Marine Captain Secher's emails from Iraq

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Secher's 12-month Iraq tour officially began on his arrival in Kuwait on Jan. 24. On Feb. 18, he wrote to a good friend, Peter, in New York, from the Anbar province town of Hit, where his team was sharing a camp with some 500 Iraqi soldiers.

Peter,

I got your care package today and am humbled and extremely appreciative for it! Everything in there is exactly the type of stuff that is useful and needed! The integritas patches are awesome. I'm going to sew one on my Kevlar and one on my flak.

Our camp is about 1 km from the Euphrates, with palm groves to our east and the desert to our west. Hit is a lawless town with most of the fight in the north (the insurgents control/influence the southern part). [...] Camp Hit is a series of wooden huts surrounded by [earth-filled barricades] and a berm perimeter with triple strand concertina [wire]. [...]

My first impression of the Iraqis is that I really like them. They are warm and hospitable and the friendliest people I've met. I also feel very sorry for them. Their lives are out of their hands and they have known nothing but dictators (Saddam) and occupiers (us) for years. As we convoyed at high speeds thru the town (speed is the best defense against IEDs) you could clearly see the look on the eyes of the people: sick and tired. First a generation of Saddam, now insurgents and occupiers. Everyone makes promises and no one keeps them. [...]

I hope all is well. It is cold over here. It must be freezing in New York. Take care and I'll talk to you soon.

Your friend, Robert

__________

On the morning of March 3, Secher and his men were driving into town when they spotted an improvised explosive device disguised as roadside litter. They blocked off the area and called in an explosives team. In an e-mail to his family, he told what happened next:

With absolutely no warning (and less than 10 minutes after we got there) the IED blew up. In one split second I saw the huge black smoke then the noise, everybody outside the vehicles dropped to the ground [...] About that time we started taking fire to the rear of the convoy. The Iraqis identified where it was coming from and immediately returned fire, but by the time they successfully translated where the fire was from it had stopped [...]

Anytime an American fires a weapon there has to be an investigation into why there was an escalation of force. That wouldn't have stopped us from firing, but it prevents us from just firing indiscriminately. We have to have positively identified targets. That is why I am now a big fan of having the Iraqis with us. They can fire at whatever the hell they want, we call it the "Iraqi Death Blossom." These guys receive one shot and the whole unit fires at everything in sight until the attached American unit gets them to control their fire. That's fine with me.

__________

His mood had dimmed when he wrote again to his friend Peter on April 23:

Whatever "good" is happening in Iraq, isn't happening here. The bright side is there is no sectarian violence here like in Baghdad. In other words the insurgents around town don't target civilians. And there are even established warning signals so civilians know not to be around.

My 3 month informed opinion (based entirely on what I see in the Hit region) is that this war is futile. Even the Iraqi soldiers tell us that when America leaves, they'll quit. They trust us because they know Americans can take care of them, but they don't trust their government, or the Ministry of Defense, and they especially don't trust their officers [...] Funny, I feel the same way sometimes.

Anyway, the weather here is getting hotter, it's windy all the time, the flies are terrible.

__________

Secher reacted angrily to accounts of the killings at Haditha and Hamdania. On June 22 he wrote to his father:

Of course you've heard about two different sets of Marines being charged with murder. [...]

I feel bad for those guys. Bush should be ashamed of the predicament that this nation has been put in. And anyone who calls those young Marines killers should think twice. War puts perfectly ordinary young men in situations that can't be judged by laws. They are the situations of survival. The dirty little secrets of war, no one would want to know the horrible things that the "greatest generation" did to German and Japanese soldiers and civilians. [...] If you really want to win a war you have to be brutal. You have to be Sherman and raze Georgia as you march to the sea.

Later that day, Secher had cooled off:

Hi Dad,

After reading my last email I don't want you to think that I condone the actions of the Marines, and if in fact they are guilty they should be held responsible and punished. My point is that this is the reality of what war is. This is what war does to normal young men. This is the whole tragedy of war. People are so quick to only criticize the Marines and to demonize these young men. I pity them. Their lives are ruined, ruined by their actions which are judged by men who have never been in those situations.

