Charlie Anderson @ Congressional Forum on Iraq

[Lugachugger33]

I was with second tank battalion and deployed durning the same time as this scum bag remembered, that the sappy plates for body armor was even intergrated into dod policy. Nor the uparmor for humvee and soft skin videos. We all had a chance to state claims for mental health wheather you took them or not is on you. Being a medic I am pretty sure you would have a base to start from for help. And as a doc you don't really fire your weapon.

[iraqvet4peace]

1. Sapi plates were DOD policy, but not in ready supply. (This issue has been addressed in many other sources.)

2. Likewise, the ammo shortage at that time was reported in a variety of places. Pistol bearers only carry 30 rounds. ANY contact could deplete this supply. In active combat nearly anyone would fire.

3. As late as 2005 there were examples of units welding steel onto their vehicles because up armor kits were not in ready supply. In 2003, no one had ever heard of an up armor kit.

[iraqvet4peace]

4. What bases? OIF I was a constant advance for 2nd Tanks. The only bases we saw were captured Iraqi bases that we stayed at for a short time.

5. Problems in the military and VA mental health departments have been widely documented. I never said I didn't seek care. I was explaining that the system is broken and the government is falling short on its contract with us.

6. You are entitled to your own opinion. But not your own facts.

[navydad31]

Completely "UNTRAINED"????? This guy was an FMF Corpsman? Give me a damn break! Stop your whining, you joined for all the wrong reason's. Glad this guy was not in my boy's platoon in Ramadi.

[skamstr81]

I am appalled by his statements. EVERYONE gets weapons training before deployment, if he didn't it would be by his own fault. Sounds like this guy is what we call a "shitbird".

[iraqvet4peace]

Training defficancies have been noted many other places. Pistol bearers were never considered a priority for training.

FYI I was always rated highly on my evaluations and was was my battalion's sailor of the quarter for 3rd qtr 2002.

[sucrameldo]

Your a coward

[leondias481]

Charlie, Why did you ban me from your chat line? Not up for a debate? Apparently my assumptions about you were correct. That's alright I'm finished wasting my words with you. You give United States Veterans a bad name, and I'm ashamed to call you my brother. HM2 (FMF) Boyle, AKA Leondias480 "We make war that we may live in peace."

(Aristotle)

[iraqvet4peace]

Boyle: I don't know what you are talking about. I have not banned you from anything. I welcome debate with anyone about anything.

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism- Thomas Jefferson.

[iraqvet4peace]

I have to admit that is a very original dodge to avoid debate. I have not resorting to weak tactics like name calling but have used facts to discuss my position. If you don't want to debate the issue, fine. But don't accuse me of avoiding you when clearly it is you who would rather throw insults thatn have reasoned debate.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Anderson

HM2(FMF/SW) Ret.

[leondias480]

This is land of the free and home of the brave maybe you should move to France, or Canada. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." (Martin Luther King JR)

[iraqvet4peace]

If you truely believe that then why did we not invade Pakistan, China or Darfur? Did you forget that Canada has taken over for us in Afghanistan when we diverted to Iraq? King would be appalled to know that his words were being misused to justify slaughter.

[leondias480]

Mr. Anderson, Did you forget that Saddam gassed 180,000 Kurds and obviously had WMD but we gave him a year to more them. General Sada one of Saddam's generals admitted that the WMD were moved. Saddam also killed many innocent people and approximately 2 million people went missing during his administration. There's sufficient justification for the mission!

[iraqvet4peace]

Mr. Boyle, did you forget that after he did that we lessened the restriction on duel use chemicals? After five years of exhaustive search, the inspection teams have found nothing. The treat this country faces from terrorism has increased as a result of our actions in Iraq. 3,000 + of our brothers and sisters are dead with no end in sight. You can bomb the worlld to pieces but not to peace.

[iraqvet4peace]

"A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.

Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak.

Martain Luther King 1968

[corpsman89]

the military uses something called ORM, operational risk management, which means, is the mission worth the risk? thats really all i have to say to prove my point

[Euromerican]

Stop calling veterans cowards,pussies,etc .Its overly-macho bullshit. Theres nothing wrong with questioning political decisions. He obeyed his C.O.'s and did what he had to do. He does however have a problem with the politicians. You cant blame the military for political decisions. Its how our government works. Look at the chain of command.

[eldor07]

i don't think that he's been to Iraq... or maybe he suffers from amnesia (like millions of Americans).

[leondias480]

God bless all of you Veterans from every war who have fought, and who are fighting. We don't need to pull out we need to stay the course. "With great victory comes great sacrifice." (Teddy Roosevelt) Visit my website tobeonyourguardcom if you want to learn about our hero vets, and their sacrifices not biased opinions of cowards, like Anderson, and John Kerry.

HM2 (FMF) Boyle 1995-2004

[leondias480]

Anderson doesn't speak for all Veterans. I am also a Hospital Corpsmen, and will always be a Hospital Corpsmen, who served in Iraq 2003-2004. My platoon, Shock Trauma Platoon Five treated over 1,000 casualties over a 1 year period. We constructed a Hospital in southern Anasariyah Province. This hospital made it possible to preserve many American and Iraqi lives that would have been terminated otherwise.

HM2 (FMF) Boyle

[iraqvet4peace]

Those lives would not have been terminated if we were not in Iraq. As I said above, just because people like us do our best, and arguably perform very well, under extreme circumstances cannot justify a bad mission. I'm glad you made it home safe.

[iraqvet4peace]

So you don't agree that we should have adequate training, all the required equipment and have care once we return? I like how you can call me names without once adressing the content of my testimony.

HM2(FMF/SW) Anderson

[MilitantDanny]

I was with 2nd Tanks, Scout Platoon during the invasion. My Corpsman was Doc Blake. Of the units that saw combat in the battalion, Scouts, TOWS, Alpha and Charlie Company saw the heaviest combat. This man was with the following columns. He was not in heavy combat, and therefor does not understand the lengths we had to take to stay alive. He saw the after affects. Typical "I joined for college money" attitude.

[iraqvet4peace]

Nothing I said in my testimony contradicts this statement. However, I do understand why you did the things you had to do. I have never said otherwise. However, just because we did the best we could under bad circumstances does not justify the mission. There was no reason why we should have been sent there period.

[thecitizine]

military presence should not reach beyond our borders.  Charlie took an oath to uphold The Constitution. The Constitution is your C.O.

[iraqvet4peace]

Okay, what's your point?

[cheriberry60]

What a scum bag. I spent 15 years as a HMCS(SW). Was medically discharged from Desert Storm. Ist FSSG.