Posted on 01/16/2015 10:34:34 AM PST by Steelfish
JANUARY 16, 2015 Smearing Snipers: What Many Americans Dont Get about Our Warrior Elite We should be proud of men like Chris Kyle, not skittish or ashamed. By Chris Mark
About ten years ago, an employer of mine had an odd request: I needed to delete an aspect of my military career from my professional biography because it might offend a potential client or partner. Recon Marine, infantry Marine, service-disabled veteran . . . those were a boon.
But Scout Sniper, one of the greatest accomplishments I had as a Marine that had to go.
Sadly, that kind of slight is not uncommon for some of our nations most elite warriors.
Murderer, assassin, heartless: The modern sniper is an oft-maligned and largely misunderstood individual, and Hollywood has played a part. For too long, its wrongly portrayed snipers as troubled men struggling through a lonely life, anguished by their memories of too many murders.
The new biopic American Sniper, while taking artistic license and departing a bit from the book of the same name, attempts to shows a real sniper in an honest light as the serious, patriotic professional he is.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
It’s not the serviceman’s psychology I was referring to, but that of the general public in relation to the vets.
And yes, a drone pilot would elicit stares in some quarters, but they are not as scrutinized as are many of the other jobs, at least yet.
Uh...that would be the late Gen. Sedgwick.
During the early years in Iraq a journalist asked a Marine sniper what he felt when he sighted in on a enemy target and took the shot ... his response ... recoil.
I got hit dragging a badly wounded Marine from the middle of an open field and just as I got him to some reasonable cover, I got shot while I was bending over him trying to keep him breathing. The bullet shattered my right thighbone and nicked my femoral artery. I was able to get a tourniquet on around my crotch and thanks to an incredibly brave UH-34D pilot, they got me to Charlie Med Danang very quickly.
I know a gift when I see one and so I have tried to continue my life as the gift that it really was and to pass on to my younger Marines all of the lessons I learned.
Sorry about the femoral artery wound. You were as lucky as I was to be able to get out fast. The grenade accidents are surprising as my montagnards learned to throw that grenade. I also had extra cases of LAWS which every montagnard had learned to fire. Of course having men who make crossbows and have brass bracelets makes good trading material for LAWS and extra grenades. In 72-73 after Vietnam I went through the Infantry Officers Advanced Course at Benning. A Marine Captain became a dear friend and classmate. Buck CC Coffman was a Marine Corps Force Recon legend having fought in Korea at 17 years of age and he had received the Navy Cross in Vietnam with Force Recon.Sadly he is deceased. He had 26 ribbons.
Were you hit too? How bad?
I like the Montagnards too - good honest and brave bunch of people.
Sorry about the loss of Buck Coffman - we’re losing more and more of them every day that goes by. We will all be together again soon.
Semper Fi,
Chainmail
I was shot twice on 27 April 69. I was hit in the right ankle with an AK round. It went in the front and shattered the small bone (fibula) and blew out the lower 1/3 of my calf muscle. The next round felt like I was being pounded on with a 16 LB sledge hammer that kept pounding me.It went through the right thigh large rear hamstring muscle complex (large thigh muscle in back)and it blew a hole out the size of a quarter or larger two inches below the right hip bone.It missed the artery and femur bone. It just hit a large vein. Very fortunate.
Really happy you made it. I’m extremely proud of us and how we conducted our war. We really were the best our country had and I still marvel that I was graced by God to live up the standards of all of you around me.
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