__________

As the summer wore on, his frustration deepened. On July 23 he wrote to friends:

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow will be our 6 month mark, and then only 6 more months to go! Everything is fine and works in cycles. Some weeks see more activity than others based on the insurgents' cycles of regrouping and refitting [...]

The biggest lesson I have learned over 6 months here is that the Iraqi culture is incapable of maintaining a western style military. The Arabic-style military [...] is distasteful to western soldiers: officers who hit their men; officers and senior enlisted men who regularly steal from their men; using leadership to openly grant yourself more food and 'standard of living' items while your men go without [...]

Many of our [iraqi] soldiers went AWOL; new food supplies came in yesterday from Ramadi but were grossly insufficient; new soldiers arrived but their initial military training is substandard and you can tell they are really just here for a paycheck [...]

So that's about it. Hope all is well. The weather here has cooled down. It's only 110 this morning. Take care and talk to you all later.

Robert

__________

Still, new Iraqi officers had arrived, and Secher cheered up after seeing them in action. He wrote to his father on July 25:

In defense of the Iraqis, this new battalion commander and executive officer we have are starting out on the right foot. So far so good, see, there may just be some professionals in the IA [iraqi Army]. Today an Iraqi soldier stole jewelry from a woman at a vehicle checkpoint. When it was discovered, the Iraqi was identified and the XO had an investigation done immediately, and the same day we transported the soldier to the jail on Camp Hit (where he is right now) and we'll take him to Al Asad in a week to be fired.

This is such a long process. Maybe 20 years from now I'll look back with pride that I helped make a difference in Iraq, but right now I'm just not into it. I just want to come home alive. [...] The war in Iraq itself, yeah, it was the right thing to do, but the way it was carried out, man, Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney have nothing to be proud of.

But I'm still glad to be here. At least I can say I was here, and 20 years from now that will be all that matters. I did my part (though my attitude was less than desirable). [...]

Tomorrow will be my 100th convoy and I'll get to command it again, which I enjoy. If there is one thing war has taught me, [it's] how much time we spend in life worrying about stupid s--t. I hope I don't forget that.

Love, Robert

__________

As summer ended, Secher was leading Iraqi soldiers on house-to-house searches for insurgents. He described the process in a Sept. 30 e-mail to his father.

We went out with the IA to do cordon-and-searches, where we cordon off a city block [and] then go in small groups from house to house, initially knocking, but we had to kick in a few doors and gates. I had to shoot the lock off of one house. [...] The Iraqis I was with did a really good job. I had Mathan [an IA member] and our interpreter Joe, who are both good soldiers. We did the searches at night between 2300 and 0500, so it was a rude awakening. It caused some people to freak out, some were more calm, no one threatened us. We did take some sniper fire, but nothing sustained. I was surprised at how beautiful some Iraqi houses were on the inside. Not at all what I was expecting. [...]

The whole thing felt kind of weird. Especially when you have kick in a gate, go charging in, weapon on fire, finger on the trigger, charge to the front door start banging on it, and then some old man comes to the door [...] That was about the least enjoyable thing I have done here. As an American it really feels odd to enter peoples homes and question them, and with the authority that if they don't want to cooperate, I can detain them. This is what martial law would be like.

__________

His final e-mail arrived a week later.

From: Robert Secher

Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 3:56 PM

To: [Pierre Secher]

Subject: Hello

Dad,

How are you? I will be down in the city [...] operating out of firm base 1 until probably Nov 1 so I won't have access to email very often. I should make it back up to camp every few days to shower and do laundry, and I'll check my emails then. The clearing operations are continuing throughout the town. It'll be sleep all day and go on operations each night (searches and raids). A lot more interesting than being on the camp. Give my love to [stepmother] Lucy, I'll talk to you all soon.

