Controversy over CMOH awards

[garandman]

Rift between Medal of Honor recipients exposed

Army Capt. Will Swenson and Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer fought side-by-side in a vicious 2009 battle in Afghanistan, working together to recover the bodies of four U.S. service members who were slain on the battlefield and stripped of their weapons and armor.

Both men have been recognized by the military for their heroism. As a sergeant, Meyer became in 2011 the first living Marine in 38 years to receive the Medal of Honor, recognized for braving enemy fire repeatedly to save service members trapped in a hail of gunfire. Swenson will receive the nation's top valor award Tuesday in a White House ceremony, following a long delay and Meyer lobbying publicly on the Army officer's behalf.

But a rift between the two war heroes exists, according to a front-page Washington Post story published Sunday. Swenson "remains skeptical of Meyer and the publicity he has sought," and "engaged in a lengthy and bitter dispute with the military over the narrative of one of the Afghan war's most notorious firefights." The Army officer, who left active duty in 2011, pushed the service to produce a website outlining the battle, and told the Post it "is not going to mutually support other stories" -- namely, Meyer's......

 

[n1oty]

The good Captain has been stonewalled by upper Army leadership for his public attacks against the Army hierarchy and its handling of support requests during this battle. I suspect that much of this is simply due to the shameful reporting of the media.

Rift between Medal of Honor recipients exposed

 

[jasons]

That's funny, Meyer had nothing but good things to say about Cpt. Swenson in his book. He said it was the Army brass who was screwing over Swenson because he made them look like the morons that they are. (Or at least were in that particular battle.)

Right there in the article:

Meyer's book says he sent a letter to the White House shortly after receiving the Medal of Honor urging officials there to take a longer look at Swenson's heroism. The captain, according to Meyer's letter, "was the centerpiece for command and control in a raging firefight that never died down."

"Swenson controlled all the helos. He picked out targets and kept situational awareness, radioing cardinal directions and distances," Meyer's letter said. "Not everyone can do that when bullets are continuously hitting the side of your truck. Swenson was not the senior commander; he just took over and everyone deferred to him. To the extent that anyone was in charge on the chaotic battlefield over the course of six or seven hours, it was Captain Will Swenson."

Meyer's book points out that