DTG28102007: 1459ZULU, STOP
THIS IS AN IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE 101st CHAIRBORNE, STOP
OUR NARRATIVE IS UNDER ASSAULT AGAIN, STOP
RAISE HYSTERIA LEVELS TO DEFCON ELEVENTY-THREE AND SET PHASERS ON SMEAR, STOP
YOUR TARGET- OBSIDIAN WINGS, STOP:
I stayed away from the entire Beauchamp affair. I was aware of it, and I had my own opinion, but since I had no way of proving anything one way or the other, I saw no real value to jumping into the fray. However, an experience I had the other day has left me with the feeling I have little choice but to speak up.
***I had to get back to my FOB the other night. I was away from my unit, so I hitched a ride. The guys in the HMMWV I rode in seemed like normal soldiers: a bit irreverent, sometimes frustrated, but decent guys. Until we passed through a town and spotted three dogs in the middle of the road. Without hesitation, indeed with genuine glee, the driver accelerated and apparently ran down one of the dogs (in the dark, from my position, all I know for sure is that there was a bump). He then got into a vigorous argument with the gunner over whether or not he had hit the dog; the gunner was attempting to deny him ‘credit’ for the kill. There was no objection from the vehicle commander over any of this…killing a stray dog didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest. Granted, this didn’t affect the mission one way or the other, and it was a dog and not a person. Still…I felt a bit ill at the thought the vehicle I’d been riding in probably ran over a dog, and the fact this seemed to bring joy to otherwise normal appearing people remains appalling to me.
Does this mean Beauchamp was telling the truth? Nope…I still can’t prove that one way or the other. My point in bringing this up is only to note that, whether or not his story was true, soldiers are people, and sometimes people do some pretty unpleasant things. And attacking people who point out that soldiers are people, however cathartic it may be for some, does nothing to change that fact.
RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: STOP
PHASE 1: DENY G’KAR IS A SOLDIER, STOP
PHASE 2: ADMIT HE IS A SOLDIER, FIND OUT HIS NAME, INVESTIGATE HIM THOROUGHLY, RECOMMEND BLANKET PARTIES AND/OR FRAGGING, STOP
PHASE 3: SANDTABLE EXERCISES WITH A SCALE MODEL OF A HMMWV TO PROVE YOU CAN NOT RUN OVER A DOG, STOP
PHASE 4: REFER TO RELEVANT MILITARY SOP’S AND NOTE IT IS NOT SOP TO RUN OVER STRAY DOGS, STOP
PHASE 5: DEMAND G’KAR TURN OVER THOSE SOLDIER’S NAMES AND THEN REPORT HIMSELF TO THE NEAREST JAG FOR PUNISHMENT AND POSSIBLY EXECUTION FOR TREASON, STOP
ADDITIONAL COURSES OF ACTION, IF IN ANY WAY APPLICABLE- BLAME THE LIBERAL MEDIA AND/OR DHIMMOCRATS, STOP
PLEASE FORWARD ALL SITREPS TO THE CONFEDERATE YANKEE, STOP
I THINK YOU ALL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS. WE CAN NOT ALLOW OBSIDIAN WINGS TO EMBOLDEN THE INSURGENTS WITH THIS SLANDER, FULL STOP