GI SPECIAL 4A3:
mumia2000.org
Prisoners Against The War: 3
In the week leading up to the Martin Luther King, Jr.
national holiday, GI Special will lead with statements written by members of
Prisoners Against The War.
Organized by Stanley Howard and five other imprisoned
members of the Military Project at Illinois' Statesville Prison, Prisoners
Against The War breaks new ground.
There has been no organization like this in recent
American history. That may be an understatement, since no record of a similar
organization has been found at any point in American history.
Prisoners Against The War hopes to inspire other
prisoners, both in civilian and military prisons, to organize their own
chapters, and spread the movement nation-wide.
They report many prisoners have relatives serving in the
armed forces. Other prisoners are Vietnam Veterans. To the extent allowed by
prison regulations, they circulate GI Special and Traveling Soldier. They will
see these issues of GI Special, and provide support to family members on the
outside resisting the war.
A variety of social critics have argued that the prisons
and armed forces of a given society express most nakedly the underlying class
nature of the society.
An organization bringing together civilian and military
prisoners can open a new window on that reality, not least by destroying the
myth spread by politicians and other servants of the rich and homicidal that
prisoners are mere things without humanity or redeeming social value.
For how to contact Prisoners Against The War, see
information below. T
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"Who's The Real Terrorist?"
It is my belief that the
Bush administration played on the fear and anger of the American people in
order to do what was best for his family and their rich friends.
Corey Moore, Prisoners Against The War
K75523
P.O. Box 112
Joliet, IL 60434
President George W. Bush doesn't care about America!
He cares even less about Black and poor people!
He's never been poor so he cannot relate to us nor does
he care to.
And as evidence of how deep this attitude runs in the Bush
blood, his mother, Barbara Bush recently made very insulting comments about the
Hurricane Katrina victims that were evacuated to the Astro Dome. She said that
these people were underprivileged anyway so this is working out fine for them.
This is the attitude of the woman that raised this man.
Are we suppose to trust the judgment of someone who thinks
this way about any group of people, let alone the fact that the people she was
referring to are Americans? Her own people? People who had just suffered a
devastating tragedy and hadn't done anything wrong?
Now, you're probably thinking that I shouldn't judge him
for what his mommy says but I'm going somewhere with this.
President Bush was asked how he felt about the comment his
mommy made, and instead of asking her to apologize for it or at the very least
apologize for it himself, he made an excuse for her. So in his very weak mind
she was justified. This is not the behavior of a true leader of a country as
great as our. This is the man we're suppose to trust?!
This war is wrong for many reasons but the main issue for
me is one of trust.
Our President is a liar.
It'll probably be 20 years or more before we find out
"officially" what this war was really about.
It was suppose to be a war on terrorism and a hunt for Bin
Laden, yet we've spent most of our time in Iraq chasing Saddam and the oil of
the Iraqi people.
You hardly ever hear Bin Laden's name anymore, and that's
not to say I'm completely convinced that Bin Laden was really behind everything
this administration originally said.
But I guess what's really important is that we captured
Saddam and got rid of all those "weapons of mass destruction" he had.
My mistake, we never found any, and I must be having
trouble separating the lies from the truth.
I'm sorry.
It is my belief that the Bush administration played on
the fear and anger of the American people in order to do what was best for his
family and their rich friends.
And only because of that we have men and women over there
losing their lives, and not to mention the many innocent Arab/Muslim people
that have also suffered tremendous loss and devastation because of this
administration.
Who's the real terrorist?
Respectfully
Corey Moore
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Contacting Prisoners Against The War:
Prisoners who wish to communicate with Prisoners Against
The War may write to:
Prisoners Against The War or PAW or Martin
Smith, at:
PO Box 121
Champaign, IL 61824
NOTE WELL: ILLINOIS PRISON REGULATIONS FORBID INMATES
FROM RECEIVING ANY MAIL FROM ANY OTHER PRISONERS ANYWHERE.
Martin Smith is not allowed to forward your letter to the
prison. He is allowed to summarize the contents in his own letters.
If your prison also has rules forbidding mail from another
prisoner to be sent to you, the reply will also be summarized by Martin Smith,
and sent to you.
