erynthered Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Over the next nine months, Fallujah grew into the stronghold of the insurgency and the vipers' nest for jihadists infiltrating from Syria. The fighting escalated in ferocity. Among the Marines, acts of courage became common. 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal, for instance, threw his body over a wounded Marine and shot jihadists two feet away. Cpl. Tim Connors, 20, battled inside two adjoining concrete rooms for four hours before killing five jihadists and recovering the body of a fallen squad member. So it went, day after day. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5100701703.html It would be nice to hear about the hero's once and a while. I hate the media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5100701703.htmlIt would be nice to hear about the hero's once and a while. I hate the media. 473968[/snapback] Bravo to that writer. And shame on the press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VABills Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 "Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning." (Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, Tarawa, 21 November 1943.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Bravo to that writer. 473978[/snapback] I just finished West's book No True Glory: A First-Hand Account of the Battle for Fallujah. It was incredible. I highly recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Bravo to that writer. And shame on the press. 473978[/snapback] Seconded, especially WRT the last two paragraphs. The media has become accustomed to giving the squeaky wheels almost all of the press. As someone who has reservations about the necessity and future of the overall mission in Iraq (and this is an informed reservation), the qualm has never been with the soldiers who valiantly do what is asked of them and much more. They (and their needs) do not receive nearly enough attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campy Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 The media has become accustomed to giving the squeaky wheels almost all of the press. 474048[/snapback] They're in business to turn a profit and sensationalism sells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Seconded, especially WRT the last two paragraphs. The media has become accustomed to giving the squeaky wheels almost all of the press. As someone who has reservations about the necessity and future of the overall mission in Iraq (and this is an informed reservation), the qualm has never been with the soldiers who valiantly do what is asked of them and much more. They (and their needs) do not receive nearly enough attention. 474048[/snapback] I wish, though, the writer had addressed a little more the discrepancies in behavior between the WWII soldier and ours today. "Why was valor considered front-page news in 1945 and abuse considered front-page news in 2005?" doesn't quite cover it; I'm willing to bet a large sum of money that the conduct of our soldiers now is overall actually better than it was in WWII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 I wish, though, the writer had addressed a little more the discrepancies in behavior between the WWII soldier and ours today. "Why was valor considered front-page news in 1945 and abuse considered front-page news in 2005?" doesn't quite cover it; I'm willing to bet a large sum of money that the conduct of our soldiers now is overall actually better than it was in WWII. 474176[/snapback] Youre willing to bet becuase you know damn well it is. I mentioned this before, try the book "Flyboys" which covers off on a lot of this stuff pretty well. Youll walk away from that book asking youself "What the !@#$ is everyone complaining about??!!??" in regards to "abuse" by the modern soldier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 I wish, though, the writer had addressed a little more the discrepancies in behavior between the WWII soldier and ours today. "Why was valor considered front-page news in 1945 and abuse considered front-page news in 2005?" doesn't quite cover it; I'm willing to bet a large sum of money that the conduct of our soldiers now is overall actually better than it was in WWII. 474176[/snapback] Good call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Good call. 474228[/snapback] I remember reading a story about Patton witnessing a German blowing a bridge with a couple of American soldiers and vehicles on it. Killed about 20 GIs...then came out of hiding with his hands raised and was taken prisoner. Patton thought it was the height of folly, and nearly ordered the soldiers to shoot the bastard. And that's Europe. Never mind the Pacific theater...the Desert Storm tactic that everyone bitched about of bulldozing the Iraqi trenches full with Iraqis still in them was commonplace in the South Pacific. The grunts on Guadalcanal decorated their jeeps with Japanese skulls. Machine-gunning Japanese survivors of ship sinkings was an almost universal practice (actually, the US probably had the worst record of any combattant in the war in that regard; worse than even the Japanese). Now we B word if people are made to wear dog collars. Nice thing about being forced to wear a dog collar: it means your skull isn't decorating someone's jeep. If we had to fight WWII again today, we'd lose, through no fault of the American soldier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 I remember reading a story about Patton witnessing a German blowing a bridge with a couple of American soldiers and vehicles on it. Killed about 20 GIs...then came out of hiding with his hands raised and was taken prisoner. Patton thought it was the height of folly, and nearly ordered the soldiers to shoot the bastard. And that's Europe. Never mind the Pacific theater...the Desert Storm tactic that everyone bitched about of bulldozing the Iraqi trenches full with Iraqis still in them was commonplace in the South Pacific. The grunts on Guadalcanal decorated their jeeps with Japanese skulls. Machine-gunning Japanese survivors of ship sinkings was an almost universal practice (actually, the US probably had the worst record of any combattant in the war in that regard; worse than even the Japanese). Now we B word if people are made to wear dog collars. Nice thing about being forced to wear a dog collar: it means your skull isn't decorating someone's jeep. If we had to fight WWII again today, we'd lose, through no fault of the American soldier. 474248[/snapback] But this war is illegal and based on lies. Don't you know that? Figured I'd save them time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of BiB Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 It's hard, now to take things in the context of history. Recorded history tends to record in the eye of the beholder, and it used to be the winner-not anymore. Now, we are always losers. Not too many know that the Japanese had on occassion executed American prisoners to be able to eat their livers at a sakai party. To them, at the time, you proved your warrior spirit by doing so. The American recollection was to not mention it, as it was so abhorent to us. There's always things underneath to war. Once again, I'll shake my head at the flavor of the press. They don't write policy, but they act like they do. Probably 1 out of 100 people who post here might have an idea of what is happening in the world in this regard, but they elect their leadership based on ABC, CNN, CBS, FOX, or MSNBC. And from what I can tell, not many go beyond their soundbite of choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 It's hard, now to take things in the context of history. Recorded history tends to record in the eye of the beholder, and it used to be the winner-not anymore. Now, we are always losers. Not too many know that the Japanese had on occassion executed American prisoners to be able to eat their livers at a sakai party. To them, at the time, you proved your warrior spirit by doing so. The American recollection was to not mention it, as it was so abhorent to us. There's always things underneath to war. Once again, I'll shake my head at the flavor of the press. They don't write policy, but they act like they do. Probably 1 out of 100 people who post here might have an idea of what is happening in the world in this regard, but they elect their leadership based on ABC, CNN, CBS, FOX, or MSNBC. And from what I can tell, not many go beyond their soundbite of choice. 474357[/snapback] I should use some of these responses to write an editorial to this fish wrap down here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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