Bodies of 124 American Troops Have Been Flown Back Home

IRNA ^ | 12-2-01 | unknown

[sonserae]

Isn't there a difference between 124 troops and 124 bodies?

[wimpycat]

I disagree. Before, that may have been true. But since September 11, polling data shows that we're willing to accept military casualties and civilian casualties (Afghans). Support has not wavered over reports of civilian casualties, when normally it will.

We will accept casualties if we're winning. If we get bogged down, if we don't achieve our objectives and we have casualties that seem not worth what we're achieving (like in Vietnam), then support will go down. But this is totally different from anything we've faced, except maybe WWII. I couldn't imagine hearing the casualty reports from WWII today. How many thousands of Marines were killed on Okinawa and Iwo Jima? How many were killed early on when it looked like we were losing?

No, unlike Vietnam, Somalia, Desert Storm and Kosovo, we've been attacked here in the U.S. It's different now. We're in it for the long haul this time, I can feel it.

[PLMerite]

http://www.warships1.com/UScg26_Belknap_fire.htm

I haven't got the hang of the html thing yet, so you'll have to cut-and-paste the link.

Bottom line - there was a Courts Martial. If there had been massive casualties it would have come out.

That guy who said he saw all the bodies on the hanger deck was - other than lying about seeing them - confusing the Belknap (why would they transfer bodies to the carrier where more people could see them?) with the fire on the carrier Intrepid.

One of my favorite quotes is: "Anything that's too big to hide, but can't be seen - isn't there."

[WhiskeyPapa]

If a quarter of the crew had been killed you never would have hid it. Nobody but nobody talks like sailors talk.

I am truly glad to hear that. I wou;ld hate to think that the government would cover something that up.

Munoz was adamant; said he was on shark watch and he counted over 100 bodies himself.

I still have pictures I took of Belknap. The bridge was also ripped completely open; you can look through the port side and see daylight on the far side.

Walt

[Non-Sequitur]

Oh I've seen the pictures, too. They were widely published in a variety of official reports. There was also an in depth article in Proceedings written by the skipper of the Charles F. Adams, on of the escorts which fought the fire on the Belknap. One of their neater tricks was that they lashed a couple of fire hoses to the barrel of their 5"/54 gun mount. Then they cut in the water and used the mount to train the water on the fire. Worked real well.

Anyway, I'm sure your Sgt. Munoz was very adament. Next time you see him you'll have to ask him why they had him standing shark watch in the middle of a pitch dark night. What was he supposed to see?

[X-USAF]

Well Bruce, you are a trusting soul my friend.

[Endeavor]

Tin Foil Man reminds me a bit of Jonah Goldberg. Oh, My Bad!

[Straight Vermonter]

The point is not to be credible to us. The point is to keep the Muslims believing they can compete on the same playing field as us. A war that kills 10s of thousands of the Muslims and is virtually bloodless for the USA would be a nightmare scenario for those trying to recruit in the Muslim world.

[verity]

Keep this up and I shall reach out through my monitor and abuse your head!

[Redleg Duke]

If it wasn't for their imaginations, they would never win a fight!

[Redleg Duke]

"mass casualties"

Just like those bastards to attack a church service!

[bluetoad]

When the casualties reach 5,000 civilians who worked in N.Y.C. let me know. Then Nuke ‘em, and everyone else who danced in the streets on 9/11/2001 in the middle east…

Until then God Bless our Troops…

[Billthedrill]

Americans don't like wars with American casualties. I have no doubt that support for the war on terrorists will plummet as soon as mass casualties begin.

No. This is not Vietnam, as I've said numerous times. This is not somebody else's war, this is one that was started on our shore and we're 4000 bodies down. Those casualties make this an entirely different matter from any military deployment since World War Two, and I don't think anyone expects us to get out of this as easily as we did in the Gulf War. Moreover, I don't expect "mass casualties" because we don't have a "mass" deployment. Well, not mass American casualties, at least.