Persons not in prison at this time may write directly to
Prisoners Against The War. NOTE WELL: Nothing whatever may be enclosed in
your mail other than your written or typed letter: no money or other objects
may be sent.
Letters to:
Stanley Howard
Reg. # N-71620
PO Box 112
Joliet, Illinois 60434
[Thanks to Ron R for
sending in.]
IRAQ WAR REPORTS
Soldier Who Died In Iraq Sought Change:
Evansville Man Quit Pizza Job For Army
January 3, 2006 Associated Press
EVANSVILLE, Ind. An Indiana soldier killed in Iraq joined
the Army because he wanted to take his life in a new direction, his mother
said.
Pvt. Jonathan R. Pfender, who was based at Fort Campbell,
Ky., had thought about joining the military since seventh grade, said his
mother, Peggy Jo Hammond.
Last spring, he quit his job at Pizza Hut and joined the
Army. Pfender, 22, believed he had gotten "lazy" and wanted to do
more with his life, Hammond said Sunday.
"I asked him about the National Guard or Reserves, and
he said, 'I'm going all out,'" she said. "'I'm going in the Army. I
want to go to Iraq.'"
Pfender, of Evansville, was killed by an improvised explosive
device during a patrol Friday in Bayji, Iraq, the Army said. Pfender was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Combat Team, 101st
Airborne Division. He was the 52nd military service member from Indiana to die
in the war.
Alaskans Killed In Iraq Helicopter Crash
Wreckage of a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter lies on the ground
near a U.S. armoured vehicle after it crashed in Tal Afar January 9, 2006.
REUTERS/Namir Noor-Eldeen
January 9, 2006 (AP) & KTUU
The helicopter that crashed Saturday near the Iraqi town of
Tal Afar, killing all 12 people on board, was an Alaska Army National Guard
helicopter, according to Gov. Frank Murkowski's office.
Four crewmembers of 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment,
Alaska Army National Guard, stationed at Fort
Richardson, are among the dead.
North Towanda Soldier Injured:
"He Volunteers For Missions So Younger Guys With
Little Kids Can Stay Back"
01/08/2006 By Aaron Cahall, Daily and Sunday Review
A North Towanda man was injured in a roadside attack in Iraq
New Year's Day, his family said.
Pennsylvania Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Kenneth
Welch, 46, of North Towanda sustained injuries including several lost teeth,
bruises, and a possible concussion when a vehicle he was riding in during a
mission was involved in a roadside shooting and bombing Sunday, Jan. 1,
according to his wife, Tammy Welch, and brother William Welch.
Welch was deployed in November with the Pennsylvania Army
National Guard's HHC 1-110th Infantry company, based in Wellsboro, according to
Tammy Welch. She said he is scheduled for leave time in March, and to return
home this summer.
Tammy Welch said she spoke to her husband via Web cam
on Jan. 1 after the attack, and said her husband's injuries would not remove him
from duty.
The couple have a son, Ken Jr., 18.
Welch has served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard for
about 15 years, according to his wife, and recently re-enlisted for another six
years. Previously, she said, he served in the Marines for several years
following high school, and has been employed with Osram Sylvania in North
Towanda for 28 years.
Tammy Welch said her husband has been volunteering to take
missions for younger soldiers, including some with other service branches. He
was on a mission when the attack occurred, she said.
"He's been doing a lot of maneuvers with the Navy and
Marine guys," she said. "He volunteers for missions so younger guys
with little kids can stay back. He's one of the older guys, but he enjoys
it."
Militants Launch Sixth Attack On British Occupation
Troops In Basra
Jan 8 (KUNA)
Unknown militants launched missiles early on Sunday on a
British military post in Basra, southern Iraq.
A spokesman for the British forces told reporters that the
militants fired the missiles at the Shatt Al-Arab Hotel, which was being used
by British and Multi-National Forces as a base, but that no loss of life was
sustained.
This is the sixth attack against military bases in Basra
during the past few days.
"It's The Safest Neighborhood In All Of Mosul" Sgt.
Says:
"The Neighborhood Is A Suspected Home To Insurgents"
January 09, 2006 By Margaret Friedenauer, MOSUL, Iraq (AP)
Al Ahmil is in a poor section of Mosul with lots of mud,
trash and animals in the streets. But Sgt. 1st Class Michael Steffey said it's
also quiet.
