| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Michael Yon: Scott Beauchamp and the Rule of Second Chances |
| 2007-10-25 |
| . . . I was in Iraq when it first hit the stands and someone asked me about the plausibility of the events described in the article. I skimmed the story but it did not even pass a simple sniff-test. With a shooting war going on, there is no time for trivial pursuits, so my only comment was something like, “It sounds like a bunch of garbage.” Turned out it was. The soldier’s name was Beauchamp. He’d tried to hide his identity, but poor Beauchamp had no idea that the blog world would get on his trail and tree him like a coon. Beauchamp crawled up to the top of that tree, looked down into the snarling spotlight, and suddenly knew he was caught. His simple mask was no more effective than a coon’s, and that in itself might provide a little insight into how deeply Beauchamp had thought this all through. In any case, he was up in that tree, surrounded by hounds who’d done this plenty of times, yet always found this part exciting. The hunters would have written the last sentence if the choice was up to them. Some wanted Beauchamp to go to prison; some were baying for blood. The fellas in his unit were unhappy, as were his commanders, since he’d made some of them look like immature dimwits while others he’d cast as deliberately cruel in the worst of ways. Nobody likes to risk life and limb in the hope they are doing the right thing only to be spat upon and accused of criminal acts. It took a while for the truth to eek out; there was almost none of it in what was published. As the real story unfolded, The New Republic looked increasingly culpable and ridiculous trying to hide behind a fact-checking process that was clearly stuck on the difference between fact and fabrication. . . . And what of Beauchamp? Because he was the man who originally wrote the lurid overwrought fable of puppy-killing among the grave-desecrating cretins who made fun of a woman disfigured by bombs, the tepid outcome left many people unhappy. Especially those who wanted to see him humiliated (he has been plenty humiliated.) Beauchamp was allowed to stay in the Army and suffered only a minor administrative setback. . . . Beauchamp’s battalion commander, LTC George Glaze, politely introduced himself and asked who I wrote for. When I replied that I just have a little blog, the word caught his ears and he mentioned Beauchamp, who I acknowledged having heard something about. LTC Glaze seemed protective of Beauchamp, despite how the young soldier had maligned his fellow soldiers. In fact, the commander said Beauchamp, having learned his lesson, was given the chance to leave or stay. It can be pretty tough over here. The soldiers in Beauchamp’s unit have seen a lot of combat. Often times soldiers are working in long stretches of urban guerrilla combat dogged by fatigue and sleep deprivation. This is likely one of the most stressful jobs in the world, especially when millions of people are screaming at you for failures that happened three years or more ago, and for decisions to invade Iraq that were made when you were still a teenager. Just as bad is the silence from the untold millions who have already written off your effort as hopeless. Add that to the fact that buddies are getting killed in front of you. (More than 70 killed in Beauchamp’s brigade.) I see what these young men and women go through, and the extraordinary professionalism they nearly always manage to exude awes me on a daily basis. Lapses of judgment are bound to happen, and accountability is critical, but that’s not the same thing as pulling out the hanging rope every time a soldier makes a mistake. Beauchamp is young; under pressure he made a dumb mistake. In fact, he has not always been an ideal soldier. But to his credit, the young soldier decided to stay, and he is serving tonight in a dangerous part of Baghdad. He might well be seriously injured or killed here, and he knows it. He could have quit, but he did not. He faced his peers. I can only imagine the cold shoulders, and worse, he must have gotten. He could have left the unit, but LTC Glaze told me that Beauchamp wanted to stay and make it right. Whatever price he has to pay, he is paying it. The commander said I was welcome to talk with Beauchamp, but clearly he did not want anyone else coming at his soldier. LTC Glaze told me that at least one blog had even called for Beauchamp to be killed, which seems rather extreme even on a very bad day. LTC Glaze wants to keep Beauchamp, and hopes folks will let it rest. I’m with LTC Glaze on this: it’s time to let Beauchamp get back to the war. The young soldier learned his lessons. He paid enough to earn his second chance that he must know he will never get a third. Though Beauchamp is close, I’m not going to spend half a day tracking him down when just this morning I woke to rockets launching from nearby and landing on an American base. Who has time to skin Beauchamp? We need him on his post and focused. See also Luke 15:7. As for The New Republic, some on the staff may feel like they’ve been hounded and treed, but it’s hard to feel the same sympathy for a group of cowards who won’t fess up and can’t face the scorn of American combat soldiers who were injured by their collective lapse of judgment. It’s up to their readers to decide the ultimate fate. The New Republic treed like a bandit … personally, I think they would make a nice Daniel Boone hat. As far as TNR goes, the applicable verse is Matthew 23:33. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #11 I hope I never hear about the guy again and he gets to save all the clippings from his 15 minutes of fame to show to his grandchildren after a long life of obscurity as a middle school English teacher. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-10-25 18:24 |
