Subject: First-hand report re: Marine under investigation

RECEIVED FROM: A MOTHER OF A MARINE IN IRAQ:

The following is an email from my son regarding the NBC report (with embedded reporter Kevin Sites), concerning the Marine who is being investigated for "murdering" the insurgent in Fallaja. I will be sending his mail to every news program's email I can find. I find it sickening that this Kevin Sites is even allowed to be embedded with our Marines, as this isn't the first report I've heard from him that took on a decidely unfriendly tone. My son also gave me permission to release it to anyone that wants to pass it on, as long as it remains unedited.

Darlene
PMM LCPL Gus
TS DET

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Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 07:27:55 -0800 (PST)
From: old tymer
Subject: The stories you don't hear...
To: (deleted to protect the privacy of the mother)

This is one story of many that people normally don't hear..., and one that everyone does.

This is just one most don't hear:

A young Marine and his cover man cautiously enter a room just recently filled with insurgents armed with Ak-47's and RPG's. There are three dead, another wailing in pain. The insurgent can be heard saying, "Mister, mister! Diktoor, diktoor(doctor)!" He is badly wounded, lying in a pool of his own blood. The Marine and his cover man slowly walk toward the injured man, scanning to make sure no enemies come from behind. In a split second, the pressure in the room greatly exceeds that of the outside, and the concussion seems to be felt before the blast is heard. Marines outside rush to the room, and look in horror as the dust gradually settles. The result is a room filled with the barely recognizable remains of the deceased, caused by an insurgent setting off several pounds of explosives.

The Marines' remains are gathered by teary eyed comrades, brothers in arms, and shipped home in a box. The families can only mourn over a casket and a picture of their loved one, a life cut short by someone who hid behind a white flag. But no one hears these stories, except those who have lived to carry remains of a friend, and the families who loved the dead. No one hears this, so no one cares.

This is the story everyone hears:

A young Marine and his fire team cautiously enter a room just recently filled with insurgents armed with AK-47's and RPG's. There are three dead, another wailing in pain. The insugent can be heard saying, "Mister,mister! Diktoor, diktoor(doctor)!" He is badly wounded. Suddenly, he pulls from under his bloody clothes a grenade, without the pin. The explosion rocks the room, killing one Marine, wounding the others. The young Marine catches shrapnel in the face.

The next day, same Marine, same type of situation, a different story. The young Marine and his cover man enter a room with two wounded insurgents. One lies on the floor in puddle of blood, another against the wall. A reporter and his camera survey the wreckage inside, and in the background can be heard the voice of a Marine, "He's moving, he's moving!" The pop of a rifle is heard, and the insurgent against the wall is now dead.

Minutes, hours later, the scene is aired on national television, and the Marine is being held for commiting a war crime. Unlawful killing.

And now, another Marine has the possibility of being burned at the stake for protecting the life of his brethren. His family now wrings their hands in grief, tears streaming down their face. Brother, should I have been in your boots, I too would have done the same.

For those of you who don't know, we Marines, Band of Brothers, Jarheads, Leathernecks, etc., do not fight because we think it is right, or think it is wrong. We are here for the man to our left, and the man to our right. We choose to give our lives so that the man or woman next to us can go home and see their husbands, wives, children, friends and families.

For those of you who sit on your couches in front of your television, and choose to condemn this man's actions, I have but one thing to say to you. Get out of you recliner, lace up my boots, pick up a rifle, leave your family behind and join me. See what I've seen, walk where I have walked. To those of you who support us, my sincerest gratitude. You keep us alive.

I am a Marine currently doing his second tour in Iraq. These are my opinions and mine alone. They do not represent those of the Marine Corps or of the US military, or any other.

Sincerely,

LCPL Schmidt
USMC


semper fidelis



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"For those who fight for it, freedom has a flavor the protected never know." -- Written on a C-ration box lid at Khe Sanh, South Vietnam, 1968

"There will be nowhere left for the insurgents to hide. We will fight them until there are none of them left to fight."

U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid,
chief of U.S. Central Command

Heard it.

I'm not sure it is true, the soldier's teary eyed "day before story". But that is not the point! The point is:

1) Every scene in that video is 100% unadulterated FACT. It's true, the soldier shot a wounded POW exactly as the camera showed it.

2) Kevin Sites was just doing his job. He can't help it if it reflects a truth "mom" doesn't want to see.

3) Kevin is an embebded reporter who is hardly anti-troops. Even right wing bloggers agree. You can see for yourself : Look at his blog here
http://www.kevinsites.net/2004_11_07_archive.html

4) Due to reason #1, i.e. it's true, it happened and the fact that executing POWs is STILL not in the army SOPs, the incident had to be investigated. If anything, to clear the name of the traumatized soldier. The investigation will surely uncover the truth of wether he acted in good faith and had a good reason to shoot.

The email wasnt posted to incite anyone, it was posted to show a different point of view from someone who was there. Im not denying it happened, but no one knows what was in that soldiers mind when it happened but him, but unfortunately some people (not saying you) believe the worst without bothering to think about the rest.

I wanted people to see A soldiers perspective you could say. I dont care about Kevin Sites, Im more worried about the people who condemn without ever having walked in a soldiers shoes. There are always 2 sides to a story, and alot of times a reporter will see one side but never hear the other.

tnwykd...I think few Americans have ANYTHING BUT THE UTMOST RESPECT and CONCERN for the job our soldiers have been ordered to do. PERIOD.

