“...these are just young kids who are, usually for financial reasons, going out and fighting a rich man’s war...”
Ya, well, some didn’t join for the $. My Marine didn’t.
From Camp Pendleton, Nov 13, 2004:
“Oh yeah, well it’s kinda like this... I was supposed to leave like, 2 or 3 weeks ago, but oddly enough my battallion forgot to buy a plane ride to Iraq.... or anywhere else for that matter (yes, for some odd reason they wanted to put us on a civilian flight with M16A2’s and A4’s in a Tupperware container...brilliant).
We were invited to the ball [Ed: the Marine Corps Ball], but considering the 9 of us from Charlie company were supposed to be in the sandbox months ago with the rest of our boys, we declined. Meanwhile, the guys in Fallujah are kicking ass and taking names, leveling the place with 3-round bursts and AT4’s.... While all we can do is watch CNN and wonder how much more the Marine Corps can ram up our asses.... I mean, what could be a better birthday present than getting turn loose with a crap load of ammunition and an entire town?
There’s still the possiblility that I will get sent by myself to one of C co’s other platoons, since that’s what my paperwork says, but the NCO’s with me now don’t intend to send me on my own to a new platoon that’s been there 3 months already, even if it is a quieter part of the country.
It’s funny, I signed up to be one of the First to Fight, to go to a place like Fallujah... here I am in california where nobody wants anything to do with the 9 of us stragglers, continually getting reamed while my buddies in the guard come and go to the sandbox.
I joined to shoot things and blow them up, not PT 4 or 5 times a week with 3 different companies because nobody really knows why the 9 of us are still here or who we belong to.
By the time this whole adventure is over, I’ll have more amazing stories about this place than Iraq; 1st CEB, otherwise known as the Career Ending Batallion.
Anyways, if I EVER make it across the atlantic in time to get a combat action ribbon or something, I’ll be in touch with you guys. Til then, keep me in your prayers, because I don’t think my ass can stretch any wider... it hurts... and they don’t use lube... ow..... “
Anyway, who is this filmmaker guy, and why does he feel qualified to wade in on what happened at Haditha? I could see it if it was his son who got popped. Otherwise, who needs his opinion? I don’t get the feeling he’s objective; why the surprise at Marines being regular guys?