A Different Kind of Horror Story

I've been trying to address a sensitive situation on the Air Cav Troop site but I've been pretty unsuccessful in structuring an Editorial that doesn't violate some of the wishes or rules of conduct for the site.

My failure to do that has given rise to the thought that I might, for clarifications sake, categorize Horror into different types.

One comes with the term KIA where we experienced the death of our fellow Troopers who were killed in action. Try to view that as watching your best friends die.

Another comes from watching our guys that were Wounded in Action. Whether it's Manny walking with a cane just before he left to go home to begin the life long rehabilitation of his wounds, or Mike who was evacuated to Japan and we never got to see him again. Those are horrible situations but we managed to live through them and eventually overcame the horror of those experiences.

Now, 43 years later, we're dealing with a different kind of Horror. It's the never ending memories that come from the dishonorable conduct of two men in the Troop that never should have been in our unit or the Army.

With as many great officers as there were in the Air Cav Troop, it's a shame to classify them in the same group the officers in question. Rather than do that, I want to clearly say that 99% of our officers were great men of great character and greater leadership abilities.

To further separate them from the great officers we served with, let me simply say that the two I am referring to were assholes and the world would be a better place without them. Sorry about that but a duck is a duck is a duck and that's just the way it is.

After 43 years you might think that something is wrong with the lingering, nightmarish memories of these men and the horrors that they brought with them. To further the cause of understanding on your part, let me say that, as individuals, I described them as "The Puke Of The Officer Corp".

I want to say that there's nothing wrong with the men and in reality, after all these years, the very fact that so many of them are standing up to the plate to undo the bad deeds that were done, should be testament enough to validate my claim. Think a minute. Who would you bet on?

I'll bet on the honorable, brave men who did such an incredible job and did it again and again, day after day, throughout their entire tour. Keep in mind that they accomplished that in the midst of some really tough times when the war wasn't well received at home and the support from there was totally inappropriate.

Add to that the fact that we had a guy that put himself in for awards and decorations for missions that were flown when he wasn't even in the unit. That should be enough justification for me to identify him as Asshole number 1.

With regard to Asshole number 2, he was completely stripped of all rank and kicked out of the Army.

That should pretty much tell enough of a story to let all of you know that using the term Asshole is totally okay and almost certainly not strong enough to properly identify the kind of slime ball I'm referring to.

If their conduct was so horrid and their dishonorable acts so impactful that they remain at the top of the list after 43 years, that should be enough to accomplish the goal of identifying "A Different Kind of Horror Story" and justify all of the efforts of an entire Troop as they move forward to correct a part of our history that has yet to be corrected.

Thanks to Mark, Bill, Doug, Thor, Curt, Glenn and the other men of the Air Cav Troop who have suffered through the years of knowing that one Asshole got away without so much as a slap on the hand. Despite all those years, they never gave up on seeing justice done.

In the words of Winston Churchill, let me say: "Never Give In" and in my own words: "Well Done, Gentlemen". Keep on keeping on. .







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