Snipers

[bossi]

Hang in there Master Corporal
 
Lewis MacKenzie  
National Post
Friday, August 02, 2002
 
I'm sure there are days -- many of them -- when Canadian soldiers wish we could go back to a time when the media and public paid no attention whatsoever to things military. Minor problems within the military stayed minor and problems were resolved away from the eyes of a public that expressed little if any desire to understand the military culture. Not so today. On a number of occasions that I personally can recall, the media outnumbered the soldiers accompanying me on a particular task.

Master Corporal Arron Perry probably feels more than a little betrayed by his profession these days. Master Corporal Perry, you will recall, is a member of the sniper section of 3PPCLI that is currently returning from a six-month tour of operational duty in Afghanistan. Corporal Perry and his fellow Canadian snipers were able to kill the enemy at ranges and under conditions that so impressed their U.S. commanders that a number of the Patricias, including Perry, were recommended for the U.S. Bronze Star -- a highly respected decoration for heroic and/or meritorious service. Unfortunately for Master Corporal Perry, a rude comment in the general direction of the unit's padre and a photo of a dead terrorist with a sign on his chest saying, "F--- Terrorism" resulted in charges being laid along with the prerequisite investigation.

While the charge involving the padre has been dropped, the "trophy photo" continues to be investigated and Perry remains suspended from duty and will not be eligible to participate in his unit's homecoming celebrations next week. Too bad, really, because he earned the right to be there by doing exactly what the Government of Canada ordered and paid him to do -- kill the enemy. Master Corporal Perry didn't decide to go to Afghanistan on his own in order to practise his marksmanship skills on other human beings. He was ordered to do so by the people of Canada through their elected representatives.

Regarding the sign on the dead terrorist -- it was wrong but explainable. While Perry has denied placing the sign on the body, he has admitted supporting what it said, which seems reasonable considering we are at war with terrorism and F--- is a universal noun, verb, adverb, etc. as you get closer to the front line.

The point is, and Master Corporal Perry should take some consolation from this fact, the military had no choice but to lay the charge in today's politically correct fish bowl. As little as a decade ago, as Perry's commanding officer, I could/would have torn a strip off him wide enough to get his attention for the rest of his career and then within the next five minutes called him in and congratulated him on his superb skills and for bringing credit to our unit and our nation on the battlefield. Regrettably, if anyone tried that today, the brown envelopes would be in the hands of the media by tomorrow's 6 p.m. news and the commanding officer would be hung out to dry.

If we are to fulfill our obligations on the world's stage and not rely on others to provide our security, we had better get used to the more unsavoury side of conflict. Soldiers shouldn't have to consider how their actions will play out in the media back home as they are trying to kill the other guy before he or she kills him. As long as they follow the rules of war that have been developed over centuries that should be good enough. To add in a sub-set of Canadian political correctness guidelines merely complicates our soldiers' lives at the precise moment when they need the maximum flexibility to do their job in order to save their own life and those around them.

If you have stayed with this column to this point, thanks for your interest; however, I wrote it in order to speak to Master Corporal Perry who is considering leaving the military as a result of his treatment during the past few months.

Master Corporal Perry, hang in there. We don't have enough soldiers, let alone enough good ones. There are times in all military careers when each of us get frustrated and decides to leave. In my case, when I was 29, I was told I wouldn't be eligible for promotion to major until two years after I was otherwise qualified. I decided that was it, the system stunk and I was leaving. Fortunately, a friend convinced me that it would work out in the end and I stayed. Every time I came up for promotion I got a sympathy vote because I had been screwed around during my promotion to major. I've got a feeling that you are probably going to get more than a few of those sympathy votes over the coming years. Don't be too hard on the system. It has its problems, but the work you and your fellow soldiers do makes the public uncomfortable and the military leadership has a terribly delicate job balancing the demands of the two solitudes. I continue to believe that it will all work out in the end.

 

[Art Johnson]

Ridiculous
By PETER WORTHINGTON -- Toronto Sun
If the National Post story is correct, that Princess Pats sniper Master Cpl. Arron Perry may not be awarded a Bronze Star by the Americans but instead be punished for misconduct, it indicates, once again, how hopelessly out of touch our defence department is.

It seems that Perry was cleared of misconduct for allegedly swearing at a chaplain in Kandahar, and given the benefit of the doubt when he explained that his naughty language was directed at other soldiers who envied the celebrity status of snipers who worked with the U.S. 101st Airborne and zapped al-Qaida fighters at a distance of a couple of kilometres with their specially adapted .50-calibre weapons.