"It's the safest neighborhood in all of Mosul. I'd take
my kids down there. In fact, I do take my kids down there everyday," he said
motioning to the soldiers of his platoon lingering around their Stryker vehicle.
Part of the reason for the safety might be because,
ironically, the neighborhood is a suspected home to insurgents, Steffey said.
"They're not going to do anything in their backyard,"
Steffey said.
Steffey asked one man if he was ready for the U.S. troops to
leave and if the man thinks civil war will break out when they do.
The man said, yes, he wants the U.S. to leave but he
doesn't think the insurgency will take over or civil war will break out. He
said he thinks the country is moving toward a greater acceptance and peace
between the different clashing ethnic groups.
"Good," Steffey said. "If more people think like him,
I'll go home soon."
Notes From A Lost
War:
Morale? What Morale?
"They Think Its Mission In Iraq Is Unrealistic"
In a war without any
benchmarks coming up, First Sergeant Jason Larson said, commanders have to
constantly refine their message to soldiers, billing small turning points like
the improvement of an Iraqi battalion as major victories. "For us, the
challenge will be to keep everyone focused," Larson said.
JANUARY 8, 2006 By Thanassis Cambanis The Boston Globe
KIRKUK, Iraq Captain John McLaughlin's company of U.S.
combat veterans has returned to Iraq.
His paratroopers have brought far fewer illusions this
time around, exchanging unalloyed enthusiasm for the war in Iraq in the spring
of 2003 for a mix of professionalism, resignation and cynicism.
Most dismiss the debate
over the merits of the war as irrelevant, many of them saying they fight out of
loyalty to the U.S. Army even if they think its mission in Iraq is unrealistic.
Most profess no love for Iraq or its people.
The surrounding city is still a deadly place - less lethal
than Falluja, but more so than the Shiite south.
On this tour, 26 soldiers from the 101st had been killed
by mid-December.
After the 2003 invasion, U.S. troops had clear marching
orders: Catch Saddam and his lieutenants and stabilize Iraq. During the first
few months, criminal gangs posed the greatest law-and-order challenge, not
insurgents.
Some returning soldiers said that while they once believed
they could quickly train the Iraqi police to replace U.S. troops, they have now
set their sights much lower, hoping perhaps to set a decent example for police
officers and soldiers they train but do not entirely trust.
"Regardless of whether this is the great march of
democracy or protecting the shores of America, whether I bought into that or
not, it doesn't matter," McLaughlin said. "My obligation as a
soldier, as an officer, as a leader is to do the mission to the best of my
ability. That's the only saving grace out of the whole thing." [And if
that's the best the Captain can do, you know what the enlisted troops are
thinking about the whole miserable goat fuck.]
During a four-day visit to the base, soldiers and their
commanders said they see the Iraq mission as less ambitious, less achievable
and more stressful than they did almost three years ago.
The soldiers still work at battle rhythm, always on call and
with no days off. And while still dangerous, their daily routine involves
patrolling between the Kirkuk police stations and army bases, investigating
assassinations and bomb attacks against Iraqis and, often, investigating the
very Iraqi security forces they are trying to train.
Everywhere he looks, McLaughlin sees ambiguity. As he
and his troops see it, most Iraqis do not like the Americans and tolerate their
presence only when U.S. interests coincide with their own. [Which, for the
resistance, is never.]
The top priority is no longer to kill insurgents and search
neighborhoods. Now, U.S. troops are supposed to pour their energy into training
Iraqi forces to do that job.
In a war without any benchmarks coming up, First Sergeant
Jason Larson said, commanders have to constantly refine their message to
soldiers, billing small turning points like the improvement of an Iraqi
battalion as major victories. "For us, the challenge will be to keep
everyone focused," Larson said.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO COMPREHENSIBLE REASON TO BE IN
THIS EXTREMELY HIGH RISK LOCATION AT THIS TIME, EXCEPT THAT A CROOKED
POLITICIAN WHO LIVES IN THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU THERE, SO HE WILL LOOK GOOD.
That is not a good enough reason.
