Pvt. Kevin T. Flanagan should be sent to Gitmo with the rest of his terrorist buddies! I am a six year U. S. Navy veteran and I proudly voted for PRESIDENT ELECT OBAMA. I had to serve and protect under Ronny Ray Guns and Bush the first while they were arming the Taliban. I did so without incident. Flanagan is a disgrace to any uniform, unless
it's a FEDERAL PRISON uniform.

This story doesn't say that Flanagan was the only aggressor in this altercation. It sounds like they were both behaving badly and the other guy ended up in the hospital. When will people learn that people are allowed Free Speech (and sometimes, yes, that means people will say things that are not nice about our Presidents). Also, I'm a Veteran (I did not vote for President-Elect Barack Obama), and just because this guy got into a fight doesn't mean he should be called a "terrorist". If this fight were over something that a guy said about President Bush, this wouldn't even make headlines.

FLAN FLAN, HEY DUDE....WHAT HAPPEND...I WORK WITH FLANAGAN..AND HE VOTED FOR OBAMA...MEDIA IS MESSING UP ALL THE FACTS AGAIN IM SURE...I WORK WITH HIM AT 10TH MTN, I KNOW SOMETHING ELSE HAPPEND. THE KID IS A BARACK OBAMA. OH ...NICE MUG SHOT DUDE... SEE YA WHEN U GET BACK TO WORK

K, who cares about politics in this? The bottom line is one person may die.

I think the real lesson here is if you're a college student, drunk or otherwise, don't get in a fight with someone in the armed services, regardless of political affiliations, since they're actually trained to kick ass/kill in physical confrontations.

No Nancy, the moral of the story is that if you're trained to be a deadly weapon, don't pick fights with someone who OBVIOUSLY couldn't have had the same training. It doesn't matter who started the fight. The fact of the matter is that Flanagan STUPIDLY hit a college student that was defending our President-Elect. I don't care how much time Flanagan spent in Afghanistan; just because he's a soldier and "defended" us in a petty and embarrassing war, doesn't put him above the law. I hope he gets incarcerated; maybe this would teach him a lesson.

I don't care about whom voted for whom, but that is apparently the reason this whole situation happened. I'm fine with Barack Obama and I respect him as the new President. I just stated that I wished people wouldn't get in fights over something you cannot change, that is what voting is for. It's not worth dying over. I totally get that the soldier was in the wrong, but they both should have walked away from each other (as anyone should in this situation). The military, I am sure, will wipe up the floor with him, because military personnel should be (and are) held to a higher standard. But I don't think the other person should have been involved in this, either. To "A Little Lady", just because someone is in the military does not mean they are trained to be a "deadly weapon", no, it does not say what Flanagans job is, but I know plenty of military people who push pencils all day and God forbid, if they had to defend themselves, may not know how. He wasn't a Marine or a Navy Seal or a Green Beret. It does not give him the right to hit anyone. And we do not know WHO physically started this fight, all we know is who got the worst of it. I'm not defending anyone. But I know plenty of college students who do stupid things (just as many as military people) and have physically hurt people. People just need to learn to keep their mouths closed (or in this case, their hands to themselves, like they both should have learned in Kindergarten).

sad commentary on the mental capacities of some the the men in the armed forces. we needed a draft for these wars.

Since there's no report of who started what, it's not exactly fair to jump to the conclusion the soldier was the one in the wrong. As far as we know, the college student was your basic idiot jock. Not all soldiers are Killing Machines, but it's a fair bet a private in the army is going to be in the best physical condition of his adult life. It's required of them. Even if they're in the motor pool. And, yes, if had been a case of them fighting over Bush, it wouldn't even make the radar.

Yeh, Markie! And have you SEEN who they let into colleges these day???? Geesh.

Hey Enzo= you don't know Kevin so shut your mouth about him as a person.
Nancy- you're right- unless we were there (which i wasn't) we don't know what happened for sure.

But everyone that was there said Kevin threw ONE punch- it is a terrible tragedy that things turned out so badly. As far as the "deadly weapon" comment, my husband went through basic training with Kevin- these men are trained on weapons- very little hand to hand combat is taught anymore (i'm in the army as well).
Kevin is also all of 5'3"- maybe. This is all just a terrible tragedy. Side note- Kevin is an Obama SUPPORTER- so anything about the victim "defending" Obama is bullshit- or the victim was confused.
This whole story has been blown way out of proportion. Bottom line, one man was punched once and fell badly and is fighting for his life, we should all pray for his speedy recovery. Another man, punched a man once and is facing possible jail time, we should all pray that, that doesn't happen. He has a wife and children he needs to be with- not serving time in a punishment that would certainly not fit the "crime".

First off Kevin has been my best friend Since we were about 10. he learned how to throw hands on the tough streets we grew up on not from the military. Knowing Kevin who is a very passive person he was most likely defending him self and are president elect since he is an avid Obama fan. As far and mental state in the military don't comment about someone you don't know personally.

first off i wanna say good luck to kevin and his fight against ignorant people. I personally know kevin and have known kevin for many years. as far as him being a bully, or a terorist. thats a ridiculous statement. remember one thing, self defense is not crime. if you feel someone is out to hurt you, then you have every right to protect yourself. do you really think kevin is mike tyson? come on people. give it a break...