Archive for August, 2014
Unlike much of America, I’ve stayed quiet about the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. As a cop, I know initial media reports about any incident are usually wrong. I also know that many media outlets and internet commentators deliberately twist facts to inflame emotion. They’ll throw out empty, meaningless phrases like “he […]
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Tags: ferguson missouri, michael brown, police shootings, veteran authors
Part VII: Eric Lauzier, continued Not long after they were pulled from the field and assigned to FOB Mahmudiyah, the chaplain invited first platoon to gather at his tent. The chaplain tried to give the men some encouragement, to help them deal with everything they had been through. Then Colonel Kunk and the operations sergeant […]
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Tags: eric lauzier, iraq war, veteran writers, war crime, yusufiyah murders
Staff Sergeant Eric Lauzier heard the gunfire at the Alamo. Sudden and heavy, multiple weapons opening up on full auto at once. And Private First Class Tucker screaming on the radio that they were being overrun. Lauzier was at a patrol base maybe 1300 meters away when it happened. He and several other soldiers scrambled […]
Filed under: Iraq | 1 Comment
Tags: eric lauzier, iraq war, veteran writers, war crimes, yusufiyah murders
Sergeant John Diem: “We can only do our best to deserve the public’s trust.” Sergeant John Diem had four hours to think about his decision. After Justin Watt told Diem about the war crime, Diem had guard duty. He had decided, within seconds of hearing Watt’s story, to report it. But then he sat in […]
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Tags: iraq war, john diem, veteran writers, war crimes, yusufiyah murders
In Part III, Justin Watt had just secretly reported his platoon mates for rape and murder, and desperately hoped he wouldn’t be found out. https://chrishernandezauthor.com/2014/08/06/war-crimes-hard-choices-and-harder-consequences-part-iii/ ——————— The day after John Diem’s report was forwarded to the company commander, the battalion commander and sergeant major went to the checkpoints where Cortez, Barker and Spielman were assigned. […]
Filed under: Iraq | 1 Comment
Tags: iraq war, justin watt, veteran authors, war crimes
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