Assignment task:
"Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Jr. was the son and namesake of the famous World War II naval hero Chester Nimitz. Admiral Nimitz Sr. was victorious in the historic Battle of Midway. In this battle, his naval pilots sunk four of the aircraft carriers that led the attach on Pearl Harbor and effectively eliminated Japanese naval power as a major factor in the war.
Admiral Nimitz Jr. was also a hero, as a submarine commander. Tragically, his name made headlines years later when he and his wife ended their lives in a double suicide. Reportedly the admiral's final statement read:
'Our decision was made over a considerable period of time and was nor carried out in acute desperation. Nor is it the expression of mental illness. We have consciously, rationally, deliberately and of our own free will taken measures to end our lives today because of the physical limitations on our quality of life placed upon us by age, failing vision, osteoporosis, back and painful orthopedic problems.'
He was 86 and his wife was 89 when they ended their lives with an overdoes of sleeping pills.
The Nimitzs' had made it known at least a decade earlier that when the time came they would control their final days. The admiral was in constant pain, had lost 30 pounds due to gastrointestinal complications, and was suffering from congestive heart disease. He could no longer drive, and his vision was failing. Nimitz's wife was blind and had no desire to live alone.
It was reported that neither believed in God or an afterlife, and they had no religious affiliation.
Does old age make suicide ethical? Was admiral Nimitz justified in his decision to end his own life? Is suicide always wrong? Provide reasons for your point of view."