The word from a soldier just back from Iraq (Awesome Letter to the Editor - San Diego Union Tribune)

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 12/18/04 | DALE MELVILLE

[bkwells]

The word from a soldier just back from Iraq

I have been in the Army for the last seven years. I have gone through the good and bad times in the military. It is a lifestyle that if you do not live every day, you cannot even come close to understanding.

I have been to Bosnia, Kosovo, and have just returned from Iraq. I can tell you that no one feels the loss of soldiers more than we do.

Even the families do not deal with the emotional pain and stress that we do when we have to pick up the remains of our friends – the same friends that we joked with, lived with, even shared our deepest fears and worries of life with, and in many cases the same friend who saved your life the week before.

I am always concerned with how the Army can be more effective at saving the lives of my fellow soldiers. Armor is not always the answer. In fact, armor can prevent us from being able to do our job. Every pound of armor makes us less effective fighters.

I patrolled the streets of Baghdad in a Humvee that had no doors, let alone armor. This was a decision that I made so that I was a more effective soldier. With better fields of vision, I could respond more effectively to the hazards of a combat zone.

I am an explosive ordnance disposal technician tasked with the removal of the roadside bombs, or IEDs, and unexploded ordnance in Iraq. The IEDs in Iraq often have enough explosives in them that the armor on most trucks proves to be ineffective at close range. Armor is a great asset and improves morale in some cases, but it is not the answer to our problems in Iraq.

There has never been an IED campaign in the history of the world like the one we are living through in Iraq. There is no way the leadership that sent us to war could possibly have known to expect these extreme attacks on its fighting force and the effects on the morale that the Army has suffered during these attacks. What the Army needs is to hunt out and destroy these insurgents, and that, of course, is not an easy task.

Then comes the true kick in the gut. The news media do not report the great things that we have accomplished in this country – the lives we have saved, and freedom that we are providing to a people who do, in fact, want this freedom. Freedom is not won overnight; there are pitfalls that must be overcome, and that takes time.

Instead, the media have decided to attack our morale by attacking our top leadership. There are a lot of things a soldier must deal with in combat; how are we supposed to perform when we have to deal with irrelevant controversy in Washington, D.C., as well?

The truth is that we have excellent leadership that supports us in every mission and provides us top-of-the-line equipment to accomplish our missions. We are at war, and war is not perfect.

I joined the Army because I love my country, a deeper and different love than I think most Americans can understand. I find this same patriotism in the soldiers I work with, even though there are prevalent risks to their lives. They do this because they and I believe in our country. We are soldiers: We adapt and over come all situations. We have been doing it since the birth of our country.

Leave our leadership alone, and we can and will win this war; and frankly, we do not need your selective reporting of how we are doing. We know our mission and objectives; our leadership has and continues to inform us wisely.

DALE MELVILLE Pine Bluff Arsenal, Ark. Ramona

[Free_at_last_-2001]

MSM is the enemy!

[NorseWood]

bump

[kitkat]

TRUTH BUMP

[womcg]

During the Clinton years, when some one asked me where I ws calling from, I'd say: "Arkansas,..but I didn't vote for the SOB"!

Next month, I may be doing some consulting work at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. Think that young EOD Sgt would accept a steak dinner from an old retired recon Sgt.?

[Eagle Eye]

Rockets and mortars and bombs, oh my!

You're right, the vest isn't designed to protect against explosives drpping from the skies. I've tried to remind some people that SAPI is not Safe Always Protective Inserts, but they feel that they have to 'do something'.

You'd probably agree that if you heard it and you're standing, you're ok. And, by the time you can get the stuff on and find a bunker it is probably done anyway.

The homemade vehicle armor is only good for small arms and shrapnel or deflecting the blast somewhat at best.

And as one who has only had any type of vehicular armor 3 times out of 3 dozen, I will admit that I felt better than not having any. Having had to account for bullets and holes in damaged vehicles, I know damn well that the armor works and that .30 cal rounds penetrate doors, glass, and noggins easily.

The guy makes a good point that armor has some placebo effects. And for the most part, nothing wrong with that. Better to have troops that have less worry than more worry.

Admit it. You can't leave. You're gonna miss it way too much. Oh sure you'll have nearly endless hot showers, real porcelain commodes, a 'just right' mattress, a full sized fridge full of beer and food with real names that you can recognize, TV, more than just "Freedom Radio" and 4 Iraqi stations, soft or hard will be taco choices not SUV choices, and you will be able to find clothes that don't have OIF all over them. Yes, you'll miss the hadji mart. And smoke on the horizon. And being able to chuckle at the noobs who don't yet know the difference between incoming and outgoing.

Best to you, 22 and a wake up.

[angkor]

Out of curiousity which of the wars, Vietnam or Iraq has the MSM written more negative news about?

Funny you should ask.

I have right here in front of me Vol. 1 of The Library Of America's "Reporting Vietnam". Vol 1 is a compilation of reporting from 1959 to 1969, and includes all the usual suspects: Karnow, Sheehan, Halberstam, Alsop, Tom Wolfe, Schell, Arnett, and Cronkite.

For the most part and right up until 1967/68 the reporting is factual, incisive, interesting, like the good embed stuff we sometimes see from Iraq.

Beginning about 1967/68 it becomes increasingly critical, but not in the cheap, seditious, and dishonest manner that see from Iraq these days. For the most part the Vietnam reporters are quite up front that they are turning against the war in VN. And they explain why. They don't try to convince anyone that they're being "objective". They describe their experiences and their prejudices.

