Their husband's carreers are over. They have sealed their fate.
"Hello. I would like to be a soldier. I just want the government to promise that it will never send me on a dangerous mission. That's not asking too much, is it? My wife agrees with me, by the way. She says you're being mean to me."
Wow, I guess the Soldiers that took their mission and successfully completed it are what?........courageous, stupid, or doing their duty for their fellow soldiers.<p. Enjoy your 15 minutes idiots.
This will become the race card event to be used against the president (only black and poor people are at risk of dying in Iraq).
Kerry's Vietnam redux continues.
They put their fellow soldiers lives in danger because of their decision. A real soldier wouldn't do that.
Great. Two more ignorant mouths the media can use to spout any sort of drivel they want. I don’t think he was given the benefit of the doubt, I think he was out in about a week. I could be mistaken, but a refused order is a refused order.
The plot line is becoming clear.
Of course they would have.
What do they think the military is? A grade school?
Soldiers do what they're told to do, and can only hope that their CO looks out for them. There's no democracy in the military, and these "soldiers", and their wives, should face that fact.
What's not being said is that other soldiers had to do the job their husbands wouldn't do. These other soldier's lives were put in harm's way, but they completed their "suicide" mission without incident.
The last thing this country needs is an army with attitude.
Cry me a river!
"Sarge, I am not going to get out of this landing craft on Omaha Beach, it is a suicide mission."
"Lieutenant, you have to be kidding, we have to hold Bastogne without proper cold weather clothing? I ain't going."
"Why should I fly support for those B-17s when "Jim Crow" tries to keep me down. Let someone else do it."
"Get someone else to drive 20 hours a day on this "Red Ball Express", it is just too dangerous."
"You mean we have to fly over Belin? That flak will cut us to pieces. It is just too dangerous. I won't fly."
I heard something on the way in today about their commander being reassigned, lack of leadership, lack of discipline. She wasn't up to the job. They should all go break rocks for a few years.
These troops had been in contact with Hackworth, who as we know is no friend of the President or the war in Iraq. Some of these problems might have existed, but from here, it looks like they waited until "the right moment" to make their move. This was designed to undercut the war, and the President. In another article I read earlier this morning, it was mentioned that many troops feel sympathy for these troops. That's not a good sign, at least not for military discipline.
Since when do soldiers get to decide which missions are safe enough to accept? The group who accomplished this mission without incident proves it wasn't a "suicide mission" which is a nonsense phrase in the context of war.
“I didn’t think it would make the national news,” Patricia McCook said. “I knew it was going to be in The Clarion-Ledger because we went to you first. I sure didn’t think it was going to take on a life of its own like it has.”
There is nothing more divisive to military discipline than a refusal to obey an order. When more than one individual does it in concert with each other it can be devastating to morale and contagious. Mutiny is the word that's usually applied to it. It threatens the integrity of the entire military force structure.
“I know how the military can cover things up,” said Patricia McCook, a former Army reservist. “They are trying to say our husbands and the others were never arrested or detained. That’s a lie. But this is something we are not going to let them sweep under the rug.”
The only denial cited in this article is a denial that they are being held under armed guard not that they haven't been arrested or detained. Why they wouldn't be arrested, detained and held under armed guard is beyond me.
No question that the media will use this if they can. In fact I'm surprised they haven't made more of it than they have.
I too will reserve judgment. However, I still suspect that the problem originated in an incompetent officer. It's one thing to risk your life if every step is taken to minimize the danger, and it's another to risk it because your commander is stupid. I suspect the second.
Refusing to obey a direct order is still not an option. But in the fog of war there have always been exceptional situations where the men had to get rid of an incompetent officer, one way or another.
Pure speculation. But I wouldn't rush to judgment on these sergeants or their wives. Yes, the wives will be used by the media if possible. But you can't blame them for sticking up for their husbands, especially if their husbands were right. A smart officer listens to experienced noncoms. He still is responsible for making decisions, but if he's smart he'll listen.