Soldier Stabbing May Have Been Self-Defense

Online Athens reports that the solider killed at Fort Stewart may have been stabbed in self-defense.

Army investigators suspect a slain Fort Stewart soldier found bleeding outside his barracks may have been stabbed in a domestic fight in which he was the aggressor, a spokesman for the Georgia Army post said Wednesday.

Fort Stewart officials identified the slain soldier as Alante L. Whiting, 22, of Westland, Mich.

Whiting, an intelligence analyst who joined the Army in 2008, had just returned from a yearlong deployment to Iraq about 18 hours before he was killed Dec. 8.

It is incredibly tragic that this young man was killed within a day of returning from war. It is equally tragic that, if he was indeed killed in self-defense, that one of his first acts upon returning from war was to initiate violence against an intimate partner. It is incredibly important that our military families receive the help that they need as they deal with the trauma of service and of separation. It is equally important that our military take domestic violence seriously and provide protections both to soldiers and to spouses if violence is suspected inside the home.

About.com provides information and resources for those in military households who are experiencing abuse. Our thoughts and prayers are with this family.