RANGER AGAINST WAR: Theatre of the Absurd <

Friday, December 15, 2006

Theatre of the Absurd

(T)he people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.--Hermann Goering

I am concerned about the portrayal of the terrorist threat in television series today. Naturalistic theater, it ain't, though is has the veneer of such. Not that commercial t.v. could ever claim to be a bastion of verisimilitude for the lives it portrays; still for many, it is a stand-in. Not only is the threat posed by terrorism distorted, but the response to the threat is, too. In effect, a terrorist lurks behind every episodic bush (Bush?)


In addition to the unrealistic threat portrayal, the advisers of these series seem to have less knowledge about the military than either Bush, Cheney, or the new Sec Def Gates.


Specifically, I will comment on the series
The Unit (episode aired 12/12/06), which upset my military and fragile psychological equilibrium. This is a series about Delta Force of the Military Special Operations Forces. Each episode covers a day in the life of the supposed War on Terror.

In this episode, the black Sergeant Major's retired Army NCO grandfather receives a Silver Star, fifty years after his action occurred in Korea. The implication is that the grandfather didn't get a Silver Star in Korea because of Army racial prejudice. Some facts would be helpful here; some will be general in nature, some, more technical.

  • The first Army Medal of Honor in Korea went to a black infantry soldier. (On a personal note, my favorite ROTC instructor--MSG Wilbur C. Davis--had a Silver Star from Korea. I served with many other black soldiers with valor awards from Korea.)
  • The dates are incorrect. 2006-50=1956. In order to kill a tank as is alleged in the plotline, his grandfather would have had to serve in the 24th Infantry Regiment, which was actually fighting tanks in 1950. (The Chinese couldn't get tanks to the battle area after 1950.) In addition, the enemy (N. Korea) did not employ tanks singly; they were used in formations.
  • If the hero of the series, the Sergeant Major, was four or five years old after this action, then he would be well over 50 years old--closer to 60-- today. Either figure is too old for a Special Operations Forces detachment leader, as he is supposed to portray. This is assuming that they are, in fact, led by Sgt. Majors.
  • The old soldier also supposedly killed two racists in Mississippi after an incident in a bus station. When was the last time an Army Master Sergeant of any race rode in a bus, let alone, the back of a bus?
  • A sub-plot involved a nephew 1st Lieutenant Armor just returned from Iraq. He was wearing a Combat Infantry Badge and no personal awards for valor, service or achievement. Since when do armor types qualify for a CIB? CIB means Infantry, unless the 1 LT was assigned in an infantry slot, which is possible, but not probable. The 1st LT's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was treated as superficially as was the phoney race card.
  • Another sticking point (no pun intended) is the Commanding Officer, who is having an affair with the wife of one of the senior enlisted men. If a top secret operator can't figure this one out, he probably shouldn't be on the team. Also, so much for honor and dignity.
This is not my usual entry, but it seems illustrative of the fantasy mindset which pervades the representation of war in the media. If a technical adviser can't get these simple historical facts right, then how will there be any correct evaluation of the Iraq misadventure which we are stomping through? Of course, it is absurd of me to imagine that a television program might impart a more correct perspective to the adventure than that offered by many of the supposed news shows.

The public should realize that shows like The Unit are pure theater, in the same sense that the Bush Iraqi invasion was. The only difference is, good American military personnel are dying in this theater.

7 Comments:

Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Lurch,

I seem to remember that AR72-5-1, Par. 96 addressed the award of the CIB. Rangers and Special forces had special paragraphs within that reg. (I don't go to gov't sites bec. of the negativity, but thanks for the ref. anyway.)

The technical adviser is the guy that wrote "Inside Delta Force". I believe a MAJ from the MSC would probably do a better job.

I never saw "Over There," so I can't comment. Since you watched it, we'll award the star to your CIB (but that's assuming you wore a helmet when you did so.)

Saturday, December 16, 2006 at 3:17:00 PM EST  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

First of all, I made a mistake--it's AR 672-5-1.

What is so unusual about the color green in the Army? At least the damn thing wasn't pink.

He may not be covered with E. coli, but I'll bet the dollars are falling off of his shoulders. So who gets the last laugh? In today's world, dollars trump valor awards.

Sunday, December 17, 2006 at 2:35:00 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was in Armor in Vietnam. E Troop, 1st Cav. and 11th Armored Cav. I and many of us were awarded CIB's. Those that think it should be only for infantry should have seen the bullets going over my head as the infantry hid behind my track. We had gone into the jungle where they were pinned down by dug-in VC. Bullets whizzed around my head as we backed up with them safely behind us. D.

Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 2:09:00 PM EST  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

anon,

Thank you for your service in Vietnam. I am sure Jim will want to comment to your post, but he is out of town over the holiday.

Please look for his input early next week,

Lisa

Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 2:46:00 PM EST  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

anon,

Jim just sent this back via email. He's not the best typist, so I'm not going to translate the acronyms--I'll just put it on for you as I got it:

"Only Infantry are eligible for CIB's, but that doesn't lessen his bravery and exposure to enemy fire.

The 11 acr had classic Infantry slots since they are a combined arms team. Therefore, they got CIB's. I operated west of the Rang Rang road, north of Song Be river near fbs mace, pace and nancy. He and I may have crossed trails."

Please feel free to comment further. Your input is welcome,

Lisa

Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 3:54:00 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for responding so quickly. Thanks for the thanks and thank you also. I had a Bravo MOS only during Basic Training, after which I went to Hawaii and trained with the E Troop, 1st Cav. attached to the 11th Light Infantry Brigade. From then on my MOS was 11Delta, which is Armored Intelligence Specialist - fancy name for Scout. We ended up having the 113's that were formerly APC's (Armored Personel Carrier)turned into ACAV's - Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicles. We went from scouting to Search and Destroy. After a couple months, since we came over as a whole unit by ship, some of us got "infused" to other units so the whole unit wouldn't go home at once. I got sent to the 11th Cav. at that time. I'm in touch with some my old E Troop friends and they also got CIB's. I read somewhere why we got them, but I can't remember. All I know is I'm very proud of it, as I'm sure all who have it are. I guess now they have the new CABs Combat Action Badges. Dennis

Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 5:40:00 PM EST  
Blogger USMAN said...

I had a Bravo MOS only during Basic Training, after which I went to Hawaii and trained with the E Troop, 1st Cav. attached to the 11th Light Infantry Brigade.


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