I'm feeling, like, all inspired and stuff and thought I'd single out Sgt. Mark Redmond and Sgt. Eric Schrumpf as soldiers who need our support. You the man!
As the New York Times wrote:
Like many soldiers here... Sergeant Redmond said he did not expect the Iraqis to resist so doggedly.Maybe Saddam is telling his people to defend their homeland from invasion... but wait! We have to support the troops!"I expected a lot more people to surrender," he said. "From all the reports we got, I thought they would all capitulate."
In the three days that followed, they did not, and he fired every weapon on his Humvee, including a 50-caliber machine gun, his M-4 rifle and a grenade launcher ? everything except the shoulder-fired antitank missile. Many of the Iraqis, he said, attacked headlong into the cutting fire of tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.
"I wouldn't call it bravery," he said. "I'd call it stupidity. We value a soldier's life so much more than they do. I mean, an AK-47 isn't going to do nothing against a Bradley. I'd love to know what Saddam is telling his people."
Dude, I am totally not voting you off the island!
And here's Sgt. Schrumpf -- totally my kind of guy!
"We had a great day," Sergeant Schrumpf said. "We killed a lot of people."Awright! Man, what else kind of support do you need?
And here's Sgt. Schrumpf again:
...in the heat of a firefight... when the calculus often warps, a shot not taken in one set of circumstances may suddenly present itself as a life-or-death necessity.Blam! Move over, woman!"We dropped a few civilians," Sergeant Schrumpf said, "but what do you do?"
To illustrate, the sergeant offered a pair of examples from earlier in the week.
"There was one Iraqi soldier, and 25 women and children," he said, "I didn't take the shot."
But more than once, Sergeant Schrumpf said, he faced a different choice: one Iraqi soldier standing among two or three civilians. He recalled one such incident, in which he and other men in his unit opened fire. He recalled watching one of the women standing near the Iraqi soldier go down.
"I'm sorry," the sergeant said. "But the chick was in the way."
Sgt. Schrumpf, I am so totally buying you a cold beer when you get back!
Posted by the wily filipino at March 29, 2003 07:24 PMI would like to thank Wily Filipino for his support of the troops serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. There are many residual effects of war that men have difficulty dealing with, not the least of which is the struggle of men who are faced with the criticism of some of their fellow citizens upon their return. I have met some of that criticism first hand!...and take comfort in the encouraging comments found on this website.
Thank you to Mr. Filipino and all those who supported our efforts to rescue 22 million Iraqis from under the heel of Saddam's boot. President Kennedy's words long said long ago again have credible meaning..." Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill that we will pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend and oppose any foe to ensure the success of Liberty "
Semper Fi,
Sgt Eric A. Schrumpf
Posted by: Eric Schrumpf on October 26, 2003 12:06 AMOMFG! how irony is lost; well, that shd be a (war) crime, dude!
Posted by: bjpr on October 28, 2003 04:34 PM"our efforts to rescue 22 million Iraqis from under the heel of Saddam's boot. President Kennedy's words long said long ago again have credible meaning..." Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill that we will pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend and oppose any foe to ensure the success of Liberty "
One word: Horseshit.
Damn, everyone loves liberty, eh? As I remember the excuse the Japanese militarists used for invading Asia, subjugating Korea and using their women as fuck toys, not to mention that long party known as the "Rape of Nanjing" was because, yes, you guessed it, the Japanese claimed they were liberating Asia from Western imperialism.
What do you think the Soviets used as their rationale for invading Afghanistan in the 80s? If you said they claimed to be "liberating" their puppet government from Islamic extremists, give yourself a prize.
Well, it's only fair since we previously had a little ten year-long excursion in Vietnam to protect the Vietnamese from the false liberty of having a government we didn't like.
It's an odd thing, isn't it, that amidst our "war on terror" obstensibly to protect ourselves from further terrorist attacks that we took time out from our busy schedule to "liberate" Iraq whether they liked it or not, mercifully killing some 6,000 civilians before Saddam could do something *bad* to them. Of course, it was our help in deposing the Iraqi leadership in the early 60s that brought Saddam to power in the first place, but as you know, liberty goes through stages of fashion like hem lines.
Sgt Schrumpf, I have respect for our brave fighting men, subject to merit. I have more respect for the average guy who joined the military because Wal-Mart wasn't hiring and he wanted to find some way out of the shithole in which he was born and perhaps get an education only to find himself in a morass which he would rather have no part of. Ideologues that think the fact that they are in inform disguises the fact that they are right-wing partisan ass-kissers and olive drab spin doctors I have little respect for.
Since when has the U.S. been so big on "liberty"? Not only have we propped up any number of despots and dictators, including Hussein himself, when it was in our interests to do so, but it is in living memory of many American when their "liberty" didn't extend to sitting in the front of the bus and eating at the Woolworth's lunch counter. And if the recent past doesn't persuade you, how is it that big-on-liberty us is engaged in a wholesale rollback of Constitutional liberties? I mean, it's all nice to go halfway around the world and kick some ass for liberty, but have you noticed the homefront is left wide-open in that regard? Well, at least the sting is lessoned by the realization that it isn't a bone fide democratically elected administration doing it here. Too bad no one had the foresight to parachute a strike force into Florida to keep those 57,000 African American voters from having their right to vote taken away by a voter purge roll that was, ooops, 95% inaccurate. Perhaps next time we can save a little of that liberty patriots such as yourself are exporting at gunpoint for home consumption.
Posted by: Reverend Mykeru on October 29, 2003 05:15 PMAl! Al! Come back Al! We threw out all the absentee votes. We lub you Al. We want YOU to guide us through the "Quagmires" and the "Gridlocks", Al. Aw S**T! Someone droped a house on Al!
Posted by: Mikenchi on November 1, 2003 12:50 AMWould someone please tell the uh, Rev'r'nnnnnnnnnnnnd M'k'r'uuuuuuuuuuuu...that Al Gore still doesn't lead in Florida?
Good Gawd, Mykki Mouse, you're a dumbass. (snicker)