Accused: Iraq-Bound Soldier Jonathan Aponte Hires Hitman To Shoot Him
DOES it matter where you get shot? And do you blame him?
CBS) NEW YORK The death and destruction of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq seems to have become so rampant to one local soldier that he actually staged an attack on himself — allegedly hiring a hitman to non-fatally shoot him — so he wouldn’t be sent back for another tour of duty.
Now, 20-year-old Jonathan Aponte is under fire at home in the Bronx for his decision that may send him to prison.
“There are some people mentally that can handle it. There are some people who just can’t. You need to know when to say enough is enough,” Aponte told CBS 2 HD exclusively Friday.
For Aponte, that day was Monday, the very day he was supposed to go back for another tour of duty to serve ten months on the front lines. He admits to CBS 2, however, that he couldn’t face another tour of drama and devastation.
“Bullets being shot at me, almost being hit, with car bombs, burning flesh,” Aponte recalls of his first tour. Now the soldier, his mother, and lawyer all say his plot for pain proves he’s a victim of post traumatic stress disorder caused by the horrific memories of battle.
So…
“I jokingly said that I should get shot in the leg … so that it can buy me some extra time away from Iraq,” he said.After his new wife text messaged a hitman who would do the job, Aponte admits, “I asked him what was a good price. He told me $500 would be fine.”
The shooting was set to happen under a bridge on Gunhill Road on the very day of the redeployment.
“I decided I wasn’t going to go back one way or another,” he said.
When Aponte arrived at the appointed time, he smoked a cigarette then closed his eyes because he didn’t want to see it coming, he told police. The next thing he knew, he had a gunshot wound to his right knee.
July 14th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
He’s a coward plain and simple. PTSD doesn’t it just blow you away! Thank God for the other heros.
July 14th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Wow, Layla, when do you report back for your second combat tour? It’s easy to talk big when you have to sacrifice nothing yourself.
July 14th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
No problem. Hollywood will make a film out of it and turn him into a hero like it does all the other charlatans, fakes and figments of its imagination.
July 14th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
I stand next to this clearheaded man 100%. Only a dumbfuck or killer-in-training wants to go to Bush’s war and live and die for nothing.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
anyone desperate enough to get himself shot has clearly suffered enough to expiate any commitment to serve his country. There’s not much more you can ask of a man than all he has, and Aponte clearly was at or near the end of the rope. Maybe Aponte’s not a hero as he was trying to get out of a second tour, but he did literally go through hell for this country already on his first tour and we should be grateful for that and be sorry for him for his suffering. Not everyone’s equipped to handle staying for a long time in a place where people are killing each other… which is part of why we need to consider how to lower our overall troop presence there, as more and more people are getting to the end of their ropes.
July 15th, 2007 at 12:21 am
As a US Marine of 20 years, I say this man is a pussy. To what point would you slovenly wimps put your life on the line? Really, when? What ideals, besides pure self preservation, do you hold dear? Don’t you understand when we pull out, much as your Father should have, you will become the front line target? Please sip your wine and smoke your bowl but one day a friend of yours, a relative of yours might just die for the idiocy in which you are preaching. You all sadden the heroes that fight to defend your weak existence.
Semper Fidelis
July 15th, 2007 at 1:25 am
I left the Marine Corps as a Sergeant after 5 years of service. I did 4 deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a Machine Gunner and Sniper from 2002 through 2006, it can be brutal, painful, and terrifying…so what. That’s what we’re trained for and what is expected, war is not pretty, but thousands of men and women see worse than what this man saw, and they continue to push through it and endure. This man is a coward and a disgrace to his branch of service and country. He’s not in Iraq now, but I can guarantee you that someone replaced him in his unit, and now is over there risking his life, because Aponte was too afraid to do it himself. What about the men he was in charge of, they lost a leader; their lives are more at risk without his expertise. He’s been there, he knows what to look for, his experience could have saved the lives of others. His selfish act could very well cost the lives of many other service members. The only tragedy in this case is that he was shot in the leg and not in the head.
