Hyped Story Of Lynch's Capture Covers Officer's Incompetence, Vets Say

St. Louis Post-Dispatch | August 9, 2003 | By Harry Levins

[mark502inf]

Three old soldiers say the hoopla over Pfc. Jessica Lynch has drowned out a darker story - that her company commander foolishly put Lynch and her comrades in harm's way.

Just as bad, the three say, is the Army's official report on what happened on March 23 when Lynch's 507th Maintenance Company ran into a firefight in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.

The report calls the clash "a tragedy" and says the 507th's soldiers "fought hard. ... Every soldier performed honorably, and each did his or her duty."

That statement raises the eyebrows of retired artillery Col. Jerry Morelock of Fulton, Mo., now the director of Westminster College's Churchill Memorial.

In an e-mail interview, Morelock questioned whether the company commander had acted honorably and done his duty. That commander was Capt. Troy King. Morelock noted that King had:

Misread maps all along his convoy's routes.

Gotten his soldiers in one piece through a hostile city - and then turned around and driven back through it. (At that point, Morelock says, "the Iraqis found the soft targets presented to them by Capt. King's incompetence too tempting to pass up.")

Refused to jettison his unit's trailers, even when they slowed what should have been a hasty retreat.

Apparently abandoned some of his soldiers on the battlefield.

"Lacked competence"

Tom Kuypers of St. Charles is a retired lieutenant colonel of infantry. In an e-mail interview, he offered a stark judgment: "Capt. King will have to live with the burden that he failed to accomplish his mission. He failed his troops as a commander. He lacked competence as an officer. ... Commanders never abandon their troops in battle."

Another retired lieutenant colonel of infantry, Ed Kennedy of Leavenworth, Kan., shared that view. By e-mail, he quoted a maxim heard often in the Army: "A commander is responsible for everything his unit does - or fails to do."

All three veterans were stunned by the report's repeated mention of weapons jamming or malfunctioning. All three called the breakdowns a classic symptom of bad leadership.

Kuypers termed the jamming "a giveaway for lax discipline and the unit's lack of attention to detail." Kennedy said, "Dirty rifles are a sign of indiscipline, no matter how you cut it."

Kennedy blamed what he called "a major cultural divide between the combat arms and those of support soldiers. It's almost as if we're in different armies. And the 507th is part of this non-combat arms culture. There's a lot of tough talk but an underlying softness. They take pride in living in tents or trucks and not being fighters."

Kennedy added, "I think the pervasive number of females has made this even worse in the last 25 years."

"Iraqis probably saved her"

But Kuyper said the 507th had gotten little in the way of help from the links above it in the chain of command. Among other things, he said, nobody provided an airborne escort, even though "helicopters routinely 'cover' convoys."

Even Kennedy said: "The leaders were all suffering from sleep deprivation and exhaustion. This added to the problem. ... Even a good rest plan can't fix this problem, and I empathize with their physical condition. I've been there. But battle drills that are rehearsed counter the effects of sleep deprivation."

King's home station is Fort Bliss, Texas. A spokeswoman there, Maj. Catie Morelle-Oliveira, said King had decided against granting interviews but was preparing a written statement.

Morelock scoffed at the press's lionization of Pfc. Lynch. In the official report, Morelock said, Lynch "comes across as just some poor young kid who got smashed up in a vehicle accident. In all likelihood, the Iraqis probably saved her life. Certainly they did more to ensure her immediate survival than Capt. King did."

Morelock's final words targeted the Army itself: "To refer to this combat action as 'a tragedy' - an 'event' in which the convoy seemingly just happened to find itself - is nonsense. Dismissing the whole thing by claiming that 'all served nobly' and then throwing medals at them is an insult to the soldiers who died and ought to be an embarrassment to the survivors."

[bruin66]

she was beaten and raped.

Pardon my ignorance, but, is this documented anywhere?

[sean327]

Yes there is harm in letting the myth go on. Great harm! Questions need to be answered concerning weapons maintenance, why a Capt. who cannot navigate properly was leading a convoy through Indian country, and why he left soldiers behind. This sorry ass excuse for an officer did not follow basic convoy procedures and got his people killed, and captured. Not getting rid of his trailers was inexcusable. If your convoy gets hit you sh@#t can the trailers and get the hell out of Dodge. This Capt.is an incompetant jackass. I have Lance Corporals that could do a better job as a convoy commander.

[dts32041]

Wonder if the ran elementary convoy security, gunners up, security vehicles, etc., or where they in the admin mind set.

Where weapons test fired, prior to move out, when was the last time the NCO's checked weapons and soldiers, when was the last rest break, chow break and maintenance break?

Questions Questions we have questions.

[Hatteras]

"There's no harm in letting the myth survive and no good will come of a witch hunt to find someone to blame."

I'll have to disagree with you on that. If you don't recognize mistakes when they happen, there's a higher chance of reoccurance. It doesn't matter whose feelings are hurt, the truth needs to surface.

[Lael]

Kuypers termed the jamming "a giveaway for lax discipline and the unit's lack of attention to detail."

How about the Military's "lack of attention to detail" during the early 1960's when they selected that P.O.S. M16??????

Get a good Kalashnikov in 5.56mm...The Israeli Galil uses the Kalashnikov system as a base.

Seriously, when was the last time an Iraqi AK-47 jammed?

How come DOD is buying AK's from Poland for the Iraqi Police??

This M-16 problem is FORTY YEARS OLD!!!

The 507th's mission was Vehicle Maintenance. They should have had Kalashnikovs, just like our "Special Ops" did in Afghanistan.