| #10 Re-posted comment from the other Beauchamp thread, as I see this is the more active thread on him today: Jack's comment (in the other thread about Pvt. Beauchamp potentially disavowing his current apology once he's home and with the EEE) is why I'm not quite willing to go along with Mr. Yon's suggestion. It's one thing to 'own up' to your mistakes when you have the battalion Command Sergeant Major counseling you. It's another to own up when you're discharged from the Army, home and the darling of the EEE. If Pvt. Beauchamp affirms his mistakes when he's home, then I'll go along with Mr. Yon. As Dave notes, Pvt. Beauchamp may, may be on the path to a more honorable outcome and life. And if he does that and does it well, then Mr. Yon is right: forgiveness and the honor of having fulfilled a second chance are due to him. I have my doubts. We'll see when he gets home. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-10-25 18:21 |
| #9 I'm in no rush to forgive Scott Beauchamp. He hasn't asked for forgiveness and until he does, I am not about to grant it. So far, all he's done is clam up and go into hiding after realizing what a shitstorm his irresponsible actions caused, a shitstorm any real adult should have been able to predict-- and avoid, by chosing NOT to act irresponsibly. Scott Beauchamp might be on a path to redeeming himself. We'll see if he does. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-10-25 17:14 |
| #8 Why'd he do it? He knew what TNR wanted to hear, and if gave them what they wanted, TNR wouldn't be all jacked up to check it out for authenticity. Of course that's what it's like over there, how could it be ANY OTHER WAY! And he'd be on his way to fame and fortune. Franklin Foer must've looked like Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain when he ran this guy's shit down to the printers... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-10-25 16:21 |
| #7 I'd be interested in hearing a straight story about why he did it. His actions don't seem to match his motives. He was trying to sensationalize the war with stories that made war crimes sound like standard operating procedure. He was trying to help the hard left convince the country that the war was wrong and could not be won. I think it's pay time for him and he deserves it. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-10-25 16:08 |
| #6 Interesting story about Beauchamp, and his commanding officer. There are some good lessons to be learned here. I am glad Michael Yon was able to investigate and write about it. This is journalism at its best. We come away from this article with a greater understanding of things. Michael Yon is definitely the Ernie Pyle of our age. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-10-25 15:52 |
#5 One of Jonah Goldberg's readers writes:After reading the transcript of the phone calls with Beauchamp, I have changed my attitude toward him. What I read was not the words of a kid trying to escape responsibility. What I read was the words of a soldier who has screwed up and hurt his comrades. He knows his mistakes and he has now taken his punishment and is now determined to be a soldier first. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-10-25 15:26 |
| #4 My only comment abour Pvt Dickweed is: "call 257-2414." its ( NAS Whidbey)the Chaplin's number. He don't give a phuck either, but gets paid to listen. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-10-25 15:11 |
| #3 If he's working to make it right, then in time I'm willing to forgive him. Based on this, I'm willing to trust his unit and his commanders to see it through without any more comment from me. Thanks for posting this, Mike. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-25 13:49 |
| #2 In this case, I think Yon is perhaps being a bit too diplomatic about the fate of the private. Forgiveness is the job of the chaplain, not the chain of command, and while the commander would be inclined to insure that no unfair treatment was applied to Beauchamp, such an inclination would also apply to not allowing mortal risk to befall him. How would that look to those quick to condemn the military, were Beauchamp to be killed? They would instantly accuse the army of murdering him, "to shut him up", and then just as quickly double damn them for "covering up evidence" that would confirm their hatred. Unacceptable. Beauchamp, while he might be in a "hot" area, is probably performing assignments of a far less hazardous nature. In past, this might be to move a large pile of cannonballs a distance and pile them up again, repeatedly. But today, we can but hope that the private is constructively engaged in finding the exact center between a domain of limbo and one of purgatory. He will be fed three times a day with ordinary rations, his uniform and individual equipment will be accounted for, and he will be allowed access to telephones provided by the service charity, as would any other. His duty day will be to sit upon a metal chair and individually inventory several million 1/8" ball bearings, inspecting each for signs of rust and wear, which he will duly note on his inspection log. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-10-25 13:41 |
| #1 Yon is the writer that Beauchump wished he were. |
| Posted by: Spot 2007-10-25 12:55 |