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Kevin Van Arsdale, left, of Brick,
New Jersey and Cpl. Richard Guadalupe of Union City, New Jersey, at the back of
their Amphibious Assault Vehicle in Saadah, Iraq, eight miles from Syria,
Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)
TROOP NEWS
Letter From Camp Arifian Says:
"We Are Witnessing The Beginning Of The End Of The
Bush Administration"
[Thanks to D, who sent this in.]
Letters To The Editor
January 8, 2006
Stars and Stripes
From:
Gabriel Rodriguez
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait
If the release of "The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing
Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups
in the Iraq War" by Congressman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., does not seem
dangerously similar to the release of the "Pentagon Papers" by whistle-blower
Daniel Ellsberg in 1971, which contributed to the ending of the Vietnam War and
the eventual downfall of President Nixon, I don't know what else can be so
close to the truth finally coming out.
We are witnessing the beginning of the end of the Bush
administration.
The latest news of the president authorizing the spying on
Americans not only being limited to people with known links to al-Qaida, and
in recent weeks more and more members of his own party standing up against him
on key Republican issues and demanding hearings into the potentially illegal
surveillance program make it hard to believe that this president will finish
his term in office.
If we can impeach a president (Bill Clinton) over a
personal relationship that he lied about, compare that to what President Bush
has admitted to doing to the American people.
The world is watching!
Let's not forget the ongoing investigation into the CIA leak
of a covert agent. The investigations of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay don't help the Republicans' hold of power,
either, with the 2006 midterm elections right around the corner.
"The Constitution In Crisis" packs a huge punch toward
the Bush administration and their ideological reasons for war in Iraq.
Read it and draw your own conclusions.
HOW MANY MORE FOR BUSH'S WAR?
Members of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment leave on a
seven-month deployment to al-Anbar province at Camp Pendleton, California.
(AFP/Getty Images/David McNew)
A Fate Better Than Death:
Spread The Word;
Army Will "Expel" IRR Troops Who Refuse Iraq Duty
[Thanks to PB, JM and D, who sent this in.]
1/9/2006 By ROBERT BURNS, The Associated Press
The Army took initial steps Monday to expel dozens of
reservists who failed to report for active duty, in effect warning hundreds of
others that they too could be penalized if they don't heed orders to return to
active service.
The proceedings mark a turning point in the Army's
struggle to deploy thousands of soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve, a
rarely mobilized group of reservists, to war zones in which some have resisted
serving.
These are soldiers who had previously served on active duty
but not completed their eight-year service obligation.
Many have requested a delay in returning to service, have
asked to be exempted or have ignored their orders.
So far, mobilization orders have been issued for more than
5,700 IRR soldiers since mid-2004.
The Army announced that about 80 soldiers will face review
panels, known as separation boards, although the number may grow. If the
panels conclude they intentionally did not obey a mobilization order, they
would face one of three levels of discharge from the service: honorable,
general or other-than-honorable.
They do not face criminal charges.
As of Dec. 11, the latest date for which the Army had
figures, 3,954 IRR soldiers had reported for duty. In addition, more than
1,600 had been excused from duty and 463 had been sent orders but not yet
reported.
Of those 463, the Army has been unable to locate 383. The
other 80 are the ones who now face discharge.
When the Army initially
found that it was facing resistance from some IRR soldiers who did not want to
get back in uniform, there was talk of declaring them AWOL and pursuing
criminal charges against them. But that was deemed too harsh and the Army
spent many months trying to contact those who were ignoring their orders.
In its announcement Monday, the Army said that in
addition to those who have openly refused to report for duty, those who do not
respond to repeated communications from the Army may face discharge
proceedings.
Last November the Army started a new policy that ended
the practice of involuntary callups of officers in the IRR.
The policy change affects 15,000 officers who completed
their eight-year military service obligation but chose to stay in the IRR. These
officers can now avoid being forced to serve on active duty, but only if they
resign their commission. Previously, an officer could not resign once ordered
to active duty.
In recent years, most in the IRR had come to assume they
would never be called up. But the strains of simultaneous conflicts in Iraq
and Afghanistan have forced the Army to mobilize IRR to fill certain vacancies.
Cindy Sheehan Says Take It To The Streets
January 8, 2006 DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Activist Cindy Sheehan told
supporters at a peace forum Saturday that troops would get out of Iraq if
millions of U.S. citizens took the simple step that she did outside President
Bush's vacation home last summer.