What got Perry in limbo at the moment, and in danger of forfeiting the medal the Americans want to give him and fellow snipers, is a so-called "trophy photo" of a dead al-Qaida fighter with a cigarette in his mouth and a sign saying "F--- terrorism."

To which most of us would say "so what."

Perry will say only that he agrees with the sentiment on the sign, but isn‘t commenting on how it got there.

He‘s been suspended from duty while an investigation takes place, which I‘d argue is a huge bit of irrelevant nonsense.

The defence department seems to equate photographing an enemy corpse with photographing the Somali prisoner who was beaten to death in 1993.

There is no parallel, but super-sensitive souls in the defence department public affairs (and higher) who‘ve never been exposed to a combat situation are taking no chances.

In fact, taking a photo could easily be a cathartic outlet for the soldier.

The last thing we want is soldiers grieving over enemy who are killed.

Soldiers develop a callous shell, often to cover normal sensitivities.

WARTIME MEMENTO

The corpse wasn‘t desecrated, just treated casually.

In World War II, a marine on Guadacanal sent his fiancee in America the polished skull of a dead Japanese soldier that was displayed in her home as a wartime memento.

Photos of Americans in Vietnam holding up the severed heads of Vietcong was bad taste, but perhaps understandable, and certainly not a criminal offence.

I remember being in Dutch New Guinea when Indonesia invaded in 1962, and local tribesmen brought in severed ears of Indonesian soldiers, expecting a bounty, as the Australians offered in World War II for Japanese ears.

War is not a nicely-nicely environment.

If the Americans want to honour our guys with a medal, for heaven‘s sake don‘t invent nonsense to demean them.

Let them have the medal, and realize that our allies thought they did an excellent job, bringing credit to their training, their regiment, their country.

Perry seems like a pretty tough guy and a good, if irreverent, combat soldier. I don‘t know if he is, but that‘s what he seems.

Indisputably, Perry is a superb shot. Regardless of the optics on a gun sight, the feat of hitting a man-size target two kilometres away verges on the unbelievable. But our guys did it.

One Capt. Holly Apostoliuk told the Post that taking the photo of the dead al-Qaida fighter wearing a sign is "what we in the forces consider a very serious charge."

Baloney. It‘s not serious at all. It‘s silly.

For goodness sakes, forget the whole thing, absolve Perry, let him rejoin his unit for celebrations Friday, and congratulate him for efforts that the Americans want to decorate him and other snipers for.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[portcullisguy]

I haven‘t even done basic yet, and already I hate the management!

 

[SNoseworthy]

Gunner, your ezboard link is broken, apparently the part where it was compressed when posted was deleted.

I would post the proper link, but I‘m not familiar with the ezboard you‘re referring too (thus I don‘t have the board ID).

 

[Gunner]

Try

http://pub72.ezboard.com/fcanadiangunnutzfrm7.showMessage?topicID=16.topic

Hey, I went to your site. I‘ve never heard of it and it seems to be very active. I look forward to the opportunity to look through it.

Cheers

 

[SNoseworthy]

I created my discussion board for the CF back in June 2001. It‘s listed on cdnarmy.ca‘s links page somewhere. Look forward to seeing you there

 

[bossi]

Don‘t let PC crowd ruin soldier‘s accomplishment


Global Television

Tuesday, August 06, 2002
ADVERTISEMENT


Master Corporal Aaron Perry of the Princess Patricia‘s Canadian Light Infantry is a genuine Canadian hero, except in the eyes of the politically correct crowd at National Defence Headquarters.

Perry is one of five Canadian snipers who saved a couple of dozen American lives in a big battle in Afghanistan last spring.

The US Army wants to honour these five Canadian heroes with medals.

None of those medals has been awarded yet because someone in Ottawa can‘t seem to get the protocol straight.

But Master Corporal Perry isn‘t simply waiting for a US medal, he‘s under investigation for misconduct committed in Afghanistan, after the battle.

His sin? He had himself photographed with a terrorist corpse, cigarette in its mouth, and a sign that said "F.... Terrorism hanging" on it.

War is killing.

It is the most brutal kind of organized human activity there is.

And the reality is that soldiers have been taking trophies as long as there have been wars.

Master Corporal Perry‘s trophy isn‘t nice, but it can‘t be allowed to detract from his heroism or hurt his future career.

