Spitting on the Marines

The Corner, NRO Online ^ | 9/29/07 | Michael Ledeen

[Bahbah]

Spitting on the Marines [Michael Ledeen]

Here is an e-mail from a Marine chaplain recently returned from Iraq. The story speaks for itself—lousy treatment of our troops at our own airports. He writes about Oakland, and while checking around I find that this is a common experience. I hope that one of our leaders will find a way to put an end to such behavior.

Marines and Soldiers Returning from Iraq not allowed

into Oakland terminal

On September 27th 204 Marines and soldiers who were

returning from Iraq were not allowed into the

passenger terminal at Oakland International Airport.

Instead they had to deplane about 400 yards away from

the terminal where the extra baggage trailers were

located.

This was the last scheduled stop for fuel and food

prior to flying to Hawaii where both were based. The

trip started in Kuwait on September 26th with a

rigorous search of checked and carry on baggage by US

Customs. All baggage was x-rayed with a "backscatter"

machine AND each bag was completely emptied and hand

searched. After being searched, checked bags were

marked and immediately placed in a secure container.

Carry on bags were then x rayed again to ensure no

contraband items were taken on the plane. While

waiting for the bus to the airport, all personnel were

in quarantined in a fenced area and were not allowed

to leave.

The first stop for fuel/food and crew change was in

Leipzig Germany. Troops exited the aircraft and took

a bus to a reception area in the terminal, where there

was a convenience store, phones, Internet and

restrooms. As we excited the bus we were given a

re-boarding pass. Three troops remained on the plane

with the rifles and pistols. There was no ammunition

on the plane and the bolts of the rifles had been

removed. After about 2 hours troops re-boarded the

plane and flew to JFK in NY.

At JFK the procedure was similar to Germany, 3 troops

stayed on the plane to guard weapons while the rest

deplaned. At the gate we were each given a

re-boarding pass and spent about 1.5 hours in the

terminal, at which time we re-boarded and flew to

Oakland.

As we came in for the final approach to Oakland a

Lieutenant who served in Afghanistan with the same

unit in 2006 mentioned how when they landed in Oakland

they were not allowed in the terminal. He said, "they

made us get out by the FED EX building and we had to

sit out there for 3 hours". He also indicated he was

almost arrested by the TSA for getting belligerent

about them not letting the Marines into the terminal.

Well the same thing happened again. This time we did

not park by the FED EX building, instead we were

offloaded near the grass that separates the active

runway from the taxi ramp, about 400 yards from the

terminal. When we inquired why they wouldn't allow us

in the airport they gave us some lame excuse that we

hadn't been screened by TSA. While true, the

screening which we did have was much more thorough

than any TSA search and was done by US Customs.

Additionally, JFK didn't seem to have a problem with

our entering their terminal, nor did security in

Germany.

It felt like being spit on. Every Marine and soldier

felt the message loud and clear, "YOU ARE NOT WELCOME

IN OAKLAND!"

Chaplain Brandon Harding

1ST BN 3D MARINES

[SJSAMPLE]

Hardly “spit on” and the title should be changed to avoid inducing unwarranted outrage.

I’ve flown military and civilian or 25+ years and NONE of this is new.

Shaking down military for contriband, especially when returning from a combat theater, is the only wise thing to do. You wouldn’t believe the things some GIs will try to bring home.

Yawn.
Move along.

[eyedigress]

That’s the point.

[usmcobra]

The weapons stayed on the aircraft under guard at two other airports during the trip while the Marines were allowed to use the facilities in the terminal at those airports.

[isthisnickcool]

There has been news story after news story of people going to airports and greeting soldiers and thanking them. Just look at some of the stuff here

As for myself, if I see a person in uniform in a restaurant eating I pick up their check. I was in the barber shop and a young Marine was there getting his hair cut. As I walked out I gave an extra $20 to the barber (an ex-marine) and just winked at him after nodding my head towards the kid.

Awhile back I was in a Circuit City and there were three young fellows that were in their Amry uniforms. They were looking at CD and stuff. I went to the cash register and bought three gift cards, walked up to them, thanked them and walked away. I've helped raise money for injured soldiers and one in particular had a darn good Christmas this past year.