"These people, they're not going to change unless
they see us out in the streets," she said at the forum that organizers
said was among dozens of town hall-style events held across the nation.
Join The Los Angeles Veterans For Peace Anti-War
Contingent In The Kingdom Day Parade
When: 11 AM, Monday, January 16th, 2006
Where: Western Ave & Martin Luther King Blvd.
VFP-LA has purchased a place in the parade and will be
marching with 10 (or more) mock flag draped coffins. We want the largest
possible anti-war contingent so we are asking you to join us. Wear an anti-war
T-shirt, bring your signs or help carry a coffin.
A very important part of Dr. King's legacy was his very
vocal opposition to the Vietnam War. Today the war is in Iraq but the issues
remain the same. Dr. King had a dream of peace on Earth. Help us make that
dream a reality. Spread the word! Join us!
Please circulate this email and print and circulate the this
flyer
For more info call: (323)934-3451 or (323) 219-6507
LOS ANGELES
Do you have a friend or relative in the service? Forward this E-MAIL
along, or send us the address if you wish and we'll send it regularly. Whether
in Iraq or stuck on a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service
friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance
to the war, at home and inside the armed services. Send requests to address up
top.
Two Military Analysts Found Clinically Insane
1.9.06 Gordon Cucullu and Paul Vallely, Washington Times
Two military analysts and contributing authors to the newly
released "War Footing" write that, to emerge victorious in Iraq,
"America can't yank the rug out, as we did to our Vietnamese allies, but
must implement a deliberate, calculated force adjustment of the kind that
marked our successful disengagement from other historic battlefields.
"This is the recipe for victory, and the approach now
ongoing in Afghanistan demonstrates and reinforces its validity." [Either
insane, or stupid liars. Surely by now even assholes like these two must know
the death rate for U.S. troops in Afghanistan is higher than it is in Iraq.
Wow, that really demonstrates some "validity," doesn't it?]
Hugh Thompson:
A Hero Remembered:
"He Went Back To Colburn And Andreotta And Told Them
If The Americans Fired, To Shoot Them"
[Thanks to NB and Anna Bradley, who sent this in.]
1.8.05 Truthout [Excerpt]
Editor's Note: This past week, former Army Helicopter
Pilot Hugh Thompson died at the age of 62.
Thompson's heroic decision to intervene during the course
of the US massacre at My Lai made him an important figure in American history.
ma/TO
*****************************************
He went back to Colburn
and Andreotta and told them if the Americans fired, to shoot them. "Glenn
and I were staring at each other, dumbfounded," says Colburn. He says he
never pointed his gun at an American soldier, but he might have fired if they
had first. The ground soldiers waited and watched.
20 August 2001 By Nell Boyce, The Associated Press
Skimming over the Vietnamese village of My Lai in a
helicopter with a bubble-shaped windshield, 24-year-old Hugh Thompson had a
superb view of the ground below. But what the Army pilot saw didn't make any
sense: piles of Vietnamese bodies and dead water buffalo.
He and his two younger crew mates, Lawrence Colburn and
Glenn Andreotta, were flying low over the hamlet on March 16, 1968, trying to
draw fire so that two gunships flying above could locate and destroy the
enemy. On this morning, no one was shooting at them. And yet they saw bodies
everywhere, and the wounded civilians they had earlier marked for medical aid
were now all dead.
As the helicopter hovered a few feet over a paddy field,
the team watched a group of Americans approach a wounded young woman lying on
the ground. A captain nudged her with his foot, then shot her. The men in the
helicopter recoiled in horror, shouting, "You son of a bitch!"
Thompson couldn't believe it. His suspicions and fear began
to grow as they flew over the eastern side of the village and saw dozens of
bodies piled in an irrigation ditch. Soldiers were standing nearby, taking a
cigarette break. Thompson racked his brains for an explanation. Maybe the
civilians had fled to the ditch for cover? Maybe they'd been accidentally
killed and the soldiers had made a mass grave? The Army warrant officer just
couldn't wrap his mind around the truth of My Lai.
