When out there in hostile territory where the enemy may be the vehicle approaching, behind a rock over there, or building here, or you see a huge hoard of quilted uniforms coming right at you, your gut is anything but calm. Even a rustling noise may have a barrage of bullets in response. The American GI can throw out some lead - big time.
These are times when one makes snap judgments, sometime they are mistakes. Survival of you and your buddies is paramount, as is the mission.
I doubt investigators can really understand the conditions present at such times - how could they? And, as you should well know, eight people on patrol will give eight versions, same as an auto accident down at the corner. If the stories were identical, you know there is a cover-up.
I seriously doubt the investigators who took testimony from this witness understood or got it right. Several of the guys in the unit dispute the investigative report. My experience from many years ago is that military investigations during wartime are riddled with error. How do you capture on paper the emotion of the moment, the adrenaline pumping through your entire being.
I don't know what happened in this matter - I doubt anyone else really fully knows either - even those present..
I wonder if the writer ever experienced incoming rounds, or had the dirt kicking up around his hidey hole.
These prosecutions from combat mistakes should never happen
You bring out excellent points and I agree with you wholeheartedly with your statement “These prosecutions from combat mistakes should never happen”. Who with good conscience could prosecute such cases based on minutiae of events not only clouded by time but also the adrenaline rush of the moment. I pray for our soldiers and it tears at my heart to see them put through such ordeals to satisfy the politics of the time. I hunger for a leader that would put himself between our soldiers and the tribunals. Sadly we do not have one of those.