Mom says Army made son diet to death

[Bossicow]

"The U.S. Army is investigating whether recruiters from one of its Ohio recruiting stations made a 20-year-old man diet to death, Fox8.com reports.

Army recruit Glenni Wilsey, of Vermilion, Ohio, died due to acute cardiac dysrhythmia from an electrolyte imbalance brought on by dieting, according to Lorain County Coroner Dr. Paul Matus.

Wilsey's mother, Lora Bailey, said she's convinced that recruiters from a recruiting station in Sandusky caused her son's death.

"I looked at him in that hospital and I knew exactly why he died, nobody had to tell me," said Bailey, who has has vowed to fight for a change in the military's policies and procedures when counseling young people on weight loss.

"I'll be damned if this'll ever happen again," she told the station. "

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/26/ohio-mom-claims-army-20-year-old-son-diet-death/#ixzz1HiQC2AhW

I can actually see this happening. A lot of people in my age range (early 20s) will do anything just to get into the Army. I just feel sorry for the mother.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/26/ohio-mom-claims-army-20-year-old-son-diet-death/?test=latestnews

[J.Nathan Spears]

Personally, I'm a total geek... I weight 200+ pounds and spend most of the day in internet. And I'm happy with it... and most important, I'm ALIVE. Poor guy and poor mother...

Some people are willing to do this anti-alimentary frenzy for "patriotism". I'd call it "sheer stupidity"

I know that a retired vet gets a lot of cash for its family, but not every person has the strength and willpower to enter that damned circle. Maybe you need to be a masochist to get to like the Army.

Why not get into a "Rifles into Plowshares" policy? (Like "Swords into Plowshares", where soldiers worked as farmers when not at war, increasing the empire's food income, Thanks, Civilization V, Gods & Kings expansion). Maybe the farm labor would be a perfect exercise for the wannabe soldiers and there will be no need to diet to death.

[ApolloImperium]

Having experience with the military (having been in, two brothers currently serving along with my soon to be husband), if it was brought on by the recruiter, then it was a bad recruiter.

Yes, the military requires you to be at a reasonable weight or BMI (yes, it is an either or), but that is because it is a physical job. Yes, a recruiter may tell someone that they would need to lose weight to join, but they would recommend it with a healthy diet and exercise. The military is VERY careful with recruits. In basic training, we were watched to ensure we ate correctly and we would be stopped to ensure that we hydrated well.

So until something comes up otherwise, this is a one off with either a bad recruiter that doesn't deserve to be in the military or the person took it too far on their own. The only reason this is news is because it involved the military. If the person had decided to diet with out ever contacting a recruiter and died as a result, we wouldn't be hearing about this. Sensational media at it's best.