July 15th, 2007 at 1:58 am
By “trained” don’t you mean “desensitized?” Clearly Aponte has an issue with things like death and destruction. Wow, surprise! He’s a human being!
Iraq is no longer a war. It’s a meat-grinder. Any sane person would do anything to avoid throwing their life away for a disasterous war we’ve already lost.
July 15th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Andrew, You asked the question to Layla of when she reports back for her second combat tour. I have but a simple question for you: What have you ever done to protect your country? Anything? It sure must be nice to sit back and appear to have something pertinent to say about absolutely nothing you know. read. You wait, this will come to our shores again and then you might feel a tad different. If we pull out now, don’t you think things will get worse? The answer is most assuredly yes. I have sacrificed many things in life to defend this country so incompetent asses such as yourself can reach conclusions whilst sitting on your butt doing nothing for OUR country. Some of us are patriots. Some of us are week and pathetic and will always take the easy way out. Enjoy your life you fool.
July 16th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
It’s refreshing to see that at least some of us have not lost our capacity for critical thought and true reflection….good comments by Andrew and Steve. On the other hand, the comments by Kevin and Layla are quintessential examples of individuals who, like many Americans, cling to the propaganda routinely catapulted by the Bush (or should it be Cheney?) regime. Iraq was never about freedom and democracy…those terms are merely euphemisms. I believe that Iraq was, and still is, in part, about defending a national currency. It’s about the privatization of resources….indeed, the entire “war on terror” is about this. And it’s nothing new….the strategy goes back decades. I suggest that you who are critical of this young man take time to educate yourselves about the TRUE history of this republic of ours. I have served in the Army and I do advocate a strong military. I do not , however, advocate empire. Our predecessors fought England to break away from empire….and the British called them “rebels”, i.e., insurgents. Sound familiar? It’s all a matter of perspective.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Aponte is a sad and sorry individual! To all of you who don’t know the whole story, don’t think that this young boy posing as a man is a hero; he is not.
The HEROS are those soldiers that did not make it back from there tour and those families that will never see there loved one’s again and are dealing with the pain of their loss everyday.
The HEROS are those soldiers that have been burn beyond recognition, shot, maimed, broken, mentally worn, quadraplegics, paraplegics, amputees, brain injured, vision lost, hearing lost, etc. these are the HEROS. Not this young boy posing as a man.
Ask this question, did anyone force this young boy to sign-up?
He’s 20-years old not 10, he had a choice and his choice was to join the military for whatever reason, and because he joined he had an obligation to fulfill his term of service.
He should be prosecuted to the full extent possible, there are soldiers that have completed numerous tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
People get real, if you don’t want to be in the military, then don’t join. I believe the mass majority of the worlds knows that there is a war still going on, and that if you enlist there is a very great possibility that they will be a part of it.
July 16th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
I knew Aponte, he used to be in my platoon and then got moved to another battalion. the only “front line” he ever saw was at the mess hall.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
This douche is in my aviation brigade. He is a fueler, i.e. gas station attendant. He has never left the base. His storys are a complete fabrication. He has seen no burning bodies or other emotionally damaging atrocities. The most horrible circumstance he could possibly have faced in his short stay here would be a soda shortage in the chow hall. This case is simple. He went home for R&R and decided he didn’t want to come back to do the job he was contracted to perform. It is a travesty of dishonor that he cheapens the sacrifice of those TRULY on the frontline.
Shame
July 18th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
I believe this guy is simply a selfish pussy. He knew there was a war before he engaged in the military: being only 20 yrs old he hasn’t been enrolled for over 2 years. So he should have stayed out of it period. Now he done got that poor girl in trouble. He already knew about the consequences that his decision would have had and had no reason to get her involded in his mess or to take her down with him when he got caught. I hope they get to see clearly in his game and that he rots in hell.
