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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul van Wijk who wrote (132388)	5/11/2004 2:13:04 PM
From: Sig	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi Paul: Yes, long time no speakum. I will say a few words about the Military- from the old days. Although I spent 46 weeks learning the B-29 gun systems, a soldier does what he is told and could be assigned to nearly any mission. Kitchen police: Preparing ,cooking and serving food,for hundreds- no training or experience needed. Nearly everyone below Sgt gets this duty. Training is a 5 minutes lecture at the mess hall, you do this, he does that. Period. Screw up and you get another 2 weeks of KP. Guard duty: I was twice assigned to do that. You are told to report to the stockade where German prisoners were held. Got a 10 minute lecture in guarding prisoners and how they will try to fool you and escape. Then I was given a rusty shotgun, some old shells, and three Germans who were assigned to the garbage patrol. Orders were to follow them around in their truck, since they knew the routine, and use the gun only if they tried to escape. So I followed them and while later burning the garbage they managed to set the dried grass afire in the field.Purposely. I cocked the gun and said loudly " Stomp it out" Which they did pronto- and suddenly they could understand some English words Or the 'click' of the gun. Who gets the blame if I had to shoot them? Guard duty # 2. My orders were to report to the Sgt of the Guard.( perhaps because of my previous one day experience) The Sgt has an assistant and jeep and its getting dark - he gives each of us a loaded carbine and told each to guard three highly modified B-25's aligned on the runway until relieved. The orders were stop anyone from approaching those airplanes if they did not show their ID card. And if they tried to talk their way out of it to arrest them. So I say " Anyone, even yourself ?" And he says "Yes-anyone". Around midnight the Jeep shows up again. Too dark to see anything but headlights.I hold up my hands and stop it, then ask for their ID cards. He says "I'm the Sgt of they guard, dont you recognize me- I dont have to show you my ID"' So I cocked the carbine and pointed it at him - and said again.. " Show me your ID card". Loud enough that he would hear me. So he gets out his ID and hands it to me, cursing like a maniac.(g) I did not know anything about the law, about the right way to guard a prisoner, about the Geneva Convention( didn't have one then). And nobody above my immediate boss would know what I was being told to do. Now if anything had turned out bad from these incidents, my excuse would be I was only following orders. And those who gave the orders were higher ranking people that are in a position to deny telling me to shoot people. In conclusion I say you cannot an untrained guard to 'loosen up' some prisoners and be creative about it without being specific. Sig