Nothing about this story made me feel good save for one thing: until TIME's investigation, one of the Marines — the squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich — was in line to receive a medal for heroism for what he did that terrible day. According to press reports, the recommendation says that Wuterich, 26, displayed "calm and confident decisiveness that day and doubtlessly prevented further injury or death to fellow Marines and innocent civilians." Today, Wuterich faces 13 counts of unpremeditated murder.
In a sane world, McGirk would have been tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail.
McGirk gives some good insight on his own personality. He opines on how hard "breaking" this story was on himself, but preventing a Marine from getting a medal for heroism makes him "glad". Hmmm.
McGirk refers to his childhood as being pro-military because his Dad was a Marine. But he refers to his Dad as an ex-Marine captain. Is that phrase typical - ex-Marine? I thought that was reserved for the likes of Murtha types.