Rolling Stone publishes emails from ‘America's last prisoner of war'

What this soldier said hits so close to home I can't even express the gratitude I have for the reality of the Army being put out for everyone to see.

The e-mail went on to list a series of complaints: Three good sergeants, Bowe said, had been forced to move to another company, and "one of the biggest # bags is being put in charge of the team." His battalion commander was a "conceited old fool." The military system itself was broken: "In the US army you are cut down for being honest... but if you are a conceited brown nosing # bag you will be allowed to do what ever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank... The system is wrong. I am ashamed to be an american. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools." The soldiers he actually admired were planning on leaving: "The US army is the biggest joke the world has to laugh at. It is the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies. The few good SGTs are getting out as soon as they can, and they are telling us privates to do the same."

Now you know why I'm no longer in the military. Period.... End of story

In the second-to-last paragraph of the e-mail, Bowe wrote about his broader disgust with America's approach to the war--an effort, on the ground, that seemed to represent the exact opposite of the kind of concerted campaign to win the "hearts and minds" of average Afghans envisioned by counterinsurgency strategists. "I am sorry for everything here," Bowe told his parents. "These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live." He then referred to what his parents believe may have been a formative, possibly traumatic event: seeing an Afghan child run over by an MRAP. "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them."

This is where I disagree. As a matter of fact I had a buddy almost run over a child in an MRAP. I was driving the truck behind him, The child actually ran under the armor plating on the side of the vehicle. As soon as he realized it he called back to me asking if he hit the kid, which he did not. When we had RP'd he was visibly shaken being a father himself. My unit may have been full of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies, but nobody would have taken pride in hitting a child. This is coming from a distinguished honor graduate of the U.S. Army Non Commissioned Officer Academy. I had some decent credentials building up. They loved me when I made them look good, and treated me like $hit when I didn't fall in line as they wished. When I had told them of my decision to get out, my 1st SGT just belittled me and told me I was scared. Scared of what? I was the most accomplished soldier that company had ever seen.EDIT TO ADD LINK:ABC

reply to post by GD21D


he was scared u would turn into them,,
he told u the right thing,,
now,,
keep doing what u and ur bubbies have always tried too do,,
the right thing,,it aint easy ,,but it is and was and always will be the right thing,

thnk-u
for doing it.

Interestingly, this guy "disappeared" in 2009 -

The military has never detailed circumstances of his disappearance or capture, and he is not classified as a deserter. He was initially listed as "duty status unknown" and is now considered "missing-captured." He is the only U.S. prisoner of war from the Afghanistan conflict, and U.S. officials say they are actively trying to free him.

The emails were provided to the magazine by Bergdahl's family in Idaho, which has gone public with its own discontent with U.S. efforts to free their son. There is no way to authenticate the emails.

The Only prisoner of war? - Did someone hand him over as punishment for speaking out?

ap.stripes.com...

just because you and your body try not to run over children, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

the soldier said he saw a kid get run over and then heard the drivers laugh about it later.

i believe it. i can also picture the soldiers saying that they "ran over a little rag head this morning".

reply to post by GD21D


I'm always fascinated with stories about soldiers of war. Although not that informative, it's interesting to hear such opinions... not that they're not all that uncommon from what I've been told.

I currently rent to own, and work for a man who is a retired Marine Captain, with a specialty in political science. Our conversations usually revolve around political philosophy and international relations... for some reason I have never asked him a single question about his time spent in the Marines. Now I have something to ask him!

I wonder what he'll have to say about brown nosing and gaining rank lol.

s&f's

Originally posted by randomname
just because you and your body try not to run over children, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

the soldier said he saw a kid get run over and then heard the drivers laugh about it later.

i believe it. i can also picture the soldiers saying that they "ran over a little rag head this morning".

I'm sure it does. I just don't think it happens as much as this soldier seems to point to. I can't think of one person in my unit who would have been proud about something like that. As much animosity as I have for some of those men, I could never label them baby killers. Most of those soldiers are fathers and mothers themselves. The first paragraph though, WOW. This isn't the first time soldiers have talked like that. It's just the first time I've seen it brought out to the public like that. What he says is true. Here it is. The best always leave, leaving the crap to garner rank. After a certain amount of time all you have is crap for leadership. It has become a never ending cycle in the Army. I can't speak for the other branches as I don't have experience with them. I've met some really amazing people in the military, it's just that they're too far and few between to make it worthwhile.

Originally posted by MESSAGEFROMTHESTARS
reply to post by GD21D

 

I'm always fascinated with stories about soldiers of war. Although not that informative, it's interesting to hear such opinions... not that they're not all that uncommon from what I've been told.

I currently rent to own, and work for a man who is a retired Marine Captain, with a specialty in political science. Our conversations usually revolve around political philosophy and international relations... for some reason I have never asked him a single question about his time spent in the Marines. Now I have something to ask him!

I wonder what he'll have to say about brown nosing and gaining rank lol.

s&f's

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I certainly don't know everything, and I'm not afraid to admit that I don't know. I also try to be candid in assessment. As long as it doesn't violate OPSEC I'm more than happy to answer questions.

reply to post by GD21D


During my three decades in the service I have watched the US Army, (I can't speak for the other services) go from promoting actual leaders to promoting what I consider politicians, not leaders. It's a sad state of affairs.

You know the type, the ones who want to arm chair QB your patrol that just came back and are furious that you don't have a Powerpoint presentation already with measures of effectiveness. OK, that may be a small exaggeration, but I have seen similar examples.

Screw up, Move up, seems to be the rule nowadays as the leadership doesn’t want to do the paperwork to actually fix the problem.

Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by GD21D

 

During my three decades in the service I have watched the US Army, (I can't speak for the other services) go from promoting actual leaders to promoting what I consider politicians, not leaders. It's a sad state of affairs.

You know the type, the ones who want to arm chair QB your patrol that just came back and are furious that you don't have a Powerpoint presentation already with measures of effectiveness. OK, that may be a small exaggeration, but I have seen similar examples.

Screw up, Move up, seems to be the rule nowadays as the leadership doesn’t want to do the paperwork to actually fix the problem.

Death by powerpoint! That's the philosophy, everything is fixed by powerpoint. PT schedule, patrols, EO classes, I could go on and on. I don't need visuals, I need a leader who can stand up in front of soldiers and talk without reciting what's on a screen. I want to know what a leader knows, not what he's reading from a projector. I can always tell how a mission would go by how the patrol commander would give his OP order. It was pretty pathetic when an E-4 would know more about an OP order than a LT.