Political correctness has no place in war and the dainty folks at National Defence headquarters have no business allowing PC to besmirch Perry‘s record or detract from his heroism.

I‘m David Bercuson, and that‘s The Last Word.

 

[Linc]

I don‘t know, I think a Canadian soldier in uniform on a highly publicised mission abroad should know a lot better than to be posing with corpes. I know soldiers in combat need to blow off steam or whatever, but let‘s do it in a more low-key way. I think it goes beyond acceptable conduct.

Furthermore, we as Canadians have to accept the fact that our military is constantly fighting a public opinion war with a large and highly vocal anti-military lobby. Stories like this one, where a soldier is posing with dead corpses only helps the anti-militarists protray us as a bunch of subhuman baby-killers and goons who love to kill other human beings.

In other words, this sniper and his infamous photo have the potential of doing some measure of harm towards a military which is already unable to bolster much public support for increased funding.

 

[portcullisguy]

... I dunno what to say, since I‘m in that strange limbo of being a sworn member, but not having done any training at all, and having next to no experience in the CF.

I can only say that posing with a dead body, a "trophy shot" if you will, is the least of the worries for the Canadian Forces, and I am quite sure it is a regular occurrence in every army around the world, although I cannot prove my last assertion.

More than anything, I think people may relate it too much to the whole Somalia photo scandal, which is an entirely different context.

The job of our snipers in Afghanistan was to kill rebels. The snipers did that quite well. The fact that they took pictures is irrelevant.

 

[Linc]

Sorry, but its unprofessional, and it shows a lack of discipline. It‘s bad PR and the last thing the Forces need is more bad PR.

Canada has a reputation as being one of the most professional and diciplinned forces in the world, and posing with dead corpses undermines that reputation. Perhaps denying the sniper a medal is too harsh, but some form of punnishment needs to haded out to send a clear message that these types of things won‘t be tolerated.

 

[JRMACDONALD]

Linc- you are an IDIOT! 1. but let‘s do it in a more low-key way. (sugesstions!!?) 2.Stories like this one, where a soldier is posing with dead corpses only helps the anti-militarists protray us as a bunch of subhuman baby-killers and goons who love to kill other human beings. (ever seen pictures from Normandy 44)( you know , the GOOD GUYS hitting the beach!!)
Potrcullisguy--I think people may relate it too much to the whole Somalia photo scandal, which is an entirely different context.( YEAH You are right, it WAS a PHOTO scandal) ( they just beat the kid to death)
hey boys ! wake up , the job of the infantry is NOT to hand out ICED CAPPUCHINOs to the people they are fighting.
LINC - How do you know the sniper shot the guy? ( got better connections than the rest of us????) :dontpanic:

 

[Linc]

First of all, pal you are the idiot if you think combat camera photos of troops in action is the same as trophy photos of troops posing with dead corpses. What if the photo was of Canadian troops playing soccer with a severed Taliban head, is that ok too?

Heck, I encourage combat camera photos in order counter the Liberal gov‘ts PR campaign to show the military as a bunch of chicks peacekeeping with binoculars, but there is aboviously a clear difference here.

Second of all, I never said that THAT particular sniper actually shot the guy he posed with, and frankly, its completely irrelevant.

 

[Harry]

And the beat goes on.

Folks, there are many angles to this story. Regardless of the sensitivity etc of the picture, lets be realistic.

If there had never been a picture, nothing would have happened.

Now for something completely different. I had a brief tete de tete with Rob Krott of Soldier of Fortune. he just had a story published on this matter.

Needless to say the summation goes like this. I am VERY familiar with the individual who was sent home. I have seen him at his best, NOT. If you want more, maybe walk in his shoes for a bit or befriend him and make your own opinion.

At the end of the day, he got what was due and will probably get off anyway.

 

[Gorgo]

Dear Harry,

I personally agree with you on the point you just made in your post. There ARE many viewpoints to any particular story. When things go wrong, THAT has to be remembered as much as possible. Sadly, however, that gets forgotten the instant some &(%^#$$&#*#$ in the media gets wind of incidents like this.

If you ask me, it‘s not fair to anyone, especially someone doing the task MCpl Perry does, to slam him with all sorts of charges and not fully try to understand what he himself went through while deployed with his unit.

Let‘s just hope, for MCpl Perry‘s sake most of all, the people reviewing his case remember THAT! It‘s things like THIS that end up badly hurting unit morale. And after what 3 PPCLI has done, what they‘ve been through, they do not deserve THAT!

Cheers,

Fred