Regards, Ivan
Posted on 03/19/2003 4:00:31 PM PST by MadIvan
A BRITISH commander warned his men last night that not all of them would come home alive. He instructed his soldiers to wrap their fallen comrades in a sleeping bag, fight on and grieve for them after the heat of the battle.
Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Collins, the man leading the battlegroup of the 1st Battalion of The Royal Irish, told his troops: “It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive but there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign.
“We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow.”
In an emotionally charged rallying address that reduced many of Britain’s toughest infantry troops to tears, the CO told his men that he would tolerate neither cowardice nor a killing spree but that they should show no mercy to forces who remained loyal to Saddam Hussein.
He also declared that any Iraqi troops who declared a truce in the face of the advancing Allies would be embraced by the coalition and permitted to fight for regime change in their own nation.
He said: “The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his Nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of Hell for Saddam.
“He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.”
Wearing his kukri, the Gurkha blade that he is entitled to carry as a Gurkha commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Collins spoke to his 800 men, an arm of Britain’s 16 Air Assault Brigade, at Fort Blair Mayne, their desert camp 20 miles from the Iraqi border.
He said: “We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag that will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them. There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send.
“As for the others I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.
“It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly.
“I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. I can assure you they live with the mark of Caine upon them. If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.”
As the men listened in silence, the dying minutes of a day-long dust storm giving added drama to his address, Lieutenant-Colonel Collins reminded them that they were a band of brothers. He said: “If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest, for your deeds will follow you down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform nor our nation.”
And he warned them that they would certainly face Saddam’s chemical and biological arsenal. He said: “It is not a question of if, it’s a question of when. We know he has already devolved the decision to his lower commanders, and that means he has already taken the decision himself. If we survive the first strike we will survive the attack.”
The commander said that he expected the conflict to last a minimum of ten days and a maximum of three weeks and added it was vital if the West was to curb the threat posed by Muslim fundamentalists.
But he made it clear that his men were to respect Iraqi culture and religion and not to confuse it with the international terrorism that Saddam had cultivated within his borders.
He said: “Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing.
“Don’t treat them as refugees for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you. If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and mark their graves.”
His closing words were resolute: “As for ourselves, let’s bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there. Our business now is north.”
Regards, Ivan
Lord, strengthen their hand with yours. St. Joseph, pray for them.
Tell me those men won't follow him through the fires of Hell itself after that speech. Wow.
}:-)4
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