29 Palms Marine to receive Navy Cross

[Paddlefoot]

Sorry to bust your bubble, but I had friends involved directly with the intel and rescue that freed her. She was grateful after suffering multiple gang rapes. When they debriefed her, she spilled all that happened. Then she got home and started spewing all kinds of anti-Army rhetoric, blaming Pres. Bush, etc. That shit is uncalled for. If she wanted to be pissed, be pissed at her idiot platoon commander who hadn't prepared her or her fellow soldiers one bit for combat.

I hope her brothers and sisters in arms rest in peace while she lives to badmouth at will.

You're not bursting my bubble, Assad.

In the end, there was a lot of bad information, half truths and flat out lies associated with what occured that day, both to her and everybody else. She has her own perspective, and I'm sure she had a lot to say about her ordeal when all was said and done. She told her debriefers she was scared? So fucking what.

I got news for you. A kid that grew up in my hometown, and would later deploy with TFR to Somalia, was extensively quoted by Bowen in Black Hawk Down. I'm not going to put his name out on this forum or thread, but he was very candid about how he felt as part of the last rescue convoy that went out into the city that morning.

Anybody reading the book might think he was cowering in the back of the Humvee. Fact is, not a man on that TF, even after reading the passages where he was quoted, thinks he showed anything but guts for being there. How he felt, and how he expressed it to Bowen, isn't what is remembered by his comrades.

Combat is a highly personal experience, and as far as I know, Lynch did nothing to dishonor herself during the actions that took place that day. She may not have responded in such a way that many of us would, but she has taken way too much crap over the years for what went down, and the fact is anybody who could really verify anything about it is dead. Everybody in her vehicle died.

Like I said, give it a rest. The biggest misfortune of her experience was getting used by the Pentagon as a poster child. As it turns out, in the case of Pat Tillman, it wouldn't be the last time they pulled this bullshit. As for her book, well, she decided to set the record straight for herself. As far as I'm concerned, she had every right to do so, especially with all the crap put out there by people who should have known better.

 

[msteen1]

Yea I've been here since January.

 

[AssadUSMC]

Paddlefoot - First of all, I'm not directing anger at you. Second of all, I'm not condemning her actions (or inaction) that day. If you read what I wrote, I was pissed after hearing the words out of her own mouth. I think what happened to her was a horrible, unbearable thing. Those Iraqi scum did unspeakable things to her and she could nothing to stop it. However, honor doesn't end when you get home. Personally, I'd have vented at GWB himself if I had a bone to pick about being used as a poster child. The Pat Tillman cover-up is a completely different, yet utterly abhorrent, mess.

 

[Paddlefoot]

Paddlefoot - First of all, I'm not directing anger at you. Second of all, I'm not condemning her actions (or inaction) that day. If you read what I wrote, I was pissed after hearing the words out of her own mouth. I think what happened to her was a horrible, unbearable thing. Those Iraqi scum did unspeakable things to her and she could nothing to stop it. However, honor doesn't end when you get home. Personally, I'd have vented at GWB himself if I had a bone to pick about being used as a poster child. The Pat Tillman cover-up is a completely different, yet utterly abhorrent, mess.

I hear you, brother.

I understand where you're coming from, and I think in my first post I used the collective and inclusive "everybody" because I've seen a lot of derogatory remarks directed at Lynch over the years. It's almost as if she became the focal point for everything that has gone wrong, when in fact she is lucky to have survived. And she shouldn't have been displayed as she was after her rescue. I'm sure she would have preferred maintaining at least a little anonymity, in terms of how she was described early on.

And bottom line, she was a POW. If we're not allowed to use EPWs like that, we sure as shit shouldn't be using our own POWs in a similar manner, which in this instance was for pure propaganda purposes.

As for Pat Tillman, you're right, his story is different in terms of the missions he was going on, and the type of man he was. Certainly, nobody can ever question his bravery or dedication. But he got used the same way as Lynch, by a Pentagon brass that decided that in order to cover up the details of his death, they had to concoct a story that had no resemblance to the truth.

And bear in mind, Pat's brother has been as outspoken as Lynch in the aftermath of what occured. And like Lynch, he has every right to do so, and his anger should have no bearing on his service or sacrifice, either.

As for the medal Lynch received, those decisions are made by those appointed above her. As I stated, there should be a shitload of dersision reserved for those at those higher levels who got the ball rolling in both these cases.