Love, Robert

__________

Captain Secher died two days later, shot by a sniper while on patrol in Hit.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15458906/site/newsweek/

[one...two...tree 2,762]

My God...

[Carol&Marc 0]

Election time B.S., I'm sure he is a fine man! and I cant even pretend to know how tough it is there! The press could have put this out anytime!

Steve thats the exact responce they were lookin for!

Where the he## was this story?

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/heroes_in_iraq.htm

American Heroes in Iraq

There is another side to every story!! Usually we only hear what the media decides we should hear and see. But this is the side I keep hearing from my son and others who have returned from Iraq:

Home | Articles | Victory

Email this page

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

ERIC RYDBOM MAJ, ENGINEER

Deputy Division Engineer

4th Infantry Division

It has been a while since I have written to my friends about what's really going on here in Iraq. The news you watch on TV is exaggerated, sensationalized and selective.

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The press could have put this out anytime!

He died less than two weeks ago.

[Carol&Marc 0]

The press could have put this out anytime!

He died less than two weeks ago.

I am just saying there are hundreds of these type of stories,I'm not trying to be unsympathetic!

Its very very sad I agree, The thing that gets me pissed as HE## is we only hear the negative! this is also sad commentary, look what the press puts out on a daily basis! The morale issue is HUGE for these guys and MOST keep pounding the negative! These guys need us to get behind them! All you hear is I LOVE OUR GUYS IN UNIFORM and then proceed with 20 paragraphs of ""I HATE WHAT WERE DOING THERE" ####### do you expect? I am very passionate about this subject!

Edited October 31, 2006 by Carol&Marc

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The press could have put this out anytime!

He died less than two weeks ago.

I am just saying there are hundreds of these type of stories,I'm not trying to be unsympathetic!

Its very very sad I agree, The thing that gets me pissed as HE## is we only hear the negative! this is also sad commentary, look what the press puts out on a daily basis! The morale issue is HUGE for these guys and MOST keep pounding the negative! These guys need us to get behind them! All you hear is I LOVE OUR GUYS IN UNIFORM and then proceed with 20 paragraphs of ""I HATE WHAT WERE DOING THERE" ####### do you expect? I am very passionate about this subject!

Marc, what part of his online journal do you find unnecessarily negative? Holy Sh#t, the guy's just writing his thoughts down and you construe that as detrimental to troop morale??? That's a load of ####### and you know it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The press could have put this out anytime!

He died less than two weeks ago.

I am just saying there are hundreds of these type of stories,I'm not trying to be unsympathetic!

Its very very sad I agree, The thing that gets me pissed as HE## is we only hear the negative! this is also sad commentary, look what the press puts out on a daily basis! The morale issue is HUGE for these guys and MOST keep pounding the negative! These guys need us to get behind them! All you hear is I LOVE OUR GUYS IN UNIFORM and then proceed with 20 paragraphs of ""I HATE WHAT WERE DOING THERE" ####### do you expect? I am very passionate about this subject!

Let me guess - he's "Unamerican".

I guess serving in Iraq and being sent back in a bodyguard isn't as important as saying the right thing. Some high standards there

[Carol&Marc 0]

The press could have put this out anytime!

He died less than two weeks ago.

I am just saying there are hundreds of these type of stories,I'm not trying to be unsympathetic!

Its very very sad I agree, The thing that gets me pissed as HE## is we only hear the negative! this is also sad commentary, look what the press puts out on a daily basis! The morale issue is HUGE for these guys and MOST keep pounding the negative! These guys need us to get behind them! All you hear is I LOVE OUR GUYS IN UNIFORM and then proceed with 20 paragraphs of ""I HATE WHAT WERE DOING THERE" ####### do you expect? I am very passionate about this subject!

Marc, what part of his online journal do you find unnecessarily negative? Holy Sh#t, the guy's just writing his thoughts down and you construe that as detrimental to troop morale??? That's a load of ####### and you know it.

Steve, Im talkin about the press! not the soldier. I have sympathy for the soldier! LOTS!