A lot of these guys went to VN in support of the war, and several were holdouts for a very long time, e.g., surprisingly David Halberstam was a hawk who stayed a hawk long after many other reporters had turned.

The difference that I can see ios that most of the VN reporters were at least willing to be loyal to America from the beginning, whereas most of the reporters in Iraq are both against America and extremely dishonest from the get go.

[stopem]

Thank you. Interesting.

Thats the bottom line, at least they were loyal to America before, well put, and may I add loyal to our troops.

[Robert DeLong]

Clinton or Gore would never have had the courage to take America to war. As for Kerry, the positive would begin to be reported more and the horrors extenuated.

[alnick]

Needs to be sent to Coleman and the crew in Congress.. they need to take a big chill pill on Rummie!

Yes, they do. It's very easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Our troops deserve better, as do their leaders.

[Steel Wolf]

Two of your points I really agree with

in terms of IEDs, body armor doesnt cover your lower legs. IEDS are generally on the ground. No help there. You avoid them by being cautious and remembering your training...

I sat sideways in the TC seat of an unarmored gunvee on almost every movement, and I can't tell you how many times I nearly lost my legs to passing traffic. (Or how many times I nearly fell out until I found a good way to snaplink myself in) But it was worth it to have a clean field of fire and present an aggressive posture.

For the soldiers, a clear field of fire can be just as important as being protected from fire. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Driving fast and rolling like you're looking for trouble will keep all but the most insanely suicidal off your back. Too many people get lulled into thinking that they run this route all the time, and nothing ever happens, and then they get hit. You have to keep the mentality that every time you leave the wire, you're expecting contact. You need to ensure that everyone is not only alert, but proactively scanning their lanes, and covering potential targets.

Armor is great, but there's no substitute for not getting caught napping.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

We MUST all listen to our protectors and honor their CLARITY in time of war...

...or all is lost.

When we refused to do so during the Vietnam War over 3 million poor S.E. Asian souls lost their lives as a consequence afterwards. and many more their Freedom while being tortured by their Godless Communist Bully captors.

http://www.WeWereSoldiers.com
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set1.htm
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set2.htm
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set3.htm


.

[angkor]

I got the Library Of America's "Reporting Vietnam Vol. 1" from my library. They have Vol. 2 as well which I'll pick up next week or so.

It's very interesting, most of the stories are 6 to 10 pages and you can pick and choose what you want to read.

Highly recommended.

BTW, I got it for precisely the same question you raised: I wanted to see how the Vietnam reporting of the past compared to the Iraq reporting of today.

The differences are obvious and dramatic.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

...While RATHER tried to depose our Commander-in-Chief BUSH with continuing TV Lies...

...in a Time of War that has our own Freedom now at stake here at home...

...Liberal Los Angeles Times Media Critic DAVID SHAW tries to tell us that:


RATHER's work is 'Shoddy, Slipshod' not LIBERAL..?

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1227809/posts

.

[snippy_about_it]

Freedom is not won overnight

Can't say that often enough especially to the MSM. Thanks Brian.

[Cicero]

1968 was the date the Cultural Revolution began. Americans are most familiar with Woodstock, but there were similar movements in Europe and, to a lesser extent, Japan. There were student riots in Paris that year. Charles de Gaulle fled to his home in the country at their height, because he didn't know how to deal with them. In Germany you had the rise of the Bader Meinhoff gang. In Italy there were similar terrorist groups.

Vietnam was the peg on which much of this revolutionary fervor hung. But to some degree it was just an excuse for something that was ripe to happen anyway. The Cultural Revolution was the logical outgrowth of late, decadent modernism, with it growing realization that the Age of Reason was not all that rational after all and that "progress" had led to Stalin, Hitler, and two world wars.

Later, Vietnam was blamed on Nixon, but it was Lyndon Johnson who presided over the turning point. No doubt one reason reporters turned against the war was their perception that Johnson had no intention of winning it. He micromanaged and tied the military's hands. The rot came from the head down.

Maybe that's why today's reporters are so obsessed with attacking the leadership. But the truth is that Bush has been an excellent leader. Cheney as been an excellent leader. Rumsfeld has been an excellent leader. Unlike Johnson they have been determined to do things right and to win. The Vietnam generation of reporters went overboard in the end, but they had genuine issues to object to. The Iraq generation of reporters have nothing but bad faith.

[CyberAnt]

"The IEDs in Iraq often have enough explosives in them that the armor on most trucks proves to be ineffective ... it is not the answer to our problems in Iraq."

"There has never been an IED campaign in the history of the world like the one we are living through in Iraq. There is no way the leadership that sent us to war could possibly have known to expect these extreme attacks on its fighting force ..."

I'm going to send this letter to every media outlet I have an email for - as well as to every person in Congress - along with some not so polite comments. I'm sick of this attack on Rumsfeld and our military.

[blackie]

I sent it to everyone on my email list.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Exactly right..............Documentation here:

____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Unholy Alliance

by David Horowitz
Hardcover - (September 2004) - $27.95

In this tour de force on the most important issue of our time, David Horowitz, confronts the paradox of how so many Americans, including the leadership of the Democratic Party, could turn against the War on Terror. He finds an answer in a political Left that shares a view of America as the ?Great Satan? with America?s radical Islamic enemies.

[26lemoncharlie]

I havn't read any of these type of books. Maybe I should!

[bray]

Better author and more informed than 95% of the Stoneage Press!! Armored vehicles are only being used as a club by the PravdABDNC.

Pray for W and Our Troops