I think the concern of us "couch potatoes" is more "complicated" that just this incidence. In Vietnam we faced an insurgent, entrenched enemy, willing to DIE to kill his enemy, willing to torture what he considered an invader...in a war we INITIATED because of false claims of enemy attack, and other nebulous and unsubstantiated reasons and justifications. The ultimate judgment of HISTORY has shown the vietcong was simply being a FREEDOM FIGHTER for his nation. He was the patriot...

Fast forward to today. We are in Iraq facing an insurgent, entrenched enemy, willing to DIE to kill his enemy, willing to torture what he considers an invader...in a war we INITIATED because of false claims of IMPENDING ATTACK, and other nebulous and unsubstantiated reasons and justifications.

add to this a Secretary of Defense and a government who has said....torture is OK, False imprisonment is OK and exhibited that they are willing to advance their AGENDA OF CONQUEST at any cost. And that cost is NOT JUST TO THE ENEMY...it is a willingness to subvert our constitution and our rights as citizens, our military and our integrity as a nation to achieve their ends. Which it seems to be turning out that their ultimate aim all along was the pursuit of oil. (which I must tell you I prayed it wasn't when Bush started this war...I was backing up my country and praying he wasn't lying...well it turns out he was).

So ultimately, we are CAUTIOUS and concerned. Oh, not in judgement, but the horrible scars these soldiers are going to carry home...the scars on their humanity and bodies. What if 5 years from now, these soldiers really THINK about how they were encouraged and sanctioned to committ barbaric acts by this Administration. You saw the division that still remains from Vietnam. Well, some of us have been here before. It is not the soldier pulling the trigger that we hold TO ACCOUNT...it ultimately will be the leader..who sent him into harms way for no good reason.

Trust me on this.

Which just points out the quandry we are faced with - "instant news", unedited, left to be interpreted "raw" by possibly uninformed people, can be dangerous.

Filtered, edited news is in all liklihood slanted, for good or bad.

But so-called "commentary" by self-appointed (experts?) is nearly always bad.

We can't blame the reporter for reporting what he observed.

But we do live in a country of "innocent until (unless) proven guilty", and NONE of us should presume to understand what that brief image actually means. That includes ALL the talking heads (and yes, bloggers). We see what we see, and can speculate privately, but beyond that, its for the investigators to probe and do the right thing. I feel terribly for the marine that he was in that position, felt he had to do what he did, and has to relive that moment probably 100 times a day. I expect the corps will decide what the mitigating circumstances (if there are any) are, and do the right thing. I hope all the clamor in the press doesn't influence them.

That is exactly WHY and investigation was needed. Like I said, IF he is innocent or had any atenuating circunstances to justify what he did, it will be clear after the investigation. And his name will be clear.

His buddies and "soldier's mom" are going after the wrong guy and the wrong issue. They should worry more about the man who puts them and their family members in this situations and less about those who take pictures or those who see pictures...

I've tried to offer some perspective to viewers on this forum what it is like to be in a combat environment. A number of other veterans with combat experience have also tried to offer a perspective of what it's like to be where people are trying to kill you.

I've come to the conclusion some of the other posters on this forum could care less what really happened. They dream of finding another My Lai and no matter what the military is guilty of atrocities.

It don't do any good to discuss the matter with these folks because they have made up their minds. Just use the ignore function if the ignorance becomes to overwhelming.

Im a daughter of a vietnam vet, 2 of my uncles are vietnam vets, and I have a couple of family members that are in Iraq right now, along with one who is in miss getting ready to go over there. I understand about the scars the soldiers carry, I lived in the house with one for 18 years, where up until recently vietnam was a taboo subject and not allowed to be mentioned, I heard my dad and mom whispering in the middle of the night after my dad had another one of his bad dreams.

I know who to blame for this war, and the unkind comments some make about our soldiers, and I have every hope in the world I will watch that man and his administration pay for the betrayal they delt this country, and every death i lay at his hands for sending our boys over there based on lies, and sending them unprepared, and without a fully thought through plan, which is one reason why I did not vote for him, and did my best to get other republicans not to vote for him.

I just get ticked off when some civilian people automatically without considering what the soldier felt or thought assume he is guilty of a heinous crime. Yes it should be investigated, but I wish people would wait for the whole story before they judge him guilty in thier minds.

Ive read quite a few posts that point fingers and dont care what the investigation outcome is, they dont want to hear it, they have already tried and convicted him in thier own minds, its easier for them to blame then to take a moment to think about the circumstances surrounding the incident. Ive seen messages in email groups calling our soldiers murderers and baby killers, and honestly im just fed up with it.

Bush doesnt deserve our loyalty, but our soldiers do, they are there doing what they have to do, what they are commanded to do, and no matter what anyones opinion of this war is, they shoud respect them.

I mean no offense to anyone, but I will not set by and watch our soldiers being drug through the mud because bush put them in a situation where they have few choices. Alot of people in this forum respect the soldiers, but there are those that dont, the email was for the ones that dont, so maybe it could open up the eyes of those so quick to judge especially based on what they have seen on thier news source.

Bravo and here here!!

Every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, and Marine who comes home from war and has some self appointed intellectual spit on them and call them a baby killer applauds you.

I'm not a pysochologist but I can tell you from personal experience getting spit on and being called a baby killer sure as hell don't help some one trying to deal with the ordeals of being in combat.

The right of free speech carries with it the responsibility of doing the right thing. If you don't like war don't blame the warrior, blame the politicians.

No, we don't hear many stories such as those because the government censors info coming out of war zones. They sterilize the whole concept of war and don't want American citizens to really know the horrors of war.They may be less apt to support them. They wont even show the caskets coming home!

This censorship does NOT help the soldiers. Americans would have more respect and appreciation for our soldiers if citizens knew the truth.