Look how his morale deteriorates, this I think is the goal of most news agencies! by the daily barrage they put out!

Edited October 31, 2006 by Carol&Marc

[GaryC 7]

This is one the press would never post. But it is just as valid as the one they did.

http://ussoldier.blogspot.com/

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Look how his morale deteriorates, this I think is the goal of most news agencies! by the daily barrage they put out!

If you can accept the fact that the Iraq war as it was sold to the public is at best, deeply unpopular and divisive - why would you expect the news coverage not to reflect that?

[Jenn! 918]

Steve, Im talkin about the press! not the soldier. I have sympathy for the soldier! LOTS!

Look how his morale deteriorates, this I think is the goal of most news agencies! by the daily barrage they put out!

So you believe that these are the words of the soldier for which you have sympathy, but you think that the press should not report his point of view? Why?

Edited October 31, 2006 by jenn3539

[GaryC 7]

Steve, Im talkin about the press! not the soldier. I have sympathy for the soldier! LOTS!

Look how his morale deteriorates, this I think is the goal of most news agencies! by the daily barrage they put out!

So you believe that these are the words of the soldier for which you have sympathy, but you think that the press should not report his point of view? Why?

It's the selective-ness that the press has. They report on the negitive but ignore the positive. It gives a false impression of what is going on there. Our new forman at work was a captain in the army. He just got back from 2 years in Iraq. He said that, yes the bad things you see on TV are real but all of the good things that are also going on are not reported. It gives us a warped idea of the real way things are. It drives the American people to dislike the war and they way it is run to the negative. That is the press bias. That is what they want us to think. If we really knew how things are there both positive and negitive the American people would have a different opinion of the war and the way it is run.

[Carol&Marc 0]

Steve, Im talkin about the press! not the soldier. I have sympathy for the soldier! LOTS!

Look how his morale deteriorates, this I think is the goal of most news agencies! by the daily barrage they put out!

So you believe that these are the words of the soldier for which you have sympathy, but you think that the press should not report his point of view? Why?

It's the selective-ness that the press has. They report on the negitive but ignore the positive. It gives a false impression of what is going on there. Our new forman at work was a captain in the army. He just got back from 2 years in Iraq. He said that, yes the bad things you see on TV are real but all of the good things that are also going on are not reported. It gives us a warped idea of the real way things are. It drives the American people to dislike the war and they way it is run to the negative. That is the press bias. That is what they want us to think. If we really knew how things are there both positive and negitive the American people would have a different opinion of the war and the way it is run.

Thanks Gary! I'm not saying they should not report it! Its just ALL they report is ALL BAD, ALL THE TIME! The guys and gals over there see it too and it's very HARD on their morale! why dont we see some video on their accomplishments? I know theres alot the press could show! My buddy spent a year over there and he made lots of freinds that were Iraqi! and hated to leave them. He told me if he didnt have a family he would go back in a heart beat. He also wouldve liked to see a little reporting on the relationships that the everyday Iraqis have with the soldiers the little kids there love the soldiers! there is bad things going on but for the press to just show one soldiers story of depressin you could also show the opposite but it just never happens.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Steve, Im talkin about the press! not the soldier. I have sympathy for the soldier! LOTS!

Look how his morale deteriorates, this I think is the goal of most news agencies! by the daily barrage they put out!

So you believe that these are the words of the soldier for which you have sympathy, but you think that the press should not report his point of view? Why?

It's the selective-ness that the press has. They report on the negitive but ignore the positive. It gives a false impression of what is going on there. Our new forman at work was a captain in the army. He just got back from 2 years in Iraq. He said that, yes the bad things you see on TV are real but all of the good things that are also going on are not reported. It gives us a warped idea of the real way things are. It drives the American people to dislike the war and they way it is run to the negative. That is the press bias. That is what they want us to think. If we really knew how things are there both positive and negitive the American people would have a different opinion of the war and the way it is run.