July 19th, 2007 at 6:02 am
well for all the people that are calling him selfish i think you need to be quiet. i know him and his family very well and i will not stand here and watch him get critizied. you guys do not know what he had to go threw like many soliders. i wouldnt not even blame any soldier for doing this. put your self in there shoes. u dont have to be in iraq and fight a war that is completely stupid already. just leave the poor kid alone. hes a good kid and doesnt deserve people like you guys calling him selfish. you dont know anything. no one should go through this at all.
July 19th, 2007 at 9:30 am
As a female who is in the unit aponte came from. He was in my platoon. Let the world feel bad for him if they want. The worst thing he had to deal with was a leader who expexted him to know and be proficient in his job. Oh, I know why it was so bad. It must have been the few times that the power went out and the a/c cut off while we were at work. So it must have been that his room was too warm for him when he got off shift, which by the way was hours shorter than what everyone else was working. Oh, and more days off for that section too. The point is, he was lazy, put more effort into trying to get with girls than he put into his job. Often violating the rules that are in place for our protection. So, as someone who really has seen the ugliness and has been told that there is nothing wrong with them, or simply that “females don’t do that stuff”. I still came back a second time, I would rather see this through as long as it takes, because if not, you are telling me all the friends I’ve lost over here really has been for no reason. And right back in the reporters face as far as aponte not sitting in the Green Zone, hey idiots, don’t you watch the news, that place is more dangerous than where you poor little misguided hero was. If you would have done your research, you would have known. Don’t you feel like a big dummy. Can’t wait till this all blows up and the world sees the truth.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
So, this article states that this guy actually lied to the police, and prints his lies about his experiences over here. Its a pretty crappy story when the truth is told.
July 20th, 2007 at 3:51 am
For “not putting my name” who knows Aponte so well and believes ALL his lies, I am a female soldier serving in the same brigade as aponte was. I knew him well. Well, if that’s what you wanna call the consistent amount of attempted “bootie calls” he threw my way. The worst thing he had to deal with here was guard duty and not ONE time did I see that soldier go out on tower. He was always guarding something menial. so, for you who thinks that he had it so hard, he has NOT suffered. Suffered are the soldiers that go out everyday and kick in doors. The ones who are talking to their buddy next to them one day and having to send just a small shoe box full of pieces home to his family days later. I’m not saying we here don’t have a job, that we’re any less of a soldier than the guy who does the patrols or disarms the bombs, but we surely have to deal with a hell of a lot less. So, you listen to his lies and believe whatever you want, because one day his judgement will come and there are some things that just can’t be forgiven.
July 20th, 2007 at 6:51 am
This soldier has never left the FOB!! I cant believe that everyone is so quick to believe his BS stories. He puts gas in equipment. He hooks a line to an aircraft, or a vehicle, or a generator, and waves his arm up and down to signal the truck guy, and puts the fuel in. Hes a selfish, worthless weak ass punk. I hope they prosecute him to the full extend of the Uniform Code of Military justice, and lock him away in Leavenworth, where they love pussies.
July 20th, 2007 at 6:57 am
This is my first tour to iraq, and i can honestly say i havent see the worse of it yet, and i thank God for that. Everybody have different opinion on the decision that aponte made, i dont recall seeing him before but i know he is a part of my brigade. My opinion about this situation is that aponte now what the military is about before he sign the contract, no one didn,t hold a gun to is head and made him sign. i know its hard to be way from our family and friends but we still made the decision anyway, aponte should had come up with anothe way to get out of it, or he could have just finish is contract he didnt have to lie about being on the” front line”, smell burn flesh because for us that stay on the fob we never experience that, People that go off the fob everyday are the ones that experience all those strageties,and even lost some of their team members, those are the soldier that i pray for everyday so they can get back on the fob safe, those are real soldier that do whatever it takes to defend their country. aponte made is own decesion and he have to suffer is own consequence.
