Blue on blue

The tragic phenomenon known in the American lexicon as "Fratricide" continues to rear it's head in the most publicized case of it in history. We all know what it is, and I'm not going to belabor this post by going over the gory details. What I am going to do is give you a breakdown of the history of fratricide, or "Blue-on-Blue" as the British call it, the military jargon of "Blue" being "friendly forces".

Dating back to the Civil War, there have been 38 notable or significant cases of fratricide in the world, not all of them involving the United States. Here are some of them:

May 10th, 1863. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was killed by a North Carolina regiment of the Confederate army at Chancellorsville, Va.

1914-1918. The French government conceded that they inadvertently killed as many as 75,000 of their own troops in the trench battles of WWI.

1940. The Nazi Luftwaffe sunk two of their own naval ships during a north Atlantic sea battle.

1943. Seconds after a German bombing raid on Allied troops in Sicily, an American-led bomber squadron flew over the exact same location as the German air forces did. Not knowing who was who 10,000 feet upward, Allied anti-aircraft gunners downed 37 U.S. bombers. It has been speculated that band leader Glenn Miller may have been in one of those aircraft.

Ok...the litany of incidents goes on and on. Official statistics dictate the following:

WWI 12% of all casualties were blue-on-blue.
WWII 16%
Vietnam 14%
Desert Storm 22%
Gulf War II, Iraq and Afghanistan 11%

My point is, it happens. It's commonly called the "fog of war". Things happen at a frightening speed, and emotions run high. The combination of speed, nerves, conditions, human frailty, and any number of other factors can lead to accidental fratricide.

The problem is, we now live in a shameless country where we have to find someone at fault for everything that goes wrong. It is IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, the bad luck, bad timing, or simply an incorrect guess by a commander or sergeant at the incorrect time.

No sir...not in this country...not in 2007. Someone must be blamed...someone must be held accountable, dammit!

Has anyone else besides me noticed that all the people demanding answers have never been in actual combat themselves? Those without a clue are trying to persecute, punish, and destroy the lives of people who were there...risking their lives for us. And yes, I said punish. I chose that word from a direct quote from Mary Tillman in front of Congress the other day:

"People above (meaning higher ranking officers and NCO's) should have been punished for my son's death". I didn't say it...she did.

Kevin Tillman said under oath, "The Army has used my brother's death for a recruiting poster."
Really? Hey boys and girls, as soon as you finish high school, come on down and join the Army! Hell, you might be one of the lucky ones to get your balls blown off and still live to tell about it!! Uuuuuum, no Kevin...the Army is not and has not used your brothers death as a recruitment tool. That's just stupid to even think that, let alone say it.

Kevin and Mary: "The Army attempted to cover up the true facts of Pat's death." That much is true...they didn't want to admit that one of their own - football hero or not - was killed by one of their own. Duuuuuh. Do you remember when you were involved in that fender-bender? You know, the one where you walked up to the investigating officer and said, "Officer...I cannot tell a lie. It was my fault." Remember that one? Ohhhhhh....you didn't admit fault? To this day, you still tell that stupid lie about how it was the "other" driver, even though you were charged and you know the real truth? And even knowing right now you still lie about your stupid accident, you are pressing that the U.S. Army is criminally negligent in obscuring the facts about a friendly fire incident where a young, brave man died?

Ok, lemme finish this up. 3,336 dead. Statistically speaking, that means approximately 367 were the result of accidental fratricide. One man's death...6 investigations...Congressional hearings...bullshit flying from both directions...yes both directions.

Meanwhile 366 other men and women died in a similar way, and their families mourn no less, cry no less, grieve no less, and miss them no less, but are getting a LOT less publicity and public adoration.

Hypocrisy, meet thine own...and their name be well known to all.