Could Major Pearson be from Pennsylvania?
The malformed past tense "I seen..." is very common in Pennsylvania. I used that form in daily speech until about my third day at college, when I abruptly learned to say "I saw."
Hmm. Hard to say....I had trouble placing the accent. Could be Eastern PA coal regions. (I'm from Danville, just north of that area, and in HS we did in fact make fun of the speech of people from places like Shamokin, Mt. Carmel, etc.)
;-)
I'm a former English teacher, and I don't give a damn about this soldier who is speaking the TRUTH clearly. Clarity is the first and foremost criterion for communicating. Now go somewhere else to discuss grammar or stick around and listen to the truths he's telling all of us.
My father used to say "I seen" also,as does my brother who thinks George Bush sounds stupid. My father was from the Eastern edge of Lake Ontario area in NY State and loved Country music. I gave up trying to correct my brother,he is a mediocre speller also,and he is voting for Kerry.