Coleslaw Miller versus Lynndie England

[jmowreader]

A few years ago I met this retired sergeant major. He didn't look all that spectacular; just this tall, skinny guy with the look of someone who's been there and done that. You knew he had some serious war stories in him, if you could ever get them out.

I asked one of his buddies who he was. "Oh, that's Doug Miller. We called him Coleslaw because he ate coleslaw every day if we had it, and we have to bring coleslaw to the meetings just for him. He works out at the VA Hospital, and he won the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. Good guy." Like winning the Medal of Honor--something only 242 of the over two million Vietnam veterans earned--is just a routine thing.

This is his Medal of Honor citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Miller, 5th Special Forces Group, distinguished himself while serving as team leader of an American-Vietnamese long-range reconnaissance patrol operating deep within enemy controlled territory. Leaving the helicopter insertion point, the patrol moved forward on its mission. Suddenly, 1 of the team members tripped a hostile boobytrap which wounded 4 soldiers. S/Sgt. Miller, knowing that the explosion would alert the enemy, quickly administered first aid to the wounded and directed the team into positions across a small stream bed at the base of a steep hill. Within a few minutes, S/Sgt. Miller saw the lead element of what he estimated to be a platoon-size enemy force moving toward his location. Concerned for the safety of his men, he directed the small team to move up the hill to a more secure position. He remained alone, separated from the patrol, to meet the attack. S/Sgt. Miller singlehandedly repulsed 2 determined attacks by the numerically superior enemy force and caused them to withdraw in disorder. He rejoined his team, established contact with a forward air controller and arranged the evacuation of his patrol. However, the only suitable extraction location in the heavy jungle was a bomb crater some 150 meters from the team location. S/Sgt. Miller reconnoitered the route to the crater and led his men through the enemy controlled jungle to the extraction site. As the evacuation helicopter hovered over the crater to pick up the patrol, the enemy launched a savage automatic weapon and rocket-propelled grenade attack against the beleaguered team, driving off the rescue helicopter. S/Sgt. Miller led the team in a valiant defense which drove back the enemy in its attempt to overrun the small patrol. Although seriously wounded and with every man in his patrol a casualty, S/Sgt. Miller moved forward to again singlehandedly meet the hostile attackers. From his forward exposed position, S/Sgt. Miller gallantly repelled 2 attacks by the enemy before a friendly relief force reached the patrol location. S/Sgt. Miller's gallantry, intrepidity in action, and selfless devotion to the welfare of his comrades are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

(Intrepidity must be a word. It's in every Medal of Honor citation.)

Coleslaw Miller told me something. "When you're faced with a situation, a voice inside of you will say stop. Listen to it. Listen to what it says. It will know the right thing to do."

When Lynndie England's voice said stop, she didn't listen to it. Coleslaw Miller must be spinning in his grave right about now.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1. But did her voice actually say stop?

When you hear the "back home" interviews with her friends and family they're saying things like "we hunt whatever animal is in season"...not a direct quote, but the gist of things.

Is it really a case of this woman turning a deaf ear to her conscience, or is it the "just following orders" scenario?

I'm getting the impression that she probably regrets getting caught, but that's where the regrets end.

[leftofthedial]

2. I think she is an all too typical product of neocon America

The neocon movement have influenced the attitudes of Murkans since Reagan turned the full force of the CIA disinformation machine loose domestically in the early 80's.

She did what she was bred and raised to do. Be a part of a fascist army of occupation.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. "She did what she was bred and raised to do"...

...you said it all, in 25 words or less.

For me it's the beginning, middle, and end of this story.

And she'd keep on doing it indefinitely if she hadn't been caught.

[jmowreader]

4. Lynndie's real problem...

The voice only says stop if you have one.

Another term for this voice is "moral compass." You can call it Christianity or whatever, but it's just the ability to tell right from wrong. The Americans in those pictures don't have that ability.