Be interesting to read France's...
Carry a big white flag stored properly by the a$$.
Personally, from what I have seen in the media, their actions were abominable.
This is one of the first things people are taught when they join the military. I was frustrated when I saw that one of the Brits had signed a confession...and even more outraged when the British government announced today that the sailors had done what they were taught.
It's been close to fifty years that I reported for basic training. There are some parts of the code of conduct that I don't remember but the above is not one of them.
The Military Code of Conduct; It 's Unrealistic and Deadly
August/September 1996 Issue
By Ted Sampley
U.S. Veteran Dispatch
When asked about the Code of Conduct and how it had applied to him while he was in captivity, the first prisoner of war from the Gulf War, Jeffrey Zaun, told author and West Point Military Academy professor Major Elliott Gruner, "We gave that [the Code] up years ago."
Navy pilot Zaun, who was shot down and captured by Iraqi forces January 18, 1991, became an instant hero after his bruised and battered face was televised by CNN two days later. His injuries and zombie like behavior confirmed what Americans have grown to expect U.S. military men to endure if captured. "Our leaders and our people have wrongly attacked the peaceful people of Iraq," the battered Zaun told an interrogator during the Iraqi produced television special, which was transmitted all over the world by CNN.
<Snip>
The Iraqis did not have to torture the Gulf War POWs because the prisoners had learned from the Vietnam POW experience and played along with their captors, allowing their image to be broadcast so their status as a live prisoner would be confirmed.
They believed their statements damning the United States effort would later be discredited. Zaun said that "90 percent of [his] facial injuries were caused by ejection." He said he had hit himself in the nose and face as hard as he could stand when he learned the Iraqis were taking him to a television station. His self-inflicted disfigurement apparently prevented a second television broadcast.
<Snip>
It has been forty years since the Code of Conduct was first "hammered out." The U.S. military and its technology has changed significantly, thus making the battlefield more fluid and exposing more U.S. service personnel to the chance of being captured.
The majority of our military personnel are still not being realistically trained in what to expect from the enemy if captured. Some do attend specialized survival schools, but most of the resistance and survival training is offered only to pilots and special operations personnel. The new dimension of U.S. women in combat has now added the high possibility of rape to the hazards of military service and the POW experience.
It is obvious that the Code of Conduct, in its current form, is not enough to protect U.S. prisoners of war from an enemy who has become more sophisticated in its abilities to exploit prisoners. After prisoners have resisted "to the utmost" of his or her ability, then what do they do? The Code does not answer that question.
In all the discussion on the radio there were frequent mentions of the code.
Problem is that the code is USA. I have no idea what the british use.
If you go to the Nixon Presidential Library you will see a very stirring exhibit of the various implemens and other things made by the American POW’s in the prisons of North vietnam.
The American flag they made out of threads from clothing...so they could salute it every morning. and if found meant possible death.
And they fought knowing that the streets of America were turning against them (the vietnamese were showing them the television pictures from home), and that they could expect to be spit upon when coming home by the same leftists and infest Washington D. C. today. And still they resisted for their own honor and the honor of their country.
The things they did to circumvent the intentions of their captors - you can see in the NIxon Library. Some weren’t in solitary confinement for two weeks - but up to six years and more.
Some resisted and were tortured mercilessly because they wouldn’t go on television and say bad things about the United States of America.
And each one who resisted knew what was waiting for him, he could hear the screams of his buddies being tortured before his turn came.
I’m not saying that someone should resist until death...or that everyone doesn’t have a breaking point...but at least some resistance...an attempt...
I. I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
II. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.
I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist.
III. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
No changes.
IV. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.
No changes.
V. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
No changes.
VI. I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
I will never forget that I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America