Taking Issue with Private Scott Beauchamp

Baghdad - Both sides of the ideological split have drawn a line in the sand over what a soldier's story really means - that is if the tails of Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp are just a story or a state of mind.

On the left, the dramatic details Beauchamp described were a confirmation of the argument that an unjust war will numb a man into a callous monster.

On the other side, critics accuse Private Beauchamp of disparaging his fellow soldiers and distorting reality. 

One side stands opposed to the other and like watching a dog chase its tail, everyone will spin in circles convinced one good bite will eventually be worth all the fuss.

Private Beauchamp said he wanted Americans to, "have one soldier's view of the war in Iraq." Unfortunately, the Private didn't limit his views to himself, but did limit accusations of potential misconduct to the men serving with him. Although he insisted he wanted to be "discreet," publishing his work in a national magazine meant, on some level, he hoped his experiences would inform and convince the readership. Private Beauchamp had a cause and that's something to be respected.

When I embedded with the military in both Iraq and Afghanistan, I had a cause to. It seemed that whenever the media spoke about what was going on in Iraq, they always let some talking head in a suit behind a desk do all the commenting. My cause was to go to directly to the source, the troops on the ground themselves.
I don't know anyone who used heavily up-armored vehicles to purposely run over dogs in Iraq, but there is Marine Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman who bent all the rules and created a few new ones to get a stray dog, Lava, out of the Anbar province and back home with him to Santa Monica. In a country where dogs are considered expendable, Colonel Kopelman wrote From Baghdad with Love to explain the illogic of his attachment to an animal he had pledged to save. In Afghanistan, I met a major who had just sent a battered and abused puppy back home to Long Island, because he was inspired by Kopelman's book.

Photo: Contrary to popular belief, blogging is not illegal or frowned upon. There are many milbloggers who send real life reports to both major media outlets and their own circle of friends.

I met and interviewed and spoken to 100's of servicemen and women from different states, cultures and even in different languages. Despite the broad swath of personalities I've met, I seem to be in a different universe than Beauchamp, even though I spent some time at FOB Falcon, where he is stationed. I had never seen a soldier humiliate a disfigured woman, much less a soldier who couldn't distinguish between an officer and a civilian, but I do know my buddy Sgt. Garth Stewart (Army) who stepped on a mine during the initial push into Iraq. Garth is currently attending Columbia University, has enormous passion for life and is one of the first recipients of a high-tech robotic ankle. Despite his injuries, Garth wanted to come with me back to Iraq. Meditative and focused, it's obvious that Garth's experiences here, in the "sandbox" have changed him in ways that are far more complex than his wounds.

Photo: Driver Ferguson and driver Meier are the real troops of Baghdad. They run long patrols and probably know the streets of Dora better than FOB Falcon.

Private Beauchamp questioned the criticism of those who had never fought in Iraq, but Nate Fick fought both in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, Fick asked just as many question as Beauchamp and humbly left plenty of the big questions unsolved. Fick risked his life and that of his reconnaissance unit to provide medical attention to a young Iraqi girl because he knew his humanity was in the balance, and not just the life of a stranger. Nate Fick not only wrote about his experiences, in the best selling book One Bullet Away , but his story will endure as required reading for any young man aspiring to become a Marine. Fick may not have set out to write an iconic work of the complexity of the warrior, but sometimes the written word can have unintended consequences--Private Beauchamp can attest to that.

Photo: This former Iraqi colonel has two stores and wants to open up a third. He sympathized with Lieutenant Colonel Crider because he knew that soldiers are away from their families.

I've met plenty of troops who question the reason, logic and futility of being in Iraq, but I met no one who said the experience has left them less of a human being. Those who read the misadventures of Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp and shook their heads in pity felt a false kinship with a caricature that devolved. The reality is quicksilver complex, where hardship and discouragement meet duty and resolve. Despite the heat, horrors and hardship of Iraq, the honest lesson is not that war turns men into monsters, but that men go off to war and often come back even better men.

Photo:  It's a hot day, but the softball matches are popular here on FOB Falcon.

