin thinks he can rewrite history with blood, but he will be no different from all the other tyrants forgotten by time. He will die, and the world will replace him with another madman, another puppet master who will continue the vicious cycle of war. That's how this farce works: a few decide who must die, while those who truly want to die are denied even that right. Because humanity does not tolerate self-determination—it cannot stand the idea that someone might take control of their own end without waiting for the system to decree it for them.
The truth is that the greatest defiance against power is not to fight it, but to refuse to play its game. Suicide is the only act that removes an individual from the cruelty of the social and war machine. Putin, Trump, governments, armies—they all want to control life and death, but control is an illusion. Because in the end, every war boils down to this: the triumph of the will of the few over the freedom of the many. And as long as humanity continues to believe it needs leaders, it will keep rotting in its own madness.

 

[yellowjester]

there were 43,000 fatalities as a result of the war with another 370,000 soldiers wounded.

Those are not the real numbers. The real numbers are much higher than that. Ukraine doesn't publish them because they fear it would show the direness their situation. If it were that low they wouldn't try to force draft men who fled to other countries.

 

[leloyon]

The only genuine reason to go to war as a suicide method is if you live in a country with restrictive gun laws, therefore obviously allowing you to gain access to firearms as a soldier. Joining up and just banking on someone else killing you - actually killing you, is just absurd. You're more likely to lose your legs or something.

Something else that I forgot to mention was that if you genuinely believe in the cause of the side you're fighting for then your death is actively harming them. You're a soldier - to get to the battlefield you had to go through weeks of training, that cost your side time and money that could have been spent on soldiers who aren't just hoping to die. All that equipment strapped to you costs money, they could have given that equipment to someone who wasn't planning on getting themselves killed, and now I suppose you'll just have to hope that it's not too damaged from whatever caused your death, and that your guys retrieve your body and can take your equipment back to re-use it.

 

[ShatteredSerenity]

Something else that I forgot to mention was that if you genuinely believe in the cause of the side you're fighting for then your death is actively harming them. You're a soldier - to get to the battlefield you had to go through weeks of training, that cost your side time and money that could have been spent on soldiers who aren't just hoping to die. All that equipment strapped to you costs money, they could have given that equipment to someone who wasn't planning on getting themselves killed, and now I suppose you'll just have to hope that it's not too damaged from whatever caused your death, and that your guys retrieve your body and can take your equipment back to re-use it.

Yeah a small, relatively poor war-torn country like Ukraine can't afford to have people using expensive military resources for suicide. People from more wealthy countries like the US may not grasp what it's like to have such limited resources. The US military has a massive budget with practically infinite ability to spend more because the government can borrow and print money. The US population is also about 9 times larger and isn't fighting any major wars right now, so there are plenty of soldiers available to replace someone who kills themself.

Another vital resource to consider is morale. Solders endure intense stress and they form tight bonds starting from basic training. Those bonds can become particularly strong among soldiers fighting in active combat. Having to depend on each other for their life and safety, and enduring trauma together can form relationships that are like family bonds. People who commit suicide often agonize over the impact on their family, well this wouldn't be very different.

If a soldier kills themselves by any means it may have a devastating impact on their comrades. Unlike loved ones in a peacetime environment, soldiers who are grieving have no ability to take time off, connect with friends and family for support, seek therapy, and otherwise do things to care for themselves. Instead soldiers just have to deal with their emotions with minimal support as they continue to try to survive in extremely stressful environments.

 

[ramon]

Would CTB by attempting to get a death sentence in China for smuggling drugs be a better options than CTB by joining any of the armies fighting the war in Ukraine?

Would you CTB by smuggling drugs into China, getting caught and prosecuted by their authorities, and being senteced to death?

A few things to keep in mind: 1.) For reference, smuggling, trafficking, carrying, and/manufacturing over 50 grams of heroine or meth into China will get you sentenced to death by shooting. 2.) Again, for reference, Akmal Shaikh, framed for smuggling 4Kg of heroin into China, after pressure...

sanctioned-suicide.net

It seems a safer, painless, and more efficient way.