This past week while watching The Hurt Locker, I noticed that Sandborn, Elridge, and James never took out a possible threat. Take for instance, the scene where James is attempting to defuse a bomb and there is a man with a camera pointed at the Team on the roof of one of the buildings. The men did not know why he was there or what his purpose was. That man could have easily killed them without a second thought. This stuck out in my mind and when I was researching why, I came across Marcus Luttrell and his story.
June 28,2005, Luttrell and SEAL Team 10 set out on a mission to kill or capture Ahmad Shah. Shah was a high-ranking Taliban leader who was responsible for several killings in Eastern Afghanistan and the Hindu-Kush mountains. Luttrell was part of a 4 man team, he and Matthew Axelson were the snipers, Danny Dietz was in charge of communications and Michael P. Murphy rounded out the team as Team Leader. The men came upon a group of goat herders, fearful of what could happen if they allowed the men to leave, they discussed what to do with the herders. The team took a vote and Murphy made the decision to let the herders go. Luttrell believes that the herders betrayed the team’s location to the Taliban immediately and the team was under attack within the hour. In the ensuing battle, the other three members of Luttrell’s team were Killed in Action. An MH-47 was sent to retrieve the bodies and Luttrell, however it was shot down before it could reach the team killing all 16 members of its crew. Luttrell then crawled 7 miles to avoid capture and was taken in by a friendly Afghan Tribe who alerted American forces of Luttrell's location. After healing from his wounds, Luttrell returned to Afghanistan to complete one last tour saying, "I will never quit. My nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight."
The article tells us that, “Team leader Michael P. Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the battle. Danny Dietz, Matthew Axelson, and Marcus Luttrell were awarded the Navy Cross." Marcus Luttrell’s story is heart wrenching. Why did Murphy allow the herders to go free? The article says that he was just following protocol. Why is this protocol? Why is it okay for American troops to allow possible threats to walk free? Three men died in a battle that could most certainly have been avoided. Was it worth it? Were the sheep herders lives more important than the lives of ¾ of SEAL Team 10? Personally, I say no! I say that these men should not have had to lay down their lives because it all could have been avoided. I don’t have the answers to these questions, and I wish I did. However, this has been another week for “food for thought”. Let me know what you think!
Forever & Always,
Me
Marcus Luttrell
President Bush awarding Luttrell the Navy Cross
Wow I never knew about this incident, probably because I was ten when it happened though. But, I agree with what you said. Those herders should have been seized in my opinion. I don't think every soldier should kill every human in every mission they partake in; however, potential threats should definitely be handled accordingly. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you guys they should've seized the men in my opinion as well. Three innocent men lost their lives including 16 others because of someone following protocol. In The Hurt Locker Eldridge and Sanborn didn't shoot the man with the cell phone because it was protocol and they ended up loosing one of their men who was replaced by James. In the end they should have rethought their decision and went with what their gut was telling them, forget protocol.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't follow protocol, then you can lose your rank and face disciplinary charges, including court marshal. Soldiers can't break protocol or there would be mass chaos.
DeleteWell, I think it is awful that these men died because they let the herders go. On the other hand, what if these herders didn't tell where the soldiers were and never planned to. If the American soldiers had killed them then that would have been bad to! It's a hard decision and I really liked your title cause it really summarizes your blog to a tee. Either you kill or you will be killed. And that is always a tough decision.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tiffany the title fits your post to a tee. It seems like any decision made would cause something else bad to happen. Sometimes the best thing in war though isn't to do what the person above you tells you to do, it's to go with your gut. Sometimes protocol can get you into a worse situation.
DeleteIn the military, you cannot disobey a direct order from a superior.
DeleteI agree with everyone above, sometimes going with protocol is not always the right thing to do. But like Tiffany said, the soldiers had to make a tough decision on whether to let the herders go or not. Yes, it's terrible that those men were killed but they had no way of knowing what the herders would do. Great post Danielle!
ReplyDeleteI do think that would have been a hard decision to make because they did not know what the herders intended to do. The Americans do not just kill for no reason. They thought the herders were not going to do any harm. In this case they were wrong, however they couldn't have known before hand what was going to happen,
ReplyDelete