>>> good evening. the u.s. army sergeant who allegedly murdered 16 afghan civilians is spending his first full day since the massacre on american soil. at a military prison in kansas. as reporters spent this day pounding the ground around the army post he last served on in washington state . trying to piece together a picture of just who sergeant robert bales is. and what could have sent him over the edge . until last week, his story was not all that different from thousands of soldiers. who have honorably served their country. multiple combat deployments and burdened with memories of fallen comrades. and we have more on what we're learning tonight about sergeant bales. miguel, good evening.
>> reporter: good evening. shock is the word we keep hearing in this community. many wonder how a happily married man of two could be responsible for such senseless murders. today, 38-year-old staff sergeant robert bales is in solitary confinement at ft. leavenworth. held in the army's prison in kansas, accused of killing 16 afghan civilians mostly women and children . bales could face the death penalty. 1,800 miles away not far from seattle --
>> it's horrible. i wouldn't want to be over there.
>> reporter: bales wife and two children have been moved to a military base for their security. neighbors knew him as a family man, as a doting father they called bob.
>> he was always happy. happy guy. full of life. i really wouldn't expect it.
>> reporter: despite a clean military record, bales had two misdemeanor charges as a civilian, both dropped in the last decade, including assault on a former girlfriend. after enlisting in the military after 9/11 he was said to be a strong leader in combat. said to be injured twice during three tours in iraq , bales was quoted in a 2009 military publication saying i have never been more proud of this unit. we discriminated between the bad guys and the noncombatants, helping people that three or four hours before were trying to kill us. bales' civil attorney said he never expected a fourth deployment to afghanistan.
>> i know that his two tours in iraq were horrific and he saw people killed literally standing right next to him. and there was an incident right before these allegations where one of his fellow soldiers was mortally wounded.
>> reporter: though bales was reportedly injured twice, he never received a purple heart . his wife reportedly blogged about her husband being passed over for promotion. it is very disappointing after all the work that bob has done and all the sacrifices he's made for love of his country and friends. it's unclear if bales suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and whether it will be part of his defense.
>> i think you would have to assume that that's going to be an uphill battle. just on general principles.
>> reporter: after more than a decade in the military, bales spent most of his time at joint base lewis-mcchord, just outside the gates at coffee shops and diners today the headline and talk is about one of their own.
>> i'm sympathetic to all the soldiers over there.
>> reporter: tonight we spent time inside the home of the suspect's former brigade leader. they served three tours together in iraq and were close friends . he said as for the suspect, that he was a heroic soldier who saved several lives overseas and said of all the hundreds of men he was in command of overseas the last person he would suspect to be responsible for a crime like this would be his friend he called bobby. lester?
>> miguel alagarr, thank you. for more perspective on this, we turn to the military analyst barry mccaffrey who joins us from washington. general, taken by
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46771774/
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