July 20th, 2007 at 8:35 am
This is his first deployment he has never gone out side of the Camp once since he has been here. He was one a guard tower maybe 4 times which is only 4 hours. It really isn’t stressful here doing what he was doing. Some people that do all the stuff he said have the stress but I know that he doesn’t. Well I hope I have informed some people about what happend and the situation. Thanks for your time
July 20th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Anti-Zionist, Apparently they have spoken. Judging by his Brigade comrades he cares more about a piece of ass than his fellow patriots. I’m a Marine of 20 years and have nothing but the utmost respect for my fellow patriots. As for your capacity for critical thought and true reflection, reflect upon this: allegedly you were in the Army. Do you not feel for your brothers and sisters in harms way? Should all of them have someone cap them in the knees to make a political statement? This is what you are doing. Approving of this type of traitorous behavior. You ever been shot at? It tends to make a man reflect on his priorities. I don’t want this in my neighborhood. Please explain the answer to this war. We’d all love to hear it. Sack up and explain your point son.
July 21st, 2007 at 11:02 pm
i dont know this guy and dont know his reasons. everyone whether you know him or not is judging him for reason that you may think you know but you dont. half of you who say you know him or work with him may not even know crap. how do you know what is deeply on this guys mind ? how do you know what problems he may have going on at home? i see and talk to many people everyday who are on the brink of loosing it and you just dont know cause they smile in your face and pretend its ok. i myself am over here i dont want to be as many of you but its what i have to do, many of you all know this and feel the same way but dont critisize and hide behind the fact that though you may be on a fob or out there kicking in doors on the iraqi streets each and everyone of our lives are at stake or in danger regardless cause the people that want iraq to fail or just want to kill us period are gonna keep trying regardless of where you are over here or what you do period. yes he did go about the situation the wrong way but only god can judge me you and him
July 22nd, 2007 at 1:15 am
To Kevin…
I really do not believe that this young man was making a political statement…he was thinking of himself…he did not wish to be a part of the military any longer. It is probably best that he not be in the military.
As for his actions….they are neither remarkable nor unprecedented…history is replete with examples of soldiers doing all kinds of things to avoid combat or to be discharged. This does not make him a traitor.
You ask if I feel for our soldiers….of course I do. I am not insensitive.
You ask me to explain the answer to this war….well…in order to do that I would need to bring you up to speed on Anglo-American geostrategy since the 1940’s…the pursiut of global hegemony. I have found that many people are either intellectually incapable of understanding it or emotionally unwilling to consider it. Simply put, the answer is to abandon the current strategy…abandon the pusuit of hegemony.
July 22nd, 2007 at 5:46 am
in Iraq…
I understand your piont, however I believe that everyone here has some kind of problem with relationships back home. One of the reasons why war is hell, but you suck it up and drive on. While you are out here, you have a duty in which has to be done no matter minute your job may be. You have a team which depends on you to be an extra set of hands on the shift, even though you may not be pulling your own weight. If John really had issues which bothered him, there are multiple ways to find help with any given situation. I honestly feel that he is selfish, joining the army for all the worng reasons. I am glad that people like him get weeded out, too bad two other people had to take the fall for his ignorance. Just goes to show how pitiful this man really is. This situation over here really sucks, yet I am on the fob that he was on and after some of the places ive been in Iraq this place is a vacation. If he actually had some trigger time I might just feel bad for him. Weather or not he said those quotes about burning flesh and getting shot at everyday is still unknown, honestly I believe that the media had to juice this story up a lot so it would capture readers attention. If he actually said these things, then Aponte is a dusch bag. Maybe then he will actually go to jail and be in real danger for his life…
bong!!!!
