Father: Army 'broke' soldier accused of killing 5:
"SHERMAN, Texas – The father of a U.S. soldier accused of killing five fellow troops in Iraq said his son 'forfeited his life' but the military bears some responsibility for the rampage.
Wilburn Russell said Tuesday that 44-year-old Army Sgt. John M. Russell wasn't typically a violent person, but counselors 'broke' him before gunfire erupted in a military stress center Monday in Baghdad.
'John has forfeited his life. Apparently, he said (to his wife), 'My life is over. To hell with it. I'm going to get even with 'em,'' said the elder Russell, 73.
His father said the younger Russell, an electronics technician, was at the stress center to transfer out of active duty. He said his son was undergoing stressful mental tests that he didn't understand were merely tests, 'so they broke him.'
'I hate what that boy did,' said the elder Russell, speaking in front of the two-story house his son was buying with his German wife in a new subdivision. 'We're sorry for the families, too. It shouldn't have happened.'"
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