No True Glory
"There will be no true glory for our soldiers in Iraq until they are recognized not as victims, but as aggressive warriors. Stories of their bravery deserve to be recorded and read by the next generation. Unsung, the noblest deeds will die.”
-Bing West, No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah
Mackubin Thomas Owens has a must read in the National Review Online about the continued - or continuous - attempts to slander members of America's armed forces. He leads off with the Scott Thomas Beauchamp incident, but moves beyond that rapidly, tracing the slanderous narrative of the left back to the Vietnam war. It was wrong then and it is wrong now.
And to this day, critics of that war invoke the specter of My Lai to prove that atrocities were widespread in Vietnam. Not too long ago, Ellis Henican of Newsday quoted the late Ron Ridenour, the soldier who publicized the My Lai massacre (even though he was not present): “My Lai was a whole lot more than one crazy lieutenant. And there were plenty of My Lais.”
But this is nonsense. Atrocities did occur in Vietnam, but they were far from widespread. Between 1965 and 1973, 201 soldiers and 77 Marines were convicted of serious crimes against the Vietnamese. Of course, the fact that many crimes, either in war or peace, go unreported, combined with the particular difficulties encountered by Americans fighting in Vietnam, suggest that more such acts were committed than reported or tried.
But even Daniel Ellsberg, a severe critic of U.S. policy in Vietnam, rejected the argument that My Lai was in any way a normal event: “My Lai was beyond the bounds of permissible behavior, and that is recognizable by virtually every soldier in Vietnam. They know it was wrong. . . . The men who were at My Lai knew there were aspects out of the ordinary. That is why they tried to hide the event, talked about it to no one, discussed it very little even among themselves.”
Jim Webb, a Marine hero of the Vietnam War and junior senator from Virginia, got to the real heart of the matter concerning atrocities in the war and Kerry’s testimony in an NPR commentary several years ago: “. . . stories of atrocious conduct, repeated in lurid detail by Kerry before the Congress, represented not the typical experience of the American soldier, but its ugly extreme. That the articulate, urbane Kerry would validate such allegations helped to make life hell for many Vietnam veterans, for a very long time.”.
The media behaved similarly poorly in breaking the “Tailwind” story, a ludicrous claim that U.S. special forces used nerve gas during an operation in Vietnam intended to assassinate American defectors to the communists. Anyone with an ounce of sense could see that this story was ridiculous, and indeed, it began to fall apart almost from the instant it was reported, ultimately ruining a number of reputations at CNN and Time.
Would anyone have believed such a story about World War II and the “greatest generation?” Of course not, but many in the media have been willing to believe that U.S. servicemen in Vietnam were capable of any atrocity. This predisposition lives on today. Here’s our old friend, John Kerry, last year on Face the Nation. American troops, said Kerry, were “going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the — of, of, of historical customs, religious customs . . .”
The narrative of the left includes that all soldiers are driven to enlist by economic factors (some are, not all), all soldiers are children forced into going to war, all soldiers come back from war deranged and dangerous and that all soldiers are war criminals waiting to happen. Never mind that the majority of Americans reject that narrative. But the media is interested in the negative stories and ignore people like First Lt. Walter B. Jackson when he receives a Distinguished Service Cross. The true stories, the real narrative, are out there. Just not on the news:
To read of the abundant acts of heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. soldiers, all one has to do is read Bing West’s account of Fallujah, No True Glory; or the blogs of Michael Yon; or the remarkable story by Jeff Emanuel in the American Spectator, entitled “The Longest Morning,” an account of a battle in Samarra involving four paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division. Those paratroopers “became the object of a pre-planned, coordinated effort by dozens of al Qaeda to kidnap and slaughter American soldiers only days before General Petraeus’s internationally televised testimony to the U.S. Congress on the state of the war in Iraq. Not all survived — but those who did fought like heroes, saving each other and preserving the honor of their nation.”
In No True Glory, one can read about Marine major Douglas Zembiec, who as a captain was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the battle for Fallujah. After the battle, he said that his Marines had “fought like lions,” and himself became known as “the Lion of Fallujah.” Volunteering to return to Iraq before he was slated to do so, the 34-year-old Zembiec was killed on May 10. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates eulogized him this way:
In May, the Lion of Fallujah was laid to rest at Arlington [National Cemetery] and memorialized at his alma mater in Annapolis. The crowd of more than 1,000 included many enlisted Marines from his beloved Echo Company. An officer there told a reporter: “Your men have to follow your orders; they don’t have to go to your funeral.”
"There will be no true glory for our soldiers in Iraq until they are recognized not as victims, but as aggressive warriors." That quote from Bing West says it all.
By NortonPete, Monday, 12 November , 2007 @ 1:17 pm
I will read up on Bing West’s account of Fallujah. Our men fought valiantly there.
I just finished an 1 hour phone call to a great friend who is 91 years young. He fought in North Africa and in Italy. The BBC contacted him a few years ago to interview him about the battle of Monte Cassino. My friend fought there with the 34th Red Bull Division for months.
He told the BBC reporter to buzz off, he didn’t want them distorting his words.
I bumped the Valour-IT - Army scale on the left a wee bit in his honor.
By feeblemind, Monday, 12 November , 2007 @ 1:34 pm
Off topic. Over at Yahoo News, another honorable mention for the Darwin Awards. Man tries to loosen a lug bolt on a wheel by shooting it with his shot gun, seriously injuring his legs.
By syn, Monday, 12 November , 2007 @ 1:54 pm
Perhaps I missed something however, why has not the guild members inside The National Review not yet condemn fellow guild member Foer for The National Republic journalistic hackery?
I enjoy Jonah Goldberg’s stuff however I am disappointed that he came to Foer’s defense when this all went down.
By martian, Monday, 12 November , 2007 @ 2:00 pm
I have to disagree with the conclusion that “There will be no true glory for our soldiers in Iraq until they are recognized not as victims, but as aggressive warriors.” Our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan don’t need to have the validation of the left wing nutroots in order to be honored for their service. I believe the majority of Americans understand and honor the service and commitment of our soldiers. This is not the Viet Nam era as much as the left wing nutroots would like it to be. They have tried very hard to make our soldiers look bad, but so far they have failed miserably.
By Maggie, Monday, 12 November , 2007 @ 5:17 pm
martian -
I sort of agree with the quote … and with you.
But I believe the biggest “war crime” has been this country’s MSM that has absolutely refused to cover this war with intelligence, fairness and balance … all the while pretending to do so.
I do not expect the Hollywood Klan or the typical “anti-culture” to validate anything the military does, let alone the administration running the war …
But I DO expect a hell of a lot more from an industry (the news media) that not only portrays itself as the purveyors of facts, information and truth, but as the “police” of the government for the people of this country. They have conducted business on this war, and by that our troops, like intoxicated surgeons who amputate the wrong leg, and then blame the patient … A bigger example of “malpractice” I’ve yet to see … Well, maybe Congress …
By NortonPete, Monday, 12 November , 2007 @ 7:51 pm
Maggie and others,
My friend from WWII troubles over the current coverage of the Iraq war.
The refusal to cover this war with “intelligence, fairness and balance … all the while pretending to do so.”, ways on this soldier( he is as sharp as you or I and reads this forum).
This is causing this 91+ year young Vet a lot of stress. He fought for his country and it is important to him.
When did we write off the “Greatest generation” . When did we write off OUR Greatest generation? ( Iraq soldiers )?