Before My Lai, Americans always saw their boys in uniform as
heroes. Their troops had brought war criminals, the Nazis, to justice. So
when the massacre of some 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians by U.S. soldiers
became public a year and a half later, it shook the country to its core. Many
Americans found it so unbelievable they perversely hailed Lt. William Calley,
the officer who ordered his men to shoot civilians, as an unjustly accused
hero.
But My Lai did produce true heroes, says William
Eckhardt, who served as chief prosecutor for the My Lai courts-martial.
"When you have evil, sometimes, in the midst of it, you will have
incredible, selfless good. And that's Hugh Thompson."
On that historic morning, Thompson set his helicopter
down near the irrigation ditch full of bodies. He asked a sergeant if the
soldiers could help the civilians, some of whom were still moving. The
sergeant suggested putting them out of their misery. Stunned, Thompson turned
to Lieutenant Calley, who told him to mind his own business. Thompson
reluctantly got back in his helicopter and began to lift off. Just then Andreotta
yelled, "My God, they're firing into the ditch!"
Thompson finally faced the truth. He and his crew flew
around for a few minutes, outraged, wondering what to do. Then they saw
several elderly adults and children running for a shelter, chased by Americans.
"We thought they had about 30 seconds before they'd
die," recalls Colburn.
Thompson landed his chopper between the troops and the
shelter, then jumped out and confronted the lieutenant in charge of the chase.
He asked for assistance in escorting the civilians out of the bunker; the
lieutenant said he'd get them out with a hand grenade.
Furious, Thompson announced he was taking the civilians out.
He went back to Colburn and Andreotta and told them if
the Americans fired, to shoot them. "Glenn and I were staring at each
other, dumbfounded," says Colburn. He says he never pointed his gun at an
American soldier, but he might have fired if they had first. The ground
soldiers waited and watched.
Thompson coaxed the Vietnamese out of the shelter with hand
gestures. They followed, wary. Thompson looked at his three-man helicopter
and realized he had nowhere to put them. "There was no thinking about
it," he says now. "It was just something that had to be done, and it
had to be done fast." He got on the radio and begged the gunships to land
and fly the four adults and five children to safety, which they did within
minutes.
Before returning to base, the helicopter crew saw something
moving in the irrigation ditch: a child, about 4 years old. Andreotta waded
through bloody cadavers to pull him out. Thompson, who had a son, was overcome
by emotion. He immediately flew the child to a nearby hospital.
Thompson wasted no time telling his superiors what had
happened. "They said I was screaming quite loud. I was mad. I
threatened never to fly again," Thompson remembers. "I didn't want
to be a part of that. It wasn't war." An investigation followed, but it
was cursory at best.
A month later, Andreotta died in combat.
Thompson was shot down and returned home to teach helicopter
piloting.
Colburn served his tour of duty and left the military.
The two figured those involved in the killing had been
court-martialed. In fact, nothing had happened. But rumors of the massacre
persisted. One soldier who heard of the atrocities, Ron Ridenhour, vowed to
make them public. In the spring of 1969, he sent letters to government
officials, which led to a real investigation and sickening revelations:
murdered babies and old men, raped and mutilated women, in a village where U.S.
soldiers mistakenly expected to find lots of Viet Cong.
Gradually the furor died down. Colburn and Thompson
lived in relative anonymity until a 1989 television documentary on My Lai
reclaimed them as forgotten heroes.
David Egan, a Clemson University professor who had served in
a French village where Nazis killed scores of innocents in World War II, was
amazed by the story. He campaigned to have Thompson and his team awarded the
coveted Soldier's Medal.
It wasn't until March 6, 1998, after internal debate among
Pentagon officials (who feared an award would reopen old wounds) and outside
pressure from reporters, that Thompson and Colburn finally received medals in a
ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
But both say a far more gratifying reward was a trip back
to My Lai this March to dedicate a school and a "peace park." It was
then they finally met a young man named Do Hoa, who they believe was the boy
they rescued from that death-filled ditch.
"Being reunited with the boy was just...I can't even
describe it," says Colburn. And Thompson, also overwhelmed, doesn't even
try.
Piece Of Shit Who Attacked Gay Soldier Goes
Unprosecuted By Pieces Of Shit In Command
January 09, 2006 By Kelly Kennedy, Army Times staff writer
A Fort Huachuca, Ariz., soldier who contends he was
assaulted in October by a fellow soldier because he is gay was discharged at
his own request, The Arizona Daily Star reported.
