a mobilized year

We all have moments in our lives in which we remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we heard about or saw an event of national or at least personal significance—e.g., JFK being shot (for my parents), Elvis dying, Reagan being shot, the Berlin Wall falling, the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, and of course the planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers. Flashbulb memory I think it's called.

An event that is etched in my mind is when I first saw the pictures of the Abu Ghraib abuses. I was wearing my uniform at the time. I had just sat down for a continental breakfast at a hotel in Indianapolis and I looked up at a TV. I was shocked by what I saw. I just stared at the pictures. How could these soldiers do this, I thought. Where were these soldiers’ leaders? They’ve got to be doctored photos, I hopefully speculated. I couldn’t believe it. After a bit, my shock turned to embarrassment. No, the soldiers weren’t using electric shock or conducting heinous beatings or beheadings as our enemies do, but we’re so much better than that I thought. I remember the uncomfortable feeling of thinking that it was the first time I was ever ashamed of being a soldier.

Recently, there have been a number of allegations of soldiers’ murdering and committing voluntary manslaughter here in Iraq. I’m not going to condemn these soldiers or defend them or address the alleged cover ups. I don’t know whether they’re guilty or whether the events happened as alleged. I wasn’t there. That determination is for the courts martial to make. I’m proud to stick with the “innocent until proven guilty” concept though that has served our country well for some time.

I am going to comment about the alleged conduct though. If one of more of the incidents did happen, I am here to say that it is not the norm. And if it did happen, it’s not acceptable or excusable. Soldiers and marines face death, destruction, and bodily harm every day. The overwhelming number of soldiers and marines are professionals and they respond as such. Do we have some soldiers who aren’t? I am sure we do. But, that’s where leadership comes in—the NCOs and officers who train and supervise soldiers and marines. They’re responsible to make sure events like those alleged don’t happen. Because we know the power that our soldiers and marines have, we go to great lengths to ensure that they know right from wrong, what’s legal and what’s not, and what’s proper under our rules of engagement. That’s not to say that there are not gray areas--there are and sometimes those gray areas are very large. But, what has been alleged is not a gray area. If the leadership has done it's job in training these soldiers and these soldiers have done what is alleged, these soldiers should be punished just like any other criminals.

With that said, I do understand the intense feelings of losing someone or having someone close injured by an enemy attack. I can understand in concept someone “doing something stupid” in such a case by violating the Geneva Convention, just like I can understand in concept certain revenge killings that I read about back home. But, that doesn’t make it right or the norm. And doing right, is what is expected of a soldier—even that 19 or 20 year old soldier. The vast majority do, do what’s right, even under the hardest of circumstances. That's the norm. The vast majority know what they signed up for over here. While the vast majority do not like the realities of war, they understand and accept their responsibilities and are committed to them and their country, just like they are committed to their buddy next to them. And that, in large part, is what being a soldier is about.