Time: Letter from Fort Stewart

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101040524/wbase.html

Letter from Fort Stewart

Confronting a Scandal's Debris

By MIKE BILLIPS

Posted Sunday, May 16, 2004

There are three things you don't talk about at Gilly's, a soldiers' bar near Fort Stewart Army base in Hinesville, Ga. "Politics, religion and work," says the bartender, a military wife. But when the subject of the Iraq prison scandal is broached, the patrons at Gilly's are quick to break the house rules. "For 23 years I wore that uniform, and this was the first time I was ashamed of it," says Will Blackman, a leather-skinned veteran who retired as a staff sergeant in 2002 after serving in Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. Fort Stewart is home to the Army's 15,000-member 3rd Infantry Division. The 3rd ID is called the Rock of the Marne for its heroism in World War I—a legacy that makes its troops all the more indignant about the outrages at Abu Ghraib. Says Blackman: "This is a canker sore."

The soldiers of Fort Stewart are feeling a mix of anger, betrayal and fear as they face an increasingly uncertain future in Iraq. At Gilly's the active soldiers sitting near Blackman jump in, clearly eager for a chance to vent. Some express disgust. But wherever they cast the blame, they all agree on one thing: though a handful of U.S. troops may be responsible for Abu Ghraib, it is the thousands of servicemen and -women who are in Iraq and who, like the troops from the Rock of the Marne, may be going back there soon who have to face the rage the prison abuse has stoked.

Fears are spreading that the scandal will make their job in Iraq more difficult. Private First Class Travis Goss, 22, of the 3rd ID's 396th Transportation Company, says even "little things gradually build up to make us lose the Iraqis' support." Goss, who just returned from Iraq in January, tries not to think about Abu Ghraib. He and his wife and two young children share a neat ranch house decorated with patriotic slogans and flags, including a homemade Old Glory made from the kids' hand- and footprints. Abu Ghraib, he suggests, is no little thing. Says his wife Lindsay, 22, a member of Fort Stewart's Family Readiness Group: "It makes all the soldiers look bad."

For many, it's hard to know where to place the blame. Some accuse the press of overblowing the abuses, obscuring the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. But plenty of soldiers are beginning to question the mission there. At Baldino's, a submarine-sandwich shop near the base, a young specialist gripes that Iraq is hurting Army morale. His embarrassed sergeant steps in and urges a TIME reporter not to get his trooper in trouble.

-snip-

he knows the trooper would get in troble for speaking out and
questioning the mission, against the UCMJ

That said, folks this is what I have been seeing for over a year

Troops started to question this before Abu Ghraib

I ask all to still suport the troops, as most are fine people who
are trapped in a situation that they cannot control

Those in the political leadership and very high among the brass
are the guilty ones... in all respects

of the little americans at their bar

blame on their commander-in-chief because the buck stops at his desk. he was a coward during vietnam he is a coward now. remember they are -our army- they represent the people of the united states...

man or lady your army sickens me as well as your country does.

--shit your army represents nothing.

our guys DO represent us, in some places the military may be the only American they ever see.

for good or for bad, the guys/gals of the armed forces are the US representatives

--if your army represents you there is huge problem. And this is it.




People do not want to see american!!!! Get it?

I get it, but it doesn't change the facts

Are you not an American? Is that what you are saying?

man or lady your army sickens me as well as your country does.

--shit your army represents nothing.

--so what is your point of this question?