July 22nd, 2007 at 8:14 am
Aponte should be punished for his actions I agree, but even if he had gone through the proper channels for release from theater, he would still be out here. We have Soldiers that have truely lost their minds out here and our Soldiers are still forced to come back out here after doctors have said that they shouldn’t. Every Soldier if just a number out here. It doesn’t matter what their issues are back home or what they are going through mentally. Believe me when I say that this a very political business all the way down to the company levels. So pass judgement if you must, but when you know that there is NO alternative, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I say blame the politicians and those only looking out for their next rank or office. I think that if our Generals in the field didn’t fear reprisal from the President, I think that come September you would here a much different speech than the one that we are going to hear. If you don’t believe me, ask General (forced to retire) Shenseki what he thinks. I’d really like to hear him speak on the subject. Do not take my words and twist them, we cannot leave these people in this mess that WE made. We are helping, we are making a difference, and we cannot just get up and leave tomorrow. But, we and our families cannot take too much more of this.
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:18 pm
this dude is a straight up pussy, i’m in the same battalion and his company doesn’t do shit, all they do is sit around and wait for the time to go by and if they get lucky they get to save the country picking up one cigarrette butt at a time!!! damn woos!!!
July 24th, 2007 at 12:19 am
Well I also am in Aponte’s Battalion and yes he is a freaking WIMP. He has only been on guard duty maybe four times, where you check ID Cards for a four hour period of time twice a day. I can’t believe that this guy paid some pimp to shoot him in the freakin leg. This guy is brand new to the army and this is his first deployment and on top of that he is a fueler, you know what you do every time you go to the gas station. So he gets paid to do what you do probably twice a week. Sure there is a little bit of danger here but not enough to get stressed over, I as well as 198 other soldiers here on our fob have had their wives cheat on them and get divorced since we have been deployed in October and I would NEVER think about defacing government property or getting shot in the leg, if I were to want to get shot in the leg I would have done it here in Iraq so I would at least get a Purple Heart. Yeah this guy is a PUZ-PIE!!! There is no excuse to be that cold to leave all of the other fellow soldiers that are going through the same thing as you here, maybe not at home but you should know that no matter how bad you have there is someone out there that has it about ten times worse then you. Well all I can say is because of Aponte’s actions about twelve soldiers have to work over time and a lot harder. If you take yourself out of the fight then you are hurting not only yourself but the entire unit and by hurting the unit you are hurting the army which is hurting our nation. With that said this young man should serve the rest of his contract and then some in a jail full of nasty old men who like young boyz. “Remember not to drop your soap in the shower, get soap on a rope”
“C-Wizzle”
July 25th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I am a leader in this soldiers unit. He did not see the things he claims. He never went outside the wire. He is not an infantryman and never shot at people or got shot at. He is an armament specialist that puts ammunition on army attack helicopters when they come in to refuel and rearm before they go and fight the fight. His job requires him to sit on his ass till a helicopter lands then pause his dvd player to go out and rearm it if necessary. No one blew their head off in the chow hall and the closest he has ever gotten to smelling burning flesh is the shitty chow hall mystery meat. I am ashamed that he was ever a soldier in the aviation community and is a coward and a liar. There are brave soldiers over here who actually do go outside the wire and do lose friends and “handle it”. They have a case for PTSD, he has none. He should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and may God judge him for his deeds.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
I’m very not sorry to hear about this Aponte guy because I think that there are people working in his same unit busting their asses to get the job done even if it isn’t always going outside the wire. Now why would you pay someone $500 to shoot you in the leg, you must be retarded as hell. The thing with weaklings now a days is that they’ll do anything to get out of the Army. If Aponte had any respect for his country, family and friends he wouldn’t of done something so stupid like that. I believe that if you can’t take this you might as well be a bum for the rest of your life. To all those who act like he’s some sort of hero and deserves the respect just because he came over here, did nothing and left his comrades to pick up after him, fine whatever, you guys wouldn’t know how easy that scumbag had it. I’ve seen soldiers work their asses off day and night while other soldiers watched them and didn’t do a damn thing to help their buddies. I bet you Aponte was one of those soldiers who watched those soldiers bust their asses while he sat back and relaxed. I don’t know the guy personally, but I don’t believe a damn word he says. I hope they get him, put him in jail and make sure he stays there until he learns his lesson.