Pfc. Kyle Lawson's case became a cause cilhbre in gay
publications because the Army did not prosecute the soldier who punched him in
the face at an off-base party on Oct. 29.
Civilian police booked the soldier on felony
aggravated assault charges, calling the punch that broke Lawson's nose
"unprovoked."
But the Army requested the case be turned over to it
and then declined to prosecute, instead choosing administrative action.
Lawson said Jan. 5 that he was torn at the decision to leave
the Army just four months out of boot camp.
"It's bittersweet," Lawson said.
"On one hand, it will be better for me because I can be who
I am. But I'm going to miss it a lot. I really loved it."
[Opens up some interesting possibilities. "Yeah, I went
after the Colonel with a tire iron and really fucked him up, but you know, he
made a pass at me. You don't prosecute for that, right?"]
Hundreds Of Veterans Prepare To Confront Gay Hating
Bigots At Soldiers' Funeral
January 09, 2006 Associated Press
EVANSVILLE, Ind. Police and county officials urged
veterans to avoid confrontations with anti-gay protesters who plan to picket at
the funeral Tuesday of an Indiana soldier killed in Iraq.
Hundreds of area veterans have said they will try to
shield Pvt. Jonathan R. Pfender's family from members of the Westboro Baptist
Church in Topeka, Kan., the Evansville Courier & Press reported.
Church founder the Rev. Fred Phelps contends that
American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting
a country that harbors gays.
Church members have protested at scores of military
funerals, and the church informed Evansville police Saturday it would protest
at Pfender's services Tuesday at The Centre.
Evansville police special operations Sgt. Chris Pugh said
about 12 to 20 protesters, some with signs, were expected. He said the group
will be restricted to public sidewalks and protesters will not be allowed to
enter The Centre, the funeral home or Sunset Memorial Park, where Pfender is to
be buried.
Pugh urged veterans to use restraint. "I can understand why
you're going to be as mad as you're going to be," Pugh said. "But whatever they
say, you've just got to let it go."
[Bullshit. The only thing scum like this understand is
the application of sufficient physical force as to render them incapable of any
such activity in the future. Instead of protecting the filth, the cops should
look away and let the veterans do the right thing. Otherwise this shit goes on
forever.]
War Profiteers Sued For Killing Three Special Forces
Soldiers;
Legal Loophole May Let Them Off The Hook
January 09, 2006 By Curt Anderson, Associated Press
MIAMI: On a cold January day almost two years ago, family
members and friends of five Special Forces servicemen killed in an Air Force
helicopter crash in Afghanistan gathered at Arlington National Cemetery for
their burial, receiving folded American flags and honored by a military flyover
and a seven-gun salute.
The servicemen were memorialized at the ceremony by a
chaplain, Col. David E. Boyles, as "five brave young men who gave their lives
not only for their country, but for friends and family, to keep them free."
Now, the widows of three of the men are suing defense
contractors for the wrongful deaths of their husbands in the 2003 crash, which
the Air Force blamed on engine failure of the MH-53M Pave Low helicopter caused
in part by failure of auxiliary fuel tanks to jettison.
According to an Air Force accident report, the Pave Low
flight dubbed "Beatle 12" carrying 13 passengers and crew crashed Nov. 23,
2003, about five minutes after it lifted off from Bagram Air Base in
Afghanistan.
A compressor problem caused one of the two engines on the
Pave Low to stall, leaving it with one engine operating and far too much weight
to carry in the thin mountain air. The pilots "attempted to jettison the
auxiliary tanks without success" and then the other engine stalled while an
emergency landing was being attempted, the Air Force concluded.
With all power lost, the helicopter fell from an altitude of
about 200 feet onto an uneven river bank, rolled over and burst into flames. Eight
people somehow managed to survive, but four Air Force personnel and one Army
officer were killed.
Their remains were difficult to identify and were buried
together at Arlington under a single tombstone bearing all five names.
Widows Melissa Walters, Kara Kerwood and Yvette
LaPointe-Plumhoff have filed lawsuits in federal court in Miami accusing the
Pave Low's maker, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., and two fuel tank installation and
maintenance companies of negligence that led to the crash.