I can keep going but that's enough. And I'm just a pissant compared to what I know other people have done. When we were raising money for this one kid a guy up in Houston asked us how much we needed. We told him and he sent half and told us he'd cover the rest if we needed but he wanted to let others help. We raised three times what we needed and did so in 72 hours. People came out of the woodwork. It was truely a magical thing.

It is not what it was like during Vietnam. If there are unusual situations where our fighting people are not paid the respect they deserve then something needs to be done about that!

God bless our fighting people and those Americans that put themselves in harms way so we can all be free people.

[enough_idiocy]

I’d suggest a buycott, but who the heck goes to Oakland?

[maine-iac7]

Time to get some big publicity on these pukes.

In contrast, AT the Bangor International Airport in Bangor,Maine, not ONE planeload of troops has come through since the war began but that they are greeting INSIDE the terminal by a greeting committee and given tokens of appreciation.

Quote: "the Maine Troop Greeters have greeted more than 2505 flights and over 500,000 soldiers."

Site here:

http://www.flybangor.com/troopgreetings.html

and here

http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=153324&zoneid=500

and on wikipdeia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangor_International_Airport

These two contrasting stories need to be run together for impact. It will show these left over flower children punks up for what they are.

Time for a FREEP to all media outlets - "What say you?"

[Bahbah]

and the title should be changed

It is the title given the piece by the author due to a remark by the Chaplain. I am not at liberty to change it.

[Rudder]

They shouldn’t have excited the bus.

[vbmoneyspender]

The chaplain wasn’t complaining about the search. That detail was presented in the article to demonstrate that the excuse given by the Oakland authorities for refusing to allow the Marines to enter the terminal was not a valid one.

[Bahbah]

They shouldn’t have excited the bus.

LOL. I caught that too. I am sure he meant exited. :)

[steveo]

o.k. I'll throw water on this (deserved) hate fest. Why no mention of this in the media? Looks like something the media would like to promote.

Why no reports of assault with bodily fluid? If the airport authorities had this much control over the deplaning Marines, why no security in the airport?

How many spitting pukes were involved?

There are plenty of military installations locally that these heroes could have landed. Why was Oakland chosen?

Now don't get mad at me I'm just asking for information. That being said... I know anyone in uniform cannot retalerate against random pukes in public. BUT if I am witness to it, I'll gladly spend a day or two in jail for punching the crap out of anyone that dares to spit on anyone in our countries service.

[nicko]

an absolutely sane response...

[armymarinemom]

The left is replaying their old records from the 1960s.

Yes they are. I wonder what they would say if we Americans insisted that the Military not be fully charged for such landings.

[Bahbah]

How many spitting pukes were involved?

According to the Chaplian's report, it was his interpretation of the treatment the Marines received. There were no actual incidents.

It is my sense that if the general public saw any such thing, there would be a Flight 93 moment and you would have considerable company in the lock up. Good company at that.

[skeeter]

If the TSA in Oakland is like the TSA in San Jose and San Francisco, chances are they didn’t even speak english & consider US soldiers armed foreigners.

[SoCalPol]

The real turn around about this, I was in Leipzig, Germany
when it was still major Russian controlled E. Ger.
Our Marines are treated better in Germany than in Oakland.

Then again no surprise,
a black Muslim recently killed a black newsreporter in Oakland.

[Minutemen]

So? What do you want to do? File a lawsuit?

[vetsvette]

This is very similar to how we were treated upon return from Vietnam. I’ve never understood why the Government rolls over to the leftist radicals instead of supporting the troops. In fact, when I see this kind of thing, I always wonder if the country is still worth fighting for.

[Bahbah]

It upset me, vetsvette. If I were the president, I would be an extreme burr in someone’s side over this (although I do understand he can’t be everywhere).

I know our Marines don’t insist on king like treatment, but some decent concern for a reasonable amount of comfort and respect would be much appreciated.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Hellish airport. They should count themselves lucky that they did not have to endure its dreary, worn-out decor, its echo-chamber acoustics, and most of all its sullen, shabby, slapworthy clientele and lame, rude staff.

God bless our soldiers!