Posted on 12/08/2004 6:38:37 PM PST by xzins
Maynulet’s fellow officer, 1st Lt. Colin Cremin, testified that Maynulet told him he then shot the Iraqi in the base of the neck or the back of the head.
Does anyone know any examples of this kind of thing in other wars?
judgmental
"Don't shoot, let them burn!"
Who preferred the charges?
If I had to guess, since it sounds like Cpt Maynulet was open about it, that it was probably his battalion commander.
The military lawyers should stay busy doing something more useful, like searching landfills for scrap armor. This situation is not right.
I can't cite any specific examples but have always suspected that it happens more frequently than reported.
In one sense, it happens passively at every battlefield hospital in the triage area.
They have a group called the "expectants" that they intentionally don't treat because they're considered impossible to fix...they are expected to die. Therefore, they operate first on those who have a chance to live.
That's both enemy and FRIENDLY casualties.
Appears infinitly more humane than sawing his head off with a dull knife.
Absolutely no doubt about that.
The beheaded were in perfectly healthy condition.
On the face of it, it sounds to me like he acted without malice, believing his action to be the only humane thing to be done.
Still, a courts martial may be the only way to really get the facts straight and documented. An acquittal in a courts martial would be the best thing for this soldier, since it means that the matter has been fully and fairly investigated.
It closes the matter. At least I hope that's where this is going.
Yep, me too. I agree with you.
I wasn't there. Thank the good Lord he didn't have an embed reporter along with him.
Touh call. But to characterize this as an "assault to commit murder" is too much. It was in the heat of combat and he made a field decision. Drop the charges, return him to normal duty, and tell him that the next time, let nature take its course.
Similar examples? Well, when I was taking Command & General Staff College course (1987) (think of this as the Army's version of a Masters Degree in Military Science), one of the readings we were assigned told the story of a British unit in Burma that had to leave some severely wounded behind. They had to retreat across difficult terrain. These wounded would not have survived the journey and would have suffered extremely none the less. The head doctor for the unit administered lethal doses of morphine knowing that the Japanese would use them for bayonet practice.
Is it routine? No. Does it happen? Yes. This officer's mistake was to talk about it afterwards. Very poor judgement on his part. Not only for his own sake but that of the officer he told. Telling his fellow officer was very unprofessional since it forced the fellow officer to either bring charges or to become an accomplice after the fact. One does not place your fellow officer in such a position.
My impression was that the other officer was there, and was a witness. But even so, it does place that other officer in the awkward position that you describe. It has to be written up, or he puts himself at risk later.
It's tough. I really hope that the CM returns an acquittal if the facts are as reported. That's the right thing to do.
"Maynulet’s fellow officer, 1st Lt. Colin Cremin, testified that Maynulet told him he then shot the Iraqi in the base of the neck or the back of the head."
Right!
Ah! OK... very well then.
Yes! Private Ryan
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