Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a former Army lieutenant colonel, sends THE WEEKLY STANDARD an email January 14, 2012, commenting on the Marines' Video and has given permission to publish it.
“I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.
“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?
“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.
“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”
“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale
“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?
“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.
“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”
“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale
I totally agree. Yes, the Marines used poor judgement. Article 15, maybe. But remember, they are there doing a job most people wouldn't do and giving those people who want to judge, that right to judge.
ReplyDeleteWere these Mariens shot at right before that incident? Did they lose a buddy to a sniper, IED? Sometimes it's the unseen enemy who does the most damage to morale.
War "IS" hell.
Craig Latham
101st Airborne Div.
Phu Bai, S. Vietnam
1970-1971
Yourself a Vietnam vet, I sincerely respect your opinion Craig. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
ReplyDeleteCJ/Cathy
I agree they only need an article 15 in there file since Nam it has always been don't fire unless told to we are soldiers, not robots who have no sense of protecting our self. If you do Gooders who scream for our soldiers heads for there acts, where were you when all the atrocities against our soldiers was being done.have you been there did you lay your life on the line, did you shake from fear as you were being shot at ,did you pray to god to please get me through this time , probably not. you were not there the situation could have been unspeakable they are soldiers giving there all asking for nothing except to come safe. I don't mean to sound bitter ,I am not, people just seem to look for the reason to jump on our military the ones we need to be proud of and give them the respect they deserve.
ReplyDeletebob butcher
54th ord co.
long bien viet nam
1968 -1970
Well said, Bob. I agree with you!
ReplyDeleteCJ