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I Was on the Waterboard
Self | 12/11/2007 | Mariner

Posted on 12/11/2007 8:59:40 PM PST by Mariner

I am an honorably discharged US Military member that was subject to the Waterboard in SERE school circa 1979-1980.

I'm certain there are other ex military member that would like to join me in testifying to both the US Congress and the US Media that this procedure, while effective, is not torture.

If the majority of the American people knew that this was an act that US service members are subject to, it would disappear off the front pages of every newspaper and news show in the country.

Sign up. State you were waterboarded. Jim Robinson can collect our logins and provide our info to a brave Congress Person or member of the administration.

Let's send the dims and the media running and looking stupid while doing so.


TOPICS: Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: congress; duncanhunter; torture; waterboarding; wot
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To: smoothsailing

Hey, dipshit. I did 10 years in the US Navy.


121 posted on 12/12/2007 8:15:50 AM PST by Mariner
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To: smoothsailing
No, I cannot remember the year or month.

It's not even on my DD214...only that I "graduated".

122 posted on 12/12/2007 8:20:36 AM PST by Mariner
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To: AmericaUnited
"You didn’t fess up as to whether you “talked” or even worse... squawked like a chicken? :)"

I was never asked a single question. All the questions were asked of a young 1st LT as they took me through a slow, controlled drowning.

If course I was far more eager to answer than he was:)

123 posted on 12/12/2007 8:24:11 AM PST by Mariner
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To: Mariner
Would you explain exactly what happens when waterboarded? Is cloth or plastic put over the entire face, just the mouth, or nose? Does water go up the nose? Does water go into the mouth?

Thanks.

124 posted on 12/12/2007 8:24:53 AM PST by avacado
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To: avacado
I was strapped to a board about the size of a stretcher...possibly plywood. Straps at my ankles, knees, waist, chest and arms.

A large beach towel was folded over 3-4 times and soaked in a bucket of water. Then, someone at my head held the towel over my face, pinned at each ear, while another poured water from a hose onto the towel.

I was never asked a question. All of the questions were asked of a LT1.

They would take you JUST to the point of passing out, then let you have air. There's always a doctor present.

125 posted on 12/12/2007 8:31:41 AM PST by Mariner
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To: Lancey Howard
constant blaring of rock music

Make that: constant blaring of RAP "MUSIC"

126 posted on 12/12/2007 8:34:14 AM PST by Minutemen ("It's a Religion of Peace")
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To: Mariner

Thanks for the reply. So your mouth and nose were completely covered by the towel and no water was flowing into the nose or mouth?


127 posted on 12/12/2007 8:43:04 AM PST by avacado
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To: Mariner
They would take you JUST to the point of passing out, then let you have air. There's always a doctor present.

Just curious ... what would happen if they didn't "let you have air"?

128 posted on 12/12/2007 8:47:54 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: ArrogantBustard
Just curious ... what would happen if they didn't "let you have air"?

You would pass out or cough uncontrollably. I've never been waterboarded, but I did drown. It was most unpleasant.

129 posted on 12/12/2007 9:06:42 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
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To: numberonepal; Mariner
You would pass out or cough uncontrollably

Passing out would seem to be a physiological reaction to hypoxia. Is the coughing a reaction to hypoxia or to a perceived obstruction (water) in the airway? Would either passing out, or uncontrollably coughing relieve the situation?

130 posted on 12/12/2007 9:12:40 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Mariner
LOL! OK, glad you cleared that up.
131 posted on 12/12/2007 9:47:39 AM PST by smoothsailing
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To: ArrogantBustard
Would either passing out, or uncontrollably coughing relieve the situation?

The first time I sucked water into my lungs I coughed uncontrollably for what seemed like hours. Much like sucking water "down the wrong pipe" while drinking except on a much larger scale. On another occasion I passed out, probably from hypoxia. It was most definitely different than, say, getting knocked out.

Before y'all ask, this all happened in exactly the spot doing exactly the same thing. I was a dumb and cocky and show-off kid free-diving waaaaay too deep in some fairly dangerous currents.

Drowning is a lot less painful than coughing Jaggermiester through your nose.

132 posted on 12/12/2007 10:15:42 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
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To: Mariner
Count me in on a grad of water boarding....been there, done that and yes...I have a T shirt to prove it.......
133 posted on 12/12/2007 10:26:50 AM PST by rightwingextremist1776
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To: Mariner
Count me in on a grad of water boarding....been there, done that and yes...I have a T shirt to prove it.......
134 posted on 12/12/2007 10:26:53 AM PST by rightwingextremist1776
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To: Hunble
"...I honestly do not give a damn what happens to him!"
I am sure many of us maintain this sentiment.
135 posted on 12/12/2007 11:07:44 AM PST by Marine_Uncle (Duncan Hunter for POTUS)
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To: Tennessee_Bob

I laugh about him being so tight-lipped because my other options don’t help either of us. And over the years, I’ve come to accept that this character trait of integrity is what drew me to him in the first place. The fact that he won’t divulge things he shouldn’t has nothing to do with me; it has to do with him, and being a man of his word.


136 posted on 12/12/2007 11:50:13 AM PST by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL (****************************Stop Continental Drift**)
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To: Velveeta
They cut the heads off of our soldiers and booby-trapped their bodies, for crying out loud!

I would prefer they had waterboarded our soldiers.

As would most. However that doesn't make it the best course - after all, it would probably be better that one of our soldiers was tortured and mutilated rather than beheaded. Does that mean we should accept either outcome as reasonable? No.

When facing two bad options, the fact that one is worse does not automatically make the other one good.

137 posted on 12/12/2007 3:51:05 PM PST by Androcles (All your typos are belong to us)
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To: Mariner

In 1975, I was water-boarded three times at the SERE school in Warner Springs. Before and after, I knew it was just training, but at the moment that your gag reflex proves insufficient, your mind breaks. You realize the hard and cold truth: something has gone terribly wrong, you are actually drowning, dieing, and as much as you try to scream or wrestle, you’re helpless, unable to communicate, and you know you’re dieing. You learn then that panic is much different than fear.

They stop in a minute or two or three, and I’ve heard of SEALs getting it for an hour.

In the coming weeks, I was shy to put my face in water, in a shower, or on a pillow. But I got over it.

I was also slapped around, pushed around, boxed up, made to freeze naked, standing arms outstretched in the desert night while my interrogators hosed me down with water. The senior man in front of me shook so much from the cold, it looked like his limbs might break off his body.

When the music played and the US flag appeared, tears welled up in my eyes, like probably most of the 53 of us.

I’ve heard that the AF Academy didn’t keep their instructors in line and professional. That’s a shame. The trainers and the curriculum must always be evaluated for relevence.

There was, for me, one and only one lasting psychological effect: I am much more confident in my capacity to regain my composure after any ordeal.

To this day, I feel I was well-trained by professionals, and I thank the boatswains and quartermasters who embarrassed and humiliated me in a controlled environment, allowing me to grow as a person.


138 posted on 12/14/2007 2:41:48 AM PST by foreign3r
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To: Dumb_Ox

Good screen name.


139 posted on 12/14/2007 2:52:59 AM PST by Beckwith (<the liberal media have chosen sides -- Islamofascism)
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