Post Scripts: Tragedy among battle scars

It is my hope the Army will not take action against the U.S. soldier who shot an Iraqi soldier he thought was "playing" dead. I know such an incident makes news since quick assessment makes it appear a barbaric act. I hope the public considers under what circumstances this unfortunate incident took place.

I cannot construct the exact scene since I am an outsider. However, since I experienced "incidents" in two wars, I feel the need to defend this young man’s actions. We must consider the situation under which he and his fellow infantrymen found themselves. Their unit was part of the force ordered to "take" Fallujah in Iraq.

Fallujah is a large congested walled city with streets lined with housing units and small businesses, closely packed row upon row. Most are inner-connected in one way or another. Some are walled off from surrounding streets. Our soldiers were ordered to clear the enemy from these units, which meant they had to make their way through room after room, doing their best to make sure they were not making themselves vulnerable to enemy fire.

There are no more dangerous jobs given GI’s than this type of combat duty. You clear out one room, then open another door, never knowing what might be waiting for you.

The pressure and fear are quite strong. Fortunately, it was never my job to be a "point man" in such a situation since my job was to assist the war correspondents who chose to cover such combat missions. We "followed" the attacking soldiers once they were inside, usually lagging some distance behind.

On one such mission a couple of GI’s opened the door to a house and went inside, their weapons at ready. They quickly noted a couple of Japanese soldiers lying in a corner, apparently dead. The soldiers assumed too much for once the GI’s reached the other side of the room they were cut down by rifle fire from the two enemy soldiers who had been just been playing dead. This happened a lot in cramped, populated areas.

I don’t know if I can explain to readers how dangerous such missions are. Infantry guys are often stressed out after a battle or two, fearful of making a mistake and paying for it with their life or a serious injury. I remember well infantry soldiers struggling through the nightmare of close combat, week after week, contending an enemy lurking in trees, bamboo huts and jungle pillboxes, bugs, jungle rot and sleepless nights.

In Iraq there are no jungles like the South Pacific, but there was enemy fire waiting to kill you in every nook and cranny, including apparently empty dwellings and vacant rooms.

I have seen the grimness of death in battle. The utter waste of human life, for causes often unjustified, is a disgrace. You can never know the fear of battle if you haven’t faced it. The young soldier facing charges for firing into the body of the already dead Iraqi soldier ought to be forgiven for a quite normal reaction. He is a victim of the nervousness and stress of combat in a God-forsaken land, in a war that didn’t have to happen, and a war that has been the worst-handled war in American history. Pray for the brave Americans who are stuck in this morass of one man’s ambition to be a war president.

Some of the media and the goodie-goodie two-shoes want it both ways. They enjoy freedom but often object to the violence that comes with war. I thank the young GI for his service. I’m sure he’d rather be home.