Army Colonel sends out phony letters over 500 of his soldiers' names... military does NOTHING

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | October 26, 2003 | Thomas Lipscomb

[Clodia Pulcher]

"...Lt. Col. Dominic Caraccilo. His explanation to his superiors was: "The letter was purely an effort made by soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry to afford our soldiers an opportunity to let their respective hometowns know what they are accomplishing here in Kirkuk," which is "purely" a blatant lie. The effort was totally Caraccilo's, whose soldiers were dragooned into being stooges for his private PR campaign by his direct orders."

The military has no plans to discipline Caraccilo because in its view his intentions were "honorable."

[Clodia Pulcher]

Let's support our troops... but let's support the Constitution they are sworn to protect as well... . It only hurts our country if a loose cannon like this Col is allowed to hijack his mens' names and sign a blank check made out to his own efficiency report.

[arete]

He might be positioning himself for a job as a FOX News military analyist.

Richard W.

[unsycophant]

Are you saying that the Colonel was trying to make himself look good? It sounds like he was trying to make them all look good, if anything.

The military already said they will do nothing because his intentions were honorable.

[Cobra64]

He might be positioning himself for a job as a FOX News military analyist.

Major Bob Bevelakwa (sp?) is the only Fox News military analysts that has a clue about what he's saying. The others (colonals) just parrot what they read in yesterday's newspapers. IMOHO

[Clodia Pulcher]

It is HIS command... the phony letters make HIS command look good... don't you get it?

What do his troops get out of it? And what about all the time this phony scheme has taken out of his mens' lives?

"Honorable" my bippy.

[LenS]

Some soldiers had seen the letter sent out over their names. Some had not. Many agreed with its sentiments, but that is not really the point.

Funny how the author uses "some". From what I've read elsewhere, it looks like maybe one soldier disagreed.

To the author, the point is that anything that disagrees with the left's view of Iraq is to smeared.

[Lazamataz]

"Honorable" my bippy.

Pictures please.

[Pikamax]

huh? so the story has changed to no one knew and he sent out 500 letters by himself?

[swheats]

Major Bob might know what he's talking about in general combat, but it wasn't according to reality during the major conflict in iraq. He was proven wrong more times than I can remember.

Which was very disappointing. I like his style.

[JimVT]

I fully agree that this officer was off base and should be reprimanded...but...Mr. Lipscomb seems to want to turn this bit of stupidity into a vast right wing conspiracy. (see below for some of his statements)

I wonder if he would spend as much time tracking down the false statements from other Chicago newspapers reporters implying that most of the troops are opposed to the war and want to come home (see other FR reports)

A reporter found the same letter published in at least 11 hometown papers under different names -- all from the 503rd. Some soldiers had seen the letter sent out over their names. Some had not. (HOW MANY?) Many agreed with its sentiments,(HOW MANY?) but that is not really the point.

Their commander in chief, the president of the United States, after all, has sworn "to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States" at his inauguration.(THEREFORE, PRESIDENT BUSH SHOULD READ ALL MAIL SENT HOME BY THE TROOPS!!!)

[Clodia Pulcher]

Glad you posted the quote... NOW READ IT.... nowhere in there is there a statement as to who agreed... it is about whether they had even SEEN it.

I don't see anything left or right about this article... what I do see is sensitivity to the danger to democracy of the abuse of command authority.

[Clodia Pulcher]

You could do with a more careful read too.... that WASN'T mail "sent home by the troops" it was a phony campaign staged by one commander to make himself look good.... and THAT should cause concern all the way up his chain of command.

[JimVT]

You could do with a more careful read too.... that WASN'T mail "sent home by the troops"

Who are you quoting?

Are you annoyed because a few of us question the motivation of one of the distinguished members of the media?

[Askel5]

The military has no plans to discipline Caraccilo because in its end justifies the means view his intentions to deceive were "honorable."

[swheats]

This campaign is just one more nugget for the Left to latch on to and question real triumphs in Iraq.


A "What was he thinking moment" for sure.

[YaYa123]

Clodia, when you change the name of a headline, please make sure to at least spell correctly. "Colonel" wasn't in the original headline, but just for future reference, it's not the same as Lieutenant Colonel, and the correct abbreviation for Lieutenant Colonel is LTC.

But beyond that, this writer's take on what happened is inconsistent with the facts that came out well over a week ago, after it was investigated by the military.

The battalion commander wrote the form letter and if soldiers wanted to sign and mail it to their hometown papers they could do so. If they wanted to write their own letters, they could do that too. There was no pressure from the battalion commander or senior NCOs to use the form letter.

I don't know if you've ever noticed, but many small town papers have a regular column about local people in the military. Our paper, "The Marietta Daily Journal" includes pictures, where they went to high school, their unit, any awards, or military schools or missions they've completed. That information is routinely sent to newspapers by the unit's PIO, (Public Information Officer), and it's done as a courtesy for the soldiers.

While I doubt this LTC will receive any plaudits for carrying this courtesy one step further, he didn't have any nefarious motives for wanting his unit's accomplishments to be made known in the towns where his soldiers' families live.

[Clodia Pulcher]

As a general's daughter who grew up in the Army and loves it to this day, don't doubt my motives. I am FOR good military values and you clearly have missed some major points in this story...

First a matter of etiquette.... no one ever refers to LtCols as LtCols except on stationery... like no one ever refers to Ltjgs in the navy

Now the more substantial point.... if a Col writes a letter and gets the names of home town papers from his soldiers and many of them haven't even seen it or known it went out over their names how is that consistent with your paragraph here:

"The battalion commander wrote the form letter and if soldiers wanted to sign and mail it to their hometown papers they could do so. If they wanted to write their own letters, they could do that too. There was no pressure from the battalion commander or senior NCOs to use the form letter."

and worst of all... "no pressure?" In the volunteer military this commander was only totally in control of their careers, advancement, and assignment.

And to WHOSE advantage is this" The soldiers'? PUHLEASE...

[ex-snook]

The Colonel is just trying to fit in. Well maybe he did go beyond cherry picking for good information. But that is the MO on 'how to succeed in business without really lying'. It must be good for your approval rating.

[Clodia Pulcher]

AH... YOU got the point! And so succinctly....XXXXX

[BushCountry]

You are making a mountain out of a molehill, sorry. };O(