thedrifter
06-10-06, 05:52 AM
Put self in Marines’ shoes before judging
In one more case of trying to help Iraq, young Marines are being brought to trial. All service people in Iraq had rather be home with their families than facing a country that I wonder whether really wants to be free.
Ask yourself this question repeatedly: “What would I have done?” Let’s look at the real question that is on the table: “Who gets killed in the Iraq War?” The Air Force will tell you quick that bombs have no names and are indiscriminate and take no names as to who gets killed. The pilots fly in tired and weary, eat chow, go to bed and wonder if they are going to survive another mission so they can come back to their families. The helicopter pilots fly in with special ops to extract wounded and maybe save a few ground pounders’ lives. If they get shot down, their widow gets a flag and thanks from a grateful nation. Who are going to be the fathers and mentors for the children whose parent was killed?
Do we want to bring a 13-year-old Iraqi youth to stand trial for firing an RPG that took down that chopper and took innocent lives with it? No, we say to the widow, and give her a flag and let her raise her children as best she can. It is a little ridiculous that all we give widows is a flag and Purple Heart. Gone and forgotten is the way it goes for American KIAs.
Let’s put the real question on the table. We cannot create a war posture in a country and create a sterile environment. The enemy, as long as there have been wars, has used civilians as protection against our Marines just because of this bull crap. In a combat zone, it is free fire all the way. What were civilians doing in a free-fire zone? They were there creating a liability for our Marines so they could stand a court-martial and go to jail.
There are no timeouts in war; there are no safe places for Marines. It is killed or be killed. Has Vietnam been so long ago that we have forgotten the villages, the men, women and children who were killed? Have we forgotten that good Marines and good soldiers would be old now if it hadn’t been for a woman or child with an AK47 — not to mention all the booby traps set by women, old folks and children. The servicemen would like to have had our apple-pie life, but they got a coffin and were forgotten.
I never shall forget the son of a door-gunner who was killed in a rescue helicopter trying to save his friends. A child with an RPG shot the helicopter. The son told me, with tears streaming down his face, that he had to go so he could save lives. Folks, it was his third trip over. He didn’t have to do it because it was his third trip over. That is what our people do best: Die for what they believe in.
I have had a student of mine killed in Iraq, and countless upon countless students and friends have gone over and come back less than whole. My heart of hearts has a hole in it that will never heal, so how must his family feel? Have they gotten anything except a flag? Yes, they have a son whom they will always cherish because he chose to do the right thing. Have you tried to comfort any family who has had a loved one killed? It will be the longest period of time in your life because you can’t bring him or her back!
Now in closing, let’s put the full deck on the table! In our society, these men would have been justly tried for murder. Wake up, folks. It is not our society! It is a country that has vicious, wicked, cold-hearted killers. These Marines were led by officers and NCOs who believe that their God-given duty is to protect one another. Do we know what these Iraq men and women were doing in hostile territory? Were they the ones who, for whatever reasons, were harboring the enemy and killing our Marines?
Do you know what the thousand-yard stare is? It is the stare you get when enough of your friends and buddies have died in your arms and you don’t really care who dies next on the side of the enemy. All you want to do is survive and protect your buddies so you can have a part of “The Apple Pie Life.”
If we have to bring to court Marines who have killed innocent civilians, then we are in the wrong ball game, so let’s get out of Dodge. The second order of business is to fire our senators and congressmen for doing what we asked them to do.
For those of you who think this letter is a bit harsh, there are two things you need to do. One is to visit a veterans hospital to see the horrible shape they will spend the rest of their lives in. Two, you should visit the wives, parents and children of those men and women who have been killed in action. Still not with me? Then send your child and have them die on the altar of freedom and see if you worry about who is in an enemy combat zone or a free-fire zone. Every real combat veteran has enough punishment because he has had to fight in a war that he will relive in his dreams the rest of his life. He will see faces, hear the shots, hear the screams for help, and if a person is killed in his sights, then only going to heaven will erase that. What more can you ask or expect?
If this article has stirred you in any way, I encourage you to write the president and the commandant of the Marine Corps and anyone in between and “raise hell.”