"Tragedy makes better news than talking about positive things," and if you're talking about broadcast news - my God...of course it can give the perception that we are in danger from all kinds of things. That, however, is NOT a liberal bias nor a specific political agenda and that bogus argument that keeps getting regurgitated out by peoplle who listen to the political windbags has gotten long on the tooth. You have to point to a specific media outlet such as Fox News and then have independent media watch dog groups analyze the news for patterns, which interestingly ...Fox News has been proven to have a bias in support of the Bush Administration. So getting back to your claim that the news media is being selective - only reporting the tragedies coming from Iraq and not the positives - just look at the rest of broadcast news and tell me how many times they reported there were no accidents on the freeways today, no drive by shootings, or police chases? Yes, broadcast news and to an extent newspapers can give a person a distorted sense of things ...IF that is their only source for information. Which is why people need to pull themselves away from the ####### tube and actually read, especially with the internet - there are a great number of independent news sources where you can now find news that would never make it on television because it's not titilating enough.

I think it's futile to whine about what news gets reported and instead scrutinize it for accuracy, then search for other news outlets to get a better balance of information. Simply dismissing news because it may seem imbalanced (either in favor of the war or against) does nothing for the argument and won't stop the public from taking it in. Are the events accurate? That's about all you can ask for, IMO.

What makes something newsworthy?

Sometimes it’s obvious what makes a news story - something attention-grabbing that everyone will talk about, whether it be an explosion at a local factory or a scandal among local politicians. But what makes the front page in Paper Lake many times won’t even make it inside The New York Times.

Local papers have a different focus from national papers - their mission is to tell people what’s going on in their home towns. Many times, local papers will opt to give a local news story a bigger headline and better placement on the front page over an important national story. And when it’s possible, many papers try to bring some kind of local angle to national stories, either by asking area residents their opinion on the matter or by finding a local expert to comment.

According to the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, there are some other factors in deciding what makes a news story:

* Prominence - Something that happens to a poilitician, public servant or a celebrity is more interesting than if it happens to someone not known by many. The marriage of the mayor, or the star player on the local university football team being arrested for fighting outside a local bar at midnight, are news.

* Timeliness - An event that happened recently. A story about the prevention of sunburn is more timely at the beginning of summer than in November. Most stories in a newspaper, especially on the news pages, have a sense of timeliness. The word "news" implies information that is new or timely.

* Impact - Something that will effect a large number of readers. A bill passed in the state senate that requires all eighth graders to pass a test before they will be allowed to advance to the ninth grade has a great deal of impact on many readers. Likewise a new manufacturing plant coming to town that will employ 1,400 workers is also news.

* Conflict - Events that denote a difference of opinion that puts parties in conflict are often news worthy. Conflict usually involves surprise, tension and/or suspense. Some typical events in conflict are: sporting events, political campaigns, social issues and crime.

* Novelty - Events that are unique, strange or odd. A unique event might be that a local person wins $1 million in the lottery. A strange event could be a deer running through the downtown area of a large city or a fire station catching fire.

....I want to point out that one of the fundamental things I learned in animation is that without conflict, you have no story. Story is conflict. You'll never read a book or watch a movie that doesn't have some kind of conflict.

Edited October 31, 2006 by Steven_and_Jinky

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Steve, Im talkin about the press! not the soldier. I have sympathy for the soldier! LOTS!

Look how his morale deteriorates, this I think is the goal of most news agencies! by the daily barrage they put out!

So you believe that these are the words of the soldier for which you have sympathy, but you think that the press should not report his point of view? Why?

It's the selective-ness that the press has. They report on the negitive but ignore the positive. It gives a false impression of what is going on there. Our new forman at work was a captain in the army. He just got back from 2 years in Iraq. He said that, yes the bad things you see on TV are real but all of the good things that are also going on are not reported. It gives us a warped idea of the real way things are. It drives the American people to dislike the war and they way it is run to the negative. That is the press bias. That is what they want us to think. If we really knew how things are there both positive and negitive the American people would have a different opinion of the war and the way it is run.

I'm not sure its possible to make the weekly bodycount sound 'positive'