Here is a note from Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap. As
he says, he is a longtime friend -- I've known him since he was a pup. But,
expressing his personal views, he strongly disagrees with my comment yesterday
about a smackdown between a PoW and a JAG:
You know I am a huge
fan of yours, but I must say I'm saddened by your blog "Before
you shoot your mouth off." Allow me to share some personal views.
I am not defending
the former Army JAG (Mr. Kenniff), but it is a mistake to paint all JAGs as
"REMFs." The reason isn't hard to
discern: re-establishing the rule of law has taken center stage as a key
element of our counterinsurgency strategy, and that mission causes JAGs and
paralegals to frequently find themselves in extremely dangerous places.
Regardless, I don't
think anyone serving in harms' way in Iraq (or Afghanistan) should be mocked
based upon mistaken assumptions about their career field or the duties they
perform.
I have enormous
respect for Shoshana Johnson for her service, and especially for the courage
she showed as a POW. And I don't think
her career field should matter. She was
a food service specialist with a vehicle maintenance company. By the definition
your blog seems to use, does that make her a REMF?
Actually, I don't
believe that in today's wars there really are rear areas or, for that matter,
REMFs as that term was originally conceived.
I don't know Kenniff
but I do respect that he spent a year in Iraq (as I also respect the month or
so that Johnson spent there). I don't
know anything about Kenniff's service, but can you imagine anyone who spent a
year in Iraq who did not come under at least indirect fire on more than one
occasion? I can't.
More to the point: I
recently had the honor of awarding the Purple Heart to one of our young JAG
officers who had her knee blown apart by an IED in Iraq (another JAG was also
injured in the same attack, albeit less seriously). She also suffered a number of other
lacerations, including a serious cut on her face. (As an aside, her mother told
me she gave up pursuing a modeling career in New York to become lawyer).
She showed enormous
courage both at the time of the attack and subsequently. I was in the AOR that day, and spoke to her
shortly after she arrived at the evac hospital at Balad. Despite her injuries, all she wanted to do is
give me a MISREP (mission report), and tell me about the courage of others.
Her Veterans Day
message (published in an internal JAG Corps online service) is attached. An earlier news report is found here.
People may think she
is a REMF, but her particular duties required her to go outside the wire
frequently. (Moreover, as I say, she is
not the only JAG or paralegal wearing a Purple Heart.)
She has spent months
in rehabilitation, and has many more to go.
Surgeons saved her leg, and she is very determined to walk again. We are all praying for her.
Tom, she was doing
what her country asked her to do, and as a result she spent her 27th birthday
in a hospital bed at Brooks Army Medical Center. (Cruelly, while in surgery there for her
wounds, her money and her bank card were stolen from her hospital room.) And,
unlike Shoshana Johnson, she doesn't have a book deal or Larry King appearances
lined up.
She does, however,
have a wheelchair. She may be a
"REMF" to your readers, but she is a hero to me.
Your friend and fan,
Charlie Dunlap
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