You Can't Protect Something You Never Had!

In 1971, as a new soldier, I was assigned duty in the 1st Infantry Division. The "Big Red One", had returned stateside from Vietnam as part of a de-escalation and for many solders who had served their tour in Vietnam, it became their next duty station.

I never heard so much bullshit in my life, the same stories with different players, over and over again, You could roll your eyes all you wanted but there was an unspoken rule; it was considered bad form to call bullshit on another soldiers war stories.

There were three I heard most often:

Taking Viet Cong up in helicopters and pitching them out if they didn't talk.

Dropping 100 pound sacks of rice on a villager and killing him by getting him to "catch" the bag of rice.

The Vietnamese barber that worked on a, (air base, naval base, Marine base, Army base), that was actually a Viet Cong spy, who was killed trying to infiltrate and blow up the base the night after they had given, (said, teller of story), a shave with a straight razor that same day.

Now, I really must tell you, that last story gave me a chill, (every time I heard it). Almost as much as the time my girl friend made me take her home from lovers lane after we heard on the radio that an insane killer with one arm escaped from the State Hospital. I really freaked out when I found the hook stuck in the car door!

OK, so I didn't believe the last story. It was only because of all the accounts of the other two stories that I heard from those that had either did it, saw it or knew someone that had. I mean its ridiculous! How many Vietnamese/Viet Cong/Spy's were there and how did they keep from being buried under hundreds of thousands of their Viet Cong comrades and millions of tons of rice that were throw from helicopters?

Anyway, over the years and even as a young man, I developed what I call a BS filter. A very good one, the Lord knows I heard enough of it from my relatives growing up.

At the beginning of August, "The New Republic" published at story by a "Scott Thomas" (Scott Thomas Beauchamp), that contained three pieces of obvious BS recounting tales meant to show how "war dehumanizes people". In other words, more anti-war propaganda.

The stories recounted:

A woman whose face was disfigured by an IED, either an ally of the US or a contractor, who was taunted in a mess hall because of her disfigurement, and then fled the mess hall in tears.

Soldiers who were digging up the remains of children in what was clearly represented as a Saddam era, mass grave, and one soldier takes the skull cap of a child, (with hair and rotting flesh still attached), and wears it as a cap under his helmet the whole day.

A driver of a Bradley fighting vehicle, (very much like the APCs they replaced and I used to drive), who constantly is swerving to run down dogs, vendors stands, etc.

The New Republic's Editors, have released several statements backing PVT Beauchamp's fairytale even though Beauchamp has stated that the first incident with the woman happened in Kuwait before he was stationed in Iraq, (I am firmly of the opinion that none of them happened!) I know BS when I hear it.

The New Republic seeks to protect its journalistic integrity.

Don't worry boys, you never had any!

Go Here for a rundown of the Scott Beauchamp story.