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| Iraq |
| NYT Fixation With Fallen Soldiers v1203.2 |
| 2005-10-01 |
| The Heavy Burden of Retrieving Fallen Americans in Iraq Specialist Ryan Firth leaned out the doorway of the idling Black Hawk helicopter, the thump, thump, thump of the blades above him drowning out all sound, and he grabbed the handles of the green stretcher being passed his way. Atop that stretcher was a black vinyl body bag. Inside it were the remains of an American contractor killed just hours before in a suicide bombing in downtown Baquba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. "That's when it hit me," Specialist Firth, 29, said the next day. "To feel the weight of one of your comrades, to lift the dead body of a fellow American, you can never prepare yourself for that." For a moment, he fell silent. "It wakes you up to reality, you know?" he said as tears welled in his eyes. "There are people dying here." This was the first time Specialist Firth, a helicopter technician for the Missouri National Guard, was conducting what the military calls a hero mission, which is the process of retrieving the body of an American soldier, or sometimes a dead contractor, from the battlefield. American soldiers in Iraq handle the bodies with ritual and respect, from almost the instant of death to the moment those bodies are loaded onto a cargo plane headed back home. They catalog the names and formally transport the personal belongings, determined to preserve as much dignity as possible for those killed. Inside the chopper parked in front of Specialist Firth's at Camp Warhorse that day in August was the body of an American soldier who had died in the same attack as the contractor. More than 40 soldiers assembled to pay their last respects before the bodies were flown to a base in Balad, from which they would be shipped back to their families. MSM focuses on the deaths without crediting our fallen soldiers with their accomplishments. Disgusting. |
| Posted by:Captain America |
| #12 Captain American: I'm with you in the broader picture on the NY Slimes. This reporter did a story where she honeselty showed the effen compassion our men/women have for each other is all I'm saying. The NON-STOP Abu Grabass stories frome the NY Slimes is another effen issue altogether. Throw in a self-imprisoned reporter Judith Miller who knowingly called and basically "tipped off" Mr Jihadi is another effen story. Yes, the effen list goes on and on. I'm giving this "one" reporter some credit for telling ourside of the story although a tough one if it didnt' bring effen tear to yours eyes a couple of times your a POS of a human beingj, that our men/women are doing a difficult job and need our effen support. I hear you on the non-stop, doom and gloom, that's a no-brainer. I've read about the "hero" flights months before this came out, surely as you have also, I still think this one reporter did a good report on the topic at hand and handled it pretty good(I haven't run a check on other stories). I dont' think she took joy out of doing and she we'll may be in bed with ANSWER/CINDY/REV JACKSON but on this on instance I thought it was a fair story/reprot/war cry for a story. I'd still now would rather have tears of "compassion" like today's story than the TEARS of fkn anger I had on 9/11. Do you get that? JULIET MACUR, from most of her reporting at the NY Slimes the last year has been sports reporting and a story or two on our wounded and "their" courage. If you'd done a search on here you would have figured out she has come from Dallas, have covered sports, covered sport for the NY Slimes. She stayed it appears embedded in Iraq for the whole of August and you go read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/international/middleeast/macur-iraq-journal.html?8dpc |
| Posted by: Ray 2005-10-01 20:39 |
| #11 Limb Guy: Who likes pics of coffins, Abu Grhaib pics of dead Iraqis and leash lady, who bemoans the fallen without accreditation of their mission and achievements? That's right, the NY Slimes. It's a pattern, baby, the message being "pull out now so there will not be any more "fallen"". |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-10-01 17:29 |
| #10 Limb Guy: Who likes pics of coffins, Abu Grhaib pics of dead Iraqis and leash lady, who bemoans the fallen without accreditation of their mission and achievements? That's right, the NY Slimes. It's a pattern, baby, the message being "pull out now so there will not be any more "fallen"". |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-10-01 17:29 |
| #9 Going out on a limb: I thought she tried to do something good with the piece showing the loyalty and compassion our fellow mem/women on the field in life and death have for one another. She reported the facts and painted/framed the story the "best" she could on the subject at hand. I've read about the "hero" flights on milblogs for a while like we all have but now she put some names on them. And I for one thank that Cpt who has "volunteered" to go out on every hero flight to pick our men/women. |
| Posted by: Ray 2005-10-01 17:09 |
| #8 nice, Oz, thx |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-01 16:29 |
| #7 Thank you, Oztralian. That's a good thing to read just now. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-10-01 14:57 |
| #6 So let's see if I have this right: 1) Crosses work against the ACLU 2) Garlic works against the MSM 3) Soap and shampoo work against lefty protesters |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-10-01 11:26 |
| #5 Amen to that Oz, baby!! |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-10-01 11:22 |
| #4 Nicely done, Oz! Thanks! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-10-01 09:56 |
| #3 Your true friends and allies know the cost which the Americans have paid and continue to pay, and they/we appreciate it. Text on a computer screen may never bring much comfort, but know that each and every fallen soldier & each and every member still out there in the field is in our thoughts and in our prayers. Their courage & honour and sacrafice can never be taken away, not even by the hatred that spills from the mouth of the enemy. |
| Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World 2005-10-01 08:49 |
| #2 The NYT (and Mike Al-moore and Mother Cindy...) have never seen... ... a living ... a dead ... a dead ... a living |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-10-01 03:32 |
| #1 Liberals love dead Americans. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-10-01 00:49 |