Posted on 02/26/2007 8:30:40 PM PST by Chickenhawk Warmonger
Vividly I remember the 15th of May, 2004. It had been business as usual and we were heading home from FOB Warhorse in Baquba. By "home" I mean FOB Normandy in the small town of Muqdadiyah, and by "we" I mean Support Platoon, 2-2 Infantry. Ramrods!
We had gone to Warhorse to fill our fuel trucks and pick up a two-day supply of food. We did this every other day for almost the entire year we were in Iraq and so that day was nothing new. Improvised explosive devices (IED) were the norm, as was small-arms fire. It had been two months since we started our convoy operations and we had learned how to avoid, or at least minimize, the damage done to our vehicles by IED.
Our strategy was to drive as fast as possible down the center of the road. Ok, so we had to force the local drivers off the road at times. We weren't concerned about them, just ourselves.
And for the record, I still credit this technique for the survival of everyone in the platoon, but I'm digressing.
(snip)
And I remember every weapon in the convoy coming to life. Bullets were flying at everything and nothing at the same time. I was firing my M16 at a house near where the IED had detonated. I didn't really have a target, I was just shooting at the house for the sake of shooting. I saw a white horse in a field and shot at it twice, but it didn't go down and I questioned whether I was actually hitting it. I shot at some clothes on a clothesline and at a satellite dish on one of the houses. All for the sake of making a statement.
(snip) At some point, another soldier and I started pulling rear security when a vehicle started coming up behind our disabled convoy at a high rate of speed. He wasn't that far away and I knew he could see an american military truck in flames or at least all the black smoke. I raised my weapon and aimed at the vehicle hoping that he would see the gesture and get the idea to stop, but he didn't. I knew I had to fire a warning shot but if he couldn't see me aiming at him, how would he see (or hear) me firing into the air? I aimed at the windshield.
I knew better than to aim at the driver. I didn't want to kill him, just give him a warning. So I aimed at the center of the windshield about the time I heard someone behind me yell to shoot.
And so I fired my weapon.The vehicle fishtailed a little bit and came to a stop. Good. But then a woman jumped out of the rear seat and started screaming. Not screaming in anger, but more like wailing.
“Oh no,” I thought to myself. I turned to the other soldier pulling rear security.
“I think you got someone,” he said to me.
If this guy isn't making this all up, he needs to be brought up on charges.
I call it a "Jimmy Massey" moment. Mr. Massey claimed almost the exact same thing. What is it about these anti-war soldiers and the "I killed an innocent civilian at a checkpoint" type stories?
So...he is poorly disciplined and shoots at animals to make a statement, and this is someone they want to trot out?
These people are pathetic. There are a lot of guys over there who follow the ROE even though they don't like them, have to be polite and professional to the Iraqis and Afghans, even though they may want to yell at them or whack them with their gun butts. They do what they are trained to do, they may hate being there, but they understand they have an obligation to fulfill and a job to do.
The other poster was right. This guy should be tried.
Is this meant as a John Kerry / Genghis Khan kind of statement? He's a hero of the Left and the Haditha Marines are their favorite villians. Just unbelievable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