Tim Croswell
Philadelphia
In one more case of trying to help Iraq, young Marines are being brought to trial. All service people in Iraq had rather be home with their families than facing a country that I wonder whether really wants to be free.
Ask yourself this question repeatedly: “What would I have done?” Let’s look at the real question that is on the table: “Who gets killed in the Iraq War?” The Air Force will tell you quick that bombs have no names and are indiscriminate and take no names as to who gets killed. The pilots fly in tired and weary, eat chow, go to bed and wonder if they are going to survive another mission so they can come back to their families. The helicopter pilots fly in with special ops to extract wounded and maybe save a few ground pounders’ lives. If they get shot down, their widow gets a flag and thanks from a grateful nation. Who are going to be the fathers and mentors for the children whose parent was killed?
Do we want to bring a 13-year-old Iraqi youth to stand trial for firing an RPG that took down that chopper and took innocent lives with it? No, we say to the widow, and give her a flag and let her raise her children as best she can. It is a little ridiculous that all we give widows is a flag and Purple Heart. Gone and forgotten is the way it goes for American KIAs.
Let’s put the real question on the table. We cannot create a war posture in a country and create a sterile environment. The enemy, as long as there have been wars, has used civilians as protection against our Marines just because of this bull crap. In a combat zone, it is free fire all the way. What were civilians doing in a free-fire zone? They were there creating a liability for our Marines so they could stand a court-martial and go to jail.
There are no timeouts in war; there are no safe places for Marines. It is killed or be killed. Has Vietnam been so long ago that we have forgotten the villages, the men, women and children who were killed? Have we forgotten that good Marines and good soldiers would be old now if it hadn’t been for a woman or child with an AK47 — not to mention all the booby traps set by women, old folks and children. The servicemen would like to have had our apple-pie life, but they got a coffin and were forgotten.
I never shall forget the son of a door-gunner who was killed in a rescue helicopter trying to save his friends. A child with an RPG shot the helicopter. The son told me, with tears streaming down his face, that he had to go so he could save lives. Folks, it was his third trip over. He didn’t have to do it because it was his third trip over. That is what our people do best: Die for what they believe in.
I have had a student of mine killed in Iraq, and countless upon countless students and friends have gone over and come back less than whole. My heart of hearts has a hole in it that will never heal, so how must his family feel? Have they gotten anything except a flag? Yes, they have a son whom they will always cherish because he chose to do the right thing. Have you tried to comfort any family who has had a loved one killed? It will be the longest period of time in your life because you can’t bring him or her back!
Now in closing, let’s put the full deck on the table! In our society, these men would have been justly tried for murder. Wake up, folks. It is not our society! It is a country that has vicious, wicked, cold-hearted killers. These Marines were led by officers and NCOs who believe that their God-given duty is to protect one another. Do we know what these Iraq men and women were doing in hostile territory? Were they the ones who, for whatever reasons, were harboring the enemy and killing our Marines?
Do you know what the thousand-yard stare is? It is the stare you get when enough of your friends and buddies have died in your arms and you don’t really care who dies next on the side of the enemy. All you want to do is survive and protect your buddies so you can have a part of “The Apple Pie Life.”
If we have to bring to court Marines who have killed innocent civilians, then we are in the wrong ball game, so let’s get out of Dodge. The second order of business is to fire our senators and congressmen for doing what we asked them to do.
For those of you who think this letter is a bit harsh, there are two things you need to do. One is to visit a veterans hospital to see the horrible shape they will spend the rest of their lives in. Two, you should visit the wives, parents and children of those men and women who have been killed in action. Still not with me? Then send your child and have them die on the altar of freedom and see if you worry about who is in an enemy combat zone or a free-fire zone. Every real combat veteran has enough punishment because he has had to fight in a war that he will relive in his dreams the rest of his life. He will see faces, hear the shots, hear the screams for help, and if a person is killed in his sights, then only going to heaven will erase that. What more can you ask or expect?
If this article has stirred you in any way, I encourage you to write the president and the commandant of the Marine Corps and anyone in between and “raise hell.”
Tim Croswell
Philadelphia