Soldiers conduct ceremony to say farewell to failed marriage from Afghanistan

Many service members know the strain that deployments can put on relationships and many times can lead to their demise.

When a US Army infantry soldier -currently deployed to Afghanistan- realized that when the time came to pull the trigger on his marriage, he knew he could depend on his fellow soldiers to ease his suffering by conducting a farewell ceremony.

Jordan Barnes’ marriage may have had a short span of a year and eight months but he says advice from Non-commissioned officers and peers have helped him come to terms with its end.

The Tennessee native is in Kabul with the 3rd Calvary Regiment (formerly known as the 3rd Armor Calvary Regiment), which deployed to Afghanistan from Fort Hood last year.

During a farewell ceremony (posted to Facebook on Wednesday evening), Barnes stood in the center of a formation, with two fellow soldiers holding rifles in the position of right shoulder arms, and set fire to a photo of his wife while the tune of “Amazing Grace” sounded off on bag pipes.

“We are gathered here on this night to forget my marriage and accept the death it took while In Afghanistan so I can return home and Charlie Mike,” he wrote.

According to data collected from 2000 to 2011, Army enlisted soldiers have the highest divorce rate in the military; the same as the national average of 3.6%. The lowest rate was for Air Force officers, with a rate of 1.3% during the same time period.

“And now a quote from a wise NCO I had the privilege of serving with last year, ‘disregard females, acquire currency'” thank you for your condolences, carry on,” he said in his social media post.

Every relationship has two sides to its story. In response to Jordan’s video, his spouse wrote a post to offer her side to the story.

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