The Air Force accident report, which by law cannot be used
as evidence in civil lawsuits, concluded that there was "insufficient written
guidance" available to check on the status of the fuel tank jettison system. [In
case you didn't know, that "law" is called "The Murdering War Profiteers
Loophole Law," and only cost a few suitcases full of cash passed out to the
right people in Congress.]
The lawsuits contend that Sikorsky, Lear Siegler Services
Inc. and Smiths Aerospace LLC never instructed maintenance personnel to perform
necessary electrical tests to assure the tanks would drop in an emergency.
"The jettison system was indispensable to the ability of the
MH-53M crew to avoid a crash by rapidly reducing the helicopter's weight in the
event one of the two engines failed during flight," says one of the lawsuits.
IRAQ RESISTANCE ROUNDUP
Assorted Resistance Action:
Bombs Go Off 36 Yards From U.S. Ambassador
Jan 9 AFP News & Press Association Ltd & By SAMEER
N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer & Reuters
Two bombers disguised as police infiltrated the heavily
fortified Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad and blew themselves up Monday
during celebrations of National Police Day.
Twin bombers attacked Iraq's interior ministry, where
ministers and the US ambassador were attending a parade to mark Police Day. At
least 29 people were killed and 25 wounded, mostly policemen, said Ala'a Abid
Ali, an official at al-Kindi hospital.
As one of the bombers walked away from the checkpoint,
Interior Ministry guards became suspicious because he appeared to be "too
fat", police told Reuters.
They opened fire, shooting him in the back and hitting the
bulky explosives belt he was wearing beneath his uniform, causing him to
explode. A second bomber detonated his explosives.
One bomber was wearing the uniform of an Iraqi police
major and the other was dressed as a lieutenant colonel. Both had passes that
enabled them to get through checkpoints and into the compound.
The two bombers, with explosives strapped to their
bodies, struck within three minutes of each other on Monday at the rear
entrance to the ministry in Baghdad as a parade took place some 400 metres
[that's 36 yards!] away, security officials said.
The dead included a major responsible for ministry security.
A mortar shell was also fired, but it fell next door in
the police academy, causing no damage.
Top officials, including Interior Minister Bayan Jabr
Solah, Defence Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi and US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad,
were watching the annual celebration.
A US embassy spokesman said he understood that Khalilzad was
fine.
Ambulances rushed to the scene as police cordoned off the
area, which had already been closed to traffic ahead of the ceremony.
An Iraqi judge responsible for investigating
terrorist-related crimes was killed as he left for work in the northern city of
Kirkuk, police said.
In Baghdad, guerrillas fired on three people working on
Iraq's de-Baathification commission, killing one, police Capt Qassim Hussein
said.
Guerrillas also killed an Iraqi intelligence officer in
western Baghdad, Hussein said.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE RESISTANCE
END THE OCCUPATION
FORWARD OBSERVATIONS
Protecting Marines Or Prosecuting Senior Citizens?
From: CitizenSoldier1@aol.com
Sent: January 09, 2006 4:40 PM
Subject: Protecting Marines or Prosecuting Senior Citizens?
On Saturday, January 7, the New York Times published a
front page story discussing a secret Pentagon study which concluded that up to
80% of the 340 GIs who died from wounds of the upper torso could have survived
had they been wearing state-of -the-art armored vests.
According to the Times, the Marine Corps didn't order any of
the upgraded vests until September 2005 when it finally ordered 28,800 sets for
some of its troops. The Times also reported that, as of December 2005, the
Marines had distributed only 2,200 sets of these improved vests in Iraq.
The Times quotes the secret study as follows: "As many
as 42% of the Marines casualties who died from isolated torso injuries could
have been prevented with improved protection in the areas surrounding the
plated areas of the vest." (A total of 526 Marines have been killed as of
1/7/06 in Iraq.
"It is tragic if young Marines are dying because
their commanders didn't commit the funds to provide them with the best
protective gear money can buy," commented Tod Ensign, Director, Citizen
Soldier.
"The money the Marines are spending to hunt down and
prosecute 40 year AWOLs from the Vietnam war, like Cpl Jerry Texiero should
instead be committed to providing better protection for our troops."
(More info: Tod Ensign, Citizen Soldier, (212) 679-2250