[bethelgrad]

Man, even Marine cooks obsessively clean their rifles. You'd never hear of a Motor T Marine's M16 jamming. Mis-reading maps is a different story however.

[#3Fan]

Not getting rid of his trailers was inexcusable.

Can the trailers be unlatched from the driver's compartment? Maybe they didn't feel the time was right to stop and mosey around their vehicles in a crossfire.

If the trailers can be unlatched from the driver's seat then the point is well-taken though. I don't know if they can be or not.

[mark502inf]

Man, even Marine cooks obsessively clean their rifles. You'd never hear of a Motor T Marine's M16 jamming.

Careful. Excerpt from newspaper story on the 23d Marines in Iraq follows:

"Cpl. Wayde Broberg, whose SAW machine gun had jammed in the firefight at al Gharraf, fought with an M-16 rifle. ... The company's only big gun, the [MK19] grenade launcher, could have punched sizable holes in buildings where snipers were firing down on the platoons. But it jammed back at the soccer field ..." More at:

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08032003/utah/80817.asp

[mark502inf]

Can the trailers be unlatched from the driver's compartment? Maybe they didn't feel the time was right to stop and mosey around their vehicles in a crossfire.

If you read the official report, they actually stopped on the far side of Najaf and turned around and the leaders got together to talk. They had received some fire already, but now knew they had made a wrong turn and would have to return through a completely ready enemy. That would have been the perfect time to dump the trailers, get organized, clean & test fire weapons, etc.

The flip side is that this was a maintenance unit and the stuff in the trailers was essential to their mission, so they would want to keep it if at all possible--we're all operating with 20-20 hind-sight!

[CWOJackson]

The St. Louis Dispatch interviews three retired officers (one by e-mail) who:

1) were not there

2) aren't privy to ongoing Army investigations

3) and have unknown credentials other then being retired military.

Okay, I believe everything they're saying.

[mark502inf]

Can the trailers be unlatched from the driver's compartment?

No. You have to get out and unhook them.

[#3Fan]

Yeah if the fire was heavy the first time through, it would've been a good time to unlatch the trailers. But then again the trailers could've provided cover from the rear though if they remained latched.

I'm not taking anyone's side, just thinking out loud.

[Roscoe]

Colonel Jerry Morelock appears to be a pitchforker.

http://www.buchanan.org/t-0926-mo-fayette.html

[Jeff Gordon]

Two retired Light Colonels = Two bland Majors with no redeeming qualties.

[jaykay]

I have family and friends in the Military. They tell me that not all the injuries were from the accident; she was beaten and raped. Furthermore, the Doctors at the hospital did indeed prevent the Iraqis from taking Jessica away to some God forsaken prison which certainly would have killed her or the more likely scenario taken somewhere private and tortured/executed-in that respect they saved her life. They also provided medical attention as best they could. Jessica's fellow soldiers were executed by the Iraqis. The bodies were still at the hospital."

Your statements fit with what I suspect, but I haven't been able to find confirmation anywhere. If you know of any source, could you post the link? Everything online about the 507th ambush just states that war crimes by the Iraqis are "still under investigation" even now, four and a half months after the event. I really doubt that any investigation is taking place, they are just stalling while the public attention span wanes.

[nyconse]

I can't confirm these statements or back them up-sorry. It is what I hear everywhere. My one friend is a 41 year old helicopter pilot, She had stopped flying and was involved with troop movement (Army reserves/career gal). She is a col. now, and she told me everyone is saying that Jessica was very much mistreated as was the young woman who died. She also told me that the soldiers in her unit were tortured and executed in cold blood by Iraqis. I have heard this from other sources which doesn't guarantee that
it is true. The soldiers know who these murderers are-let's just say none are going to be tried as war criminials. They'll be facing final judgement by a higher power than the US military.

My friend was just ordered to get her flight credentials in order as were a number of "geezer pilots" as she calls them (many were Gulf 1 pilots). The military is short on troops-especially pilots. My friend expects to be in Iraq (or somewhere could be Iran or Korea, I suppose) within six months. Se has three kids ages 5, 11 and 13. While she will miss her kids, my friend is anxious to serve. She did not serve in Gulf 1 because her husband went; the army decided not to send her. She may have been pregnant or just given birth-don't remember. My friend said she has trained her whole life for this....I just hope she makes it through alive. LOL

[nyconse]

Also, my friend says that the officers really screwed up (and she's an officer). The Army doesn't want to talk about this and is hoping it just goes away. Hence, the lengthy investigation. The military knows what happened; they just don't want to be embarrassed.

[nyconse]

No, I made it clear that it is what military friends and my family members(Military)are claiming: who knows. One of my friends is involved in moving troops in and out, She insists what I posted is true. The military messed up-including officers-going to investigate for a long time in order not to admit they made a mistake. Certainly, this article is not gospel-retired military (most of these guys hate Rumsfield) and probably they are Democrats. I don't consider this article the final word on anything:pure speculation by people who have some kind of axe to grind. I don't know any marines ( I have known alot as my sister and brother both served -not to mention cousins and friends) who would trash a POW unless their was serious collaboration with the enemy on the POW's part. The guys in this article are not credible.

[Eagle Eye]

It just gets back to the fact that if these were all men, it would not have become the event that it has become.

Unit gets lost, unit gets ambushed, unit gets captured, unit gets rescued.

Yes, surviving the ordeal is admirable, but not heroic. If it had been Joe Lynch, this would not have hardly made the news.

[Eagle Eye]

The 507th's mission was Vehicle Maintenance. They should have had Kalashnikovs, just like our "Special Ops" did in Afghanistan.

LOL! Yeah, right, uh huh, sure.