Posted on 07/23/2004 11:34:40 AM PDT by Chieftain
Explanation: He was captured by head lopping terrorists and he held his mud. Thus he is a hero. More than your carping small mouthed self will probably EVER do.
hero \He"ro\, n.; pl. Heroes. [F. h['e]ros, L. heros, Gr. ?.] 1. (Myth.) An illustrious man, supposed to be exalted, after death, to a place among the gods; a demigod, as Hercules. 2. A man of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering; a prominent or central personage in any remarkable action or event; hence, a great or illustrious person.
Given that the Marines have told us, albeit from an inside information source, that the guy's story is legitimate, does he not meet the above criteria? Getting yourself freed and transversing 500 miles in enemy territory is no easy task. It took extraordinary effort on his part.
Way too early, I have an open mind and am waiting for persuasive facts, you know, the stubborn kind of facts that don't go away and give real answers.
It's "highly desirable" that NO American ever be a traitor. However, one must be realistic. Lee Harvey Oswald was a Marine. There are bad apples in every barrel but that doesn't detract from the dedication and sacrifice of those who aren't.
Hoping this information is confirmed by the official investigation.
He isn't even bruised in the pictures. Didn't he put up a fight? Did he go willingly?
Yeah, and the Arlen Specter's magic bullet theory in the Warren Commission report was SCIENTIFIC FACT. Yeah, Lee Harvey Oswald was a Marine. Anything more than that and I have a bridge to sell you.
This is indeed a great story! Semper Fi to all our brave Marines.
Oh, he was much more than just a Marine. He was a Marxist who supported Castro's revolution. Those are from his words, not mine.
HARTMAN
All right, knock it off! Two hundred and fifty feet! He was two hundred and fifty feet away and shooting at a moving target. Oswald got off three rounds with an old Italian bolt action rifle in only six seconds and scored two hits, including a head shot!
Intelligence Operations. In other words, you don't need to know what the Marine's assignment was.
As I wrote on July 20:
I believe that this Marine was given a difficult and dangerous assignment and performed his duties as best he could, and survived on his own resourcefulness when his Marine leadership may well have abandoned him to "fate."
Just what IF this Marine was given a hard time in the Corps because he was a foreign born Muslim, and given an impossible assignment to prove his loyalty - then is taken captive? What would the Marines do?
Maybe they would release statements trying to distance themselves from him - letting it be assumed that he may have switched sides, then when he was inevitably beheaded they would have a clear warning issued to ALL Muslim servicemen that they desert at great personal risk. Perhaps that was the best outcome they could hope for.
But then the Marine somehow survives and talks his captors into releasing him back to his homeland rather than to his unit where he would fight them again. He then lets his location be known and he has valuable information for the Marines, who did not expect to ever see him again.
How would the Marines react? What can they say?
I guess that being a Marine myself, I want to defend the honor of another Marine out of INSTICT. I also know that there are things that the PUBLIC will NEVER know about this situation. It's really tough to hear the continued skepticism here, especially after we have received inside information that Cpl. Hassoun behaved HONORABLY.
Wise words, of the Greatest President to hold office. Hey everybody!!!! Let's win this election for the ,"GIPPER." Bush/Cheney 20004
Doesn't everyone who is planning on being kidnapped empty their locker, change their currency from American to the prevailing arabic currency........cross several countries and wind up in his family's home country.....??? Of course they do.
I am telling you that in Race Bannon's post last night, he said he had received very credible inside information from a high source in the Marine Corps Intelligence Operations, a retired Marine Master Sergeant, that Cpl. Hassoun's story IS legitimate. (If you click on the source link at the top of this thread, you can read it for yourself).
I trust Race Bannon, a Marine who participated in the hostage rescue attempt in Teheran, and his sources. Race even made a public apology in that thread, for his own pre-judicial comments about this Marine. Race is man of honor.
Additionally, you know and I know that PUBLICLY the Marine Corps will put out dis-information to keep the enemy at a disadvantage. They aren't accountable to the media and public's curiosity, (including FReepers).
When I returned from overseas in 1974 I was treated like crap by a very distrusting American public, (thanks to guys like Hanoi John Kerry), and I don't want this guy to get the same feeling.
In summation regarding this, I state that yes, I do believe the information is correct and Cpl Hassoun conductd himself with honor.
Did you read the email in the sorce link? See my post #78.
some info for those of us not up to speed:
Marine Hassoun Denies He Deserted in Iraq
Mon Jul 19, 5:34 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In his first public explanation of his disappearance in Iraq (news - web sites) a month ago, a U.S. Marine said on Monday he was captured and held against his will and did not desert the military.
But the Marines said they were not yet prepared to confirm the account given by Lebanese-born Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, who made a brief statement to reporters at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, 35 miles south of Washington.
"We're not in a position at this point to make a judgment either way," said Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, a Marine Corps spokesman.
"We are still gathering facts and information. And until that process is complete, at this point we are supporting our young Marine in bringing him back from a very harrowing ordeal and supporting his return to duty," Lapan said.
Hassoun, 24, who was accompanied by his older brother and took no questions, said that "in the name of God, I'm glad to come home," and thanked those who prayed for him, supported him and looked for him.
"CAPTURED AND HELD"
"I understand that there are too many questions," Hassoun said.
"I did not desert my post. I was captured and held against my will by anti-coalition forces for 19 days. This was a very difficult and challenging time for me. Since my release, I have been fully participating in the repatriation process," Hassoun added.
A month after Hassoun went missing from his Marine unit near Falluja last month, the circumstances of his disappearance remain unclear.
Hassoun was seen in a videotape, apparently held by militants, blindfolded with a sword poised over his head. An Islamic militant Internet site later claimed he had been beheaded. But he showed up unharmed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on July 8.
Officials have said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service will look into whether Hassoun was abducted by militants in Iraq, whether the abduction was a hoax or whether Hassoun was deserting. Lapan said these investigators have not yet spoken to Hassoun.
Hassoun said, "I would like to tell all the Marines as well as those others who are serving in Iraq to keep their heads up and spirits high. Once a Marine always a Marine." He ended by saying "Semper Fi," shorthand for Semper Fidelis, the Marine motto meaning "always faithful."
RETURNING TO DUTY
An Iraqi Islamic extremist group has said it freed Hassoun after he promised to quit the U.S. military and urge others to do so to escape their "predicament" in Iraq. But Lapan said Hassoun "has not expressed any reluctance to return to full duty when the time is appropriate."
Lapan said the Marines reviewed Hassoun's statement in advance "to make sure that he did not divulge any classified information" or anything that could aid insurgents in Iraq, but changed nothing.
Hassoun returned to the United States last Thursday, flying from Germany, where he underwent about a week of evaluation at U.S. facilities. Lapan said Hassoun would return "in the coming days" to Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina. Lapan said Hassoun has "not yet been declared fit for duty."
Asked whether Hassoun would be confined to base, Lapan said any decision on whether he leaves Camp Lejeune will be made "mutually" with his military "repatriation team." Lapan said Hassoun's brother joined him from Utah and will go with him to Camp Lejeune, with the Marines' approval.
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