Comments

[Dusty]

Great post, Matt. Thanks.

[Dean]

Interesting that you've changed your tune. At first, you thought the whole thing was a farce. Did you by any chance apologize to Beauchamp for originally denying his existance?

[amusing]

All of a sudden you are enough of an expert that you can discredit this man's claims? You're ridiculous. The possibility of it happening are zero because not only do you not believe it, but you've been to the mess hall a few times. Come on.

Blogging is not illegal, "i know lots of milbloggers". That doesn't mean that military blogs aren't heavily screened and those that speak disparagingly against the military are forced to cease and desist.

Your entire article takes claims and knocks them down with straw men. Except the straw men don't even make sense because they are completely irrelevant to the topic. Your "journalism" is a complete joke, Sanchez.

Too bad your blog doesn't go past fluff pieces. Just because your blog only focuses on pro-military views doesn't mean that the opposite don't exist amongst active duty enlistees.

[Fielder]

"I've met plenty of troops who question the reason, logic and futility of being in Iraq, but I met no one who said the experience has left them less of a human being."
TELL IT ALL, MATT!

Yep, there really is validity to both sides on this one. Most of us who are honest tune out the idiot cheerleaders of this mess ...but we haven't succumb to hating the Iraqis either. We just don't want Bush leading us anymore.

[JP]

"On the left, the dramatic details Beauchamp described were a confirmation of the argument that an unjust war will numb a man into a callous monster."

Remember Virginia Tech? Normal daily life can turn any little thumb sucking puss into a callous monster. My guess is Scott was a loser long before he got to Iraq just like how "amusing" didn't need combat experience to become a loser.

[Thomas Carney]

JP: What kind of stuff are you smokin'?? Every Rastafarian wants to know.

The VT murders was done by a little prick who chose to be evil and no one in that danmed school had the balls to get rid of him out of political correctness.

This Private Beauchamp will be getting some serious blanket parties soon.....

If you don't know what a blanket party is, you might want to join up in the military.

[Fighton03]

"Despite the heat, horrors and hardship of Iraq, the honest lesson is not that war turns men into monsters, but that men go off to war and often come back even better men."

This is the most succinct expression of something I have felt for years. I know many combat vets. Most from Korea and Vietnam. None are monsters, none are "twisted", none are "morally bankrupt". Most are people I would trust not only with my life but the life of my son (a three tour Master Gunnery Sergeant is my son's Godfather).

[ElMondoHummus]

Wow, read those criticisms. Beauchamp really existed, so Sanchez should apologize. Let's ignore the fact that Sanchez is not single sourcing his own writing and instead relies on the testimony of many others around to paint a fuller picture than what you get from the misrepresentations of one man. But hey, it's something to harp on, right? Nevermind that it doesn't disprove or diminish any of the rest of his writings, and that this criticism dodges the entire point of the article, which is that the reality as reported by the rest of the troops there is at sharp odds with what Beauchamp wrote.

"Been to the mess hall a few times"... As if that's the only place Sanchez has traveled. And as if that's not closer to the scene of the stories Beauchamp peddled and also a place to find those who would've been involved in those supposed activities.

"Blogging is not illegal, "i know lots of milbloggers". That doesn't mean that military blogs aren't heavily screened and those that speak disparagingly against the military are forced to cease and desist."

So, what, the testimony troops give to Sanchez are not relevant, but the unsupported stories of one who's been caught in open lies matter? Again, the thrust of the article is that the troops themselves report different conditions and acts than what Beauchamp alleges. What makes unsupported testimony from one who's exaggerated timelines or misrepresented actions more important than anyone else's? Beauchamp's stories aren't being challenged by Sanchez alone, they're being challenged by troops who are actually there, in the place Beauchamp alleges the stories occurred.

Strawman arguments do not a rebuttal make. Challenge the substance of the writings if you're going to challenge anything, but don't fool yourself into thinking that irrelevencies or harping on minituae disproves or diminishes anything Matt says here.

[Jed Marlin]

Here's a little poem for "Scoop" Bochamp
http://cruxy.com/info/10921