A former U.S. Army infantryman has been kicked off a Maryland community college campus following the publication of an essay in which he wrote about how his service in Iraq left him addicted to killing.

 

Charles Whittington crafted the essay for his English class while attending the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville. His hope was that by expressing his feelings about the war and killing, he might begin to get over his trauma. Whittington’s professor was so impressed with the work that he encouraged his student to seek publication in the campus newspaper.

 

In his essay, Whittington wrote, “Killing is a drug to me and has been ever since the first time I have killed someone. At first, it was weird and felt wrong, but by the time of the third and fourth killing it feels so natural. It feels like I could do this for the rest of my life and it makes me happy…. This is what I was trained to do and now I cannot get rid of it; it will be with me for the rest of my life and hurts me that I cannot go back to war and kill again, because I would love too. When I stick my blade through his stomach or his ribs or slice his throat it's a feeling that I cannot explain, but feels so good to me, and I become addicted to seeing and acting out this act of hate, and violence against the rag heads that hurt our country.

 

Two weeks after the story was published, school officials informed Whittington he would be barred from campus until he obtained a psychological evaluation.

 

“We all believe in freedom of speech, but we have to really be cautious in this post-Virginia Tech world,” college spokesman Hope Davis told the Baltimore Sun, referring to the 2007 massacre of 32 people by a student gunman.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

War Veteran Barred from CCBC Campus for Frank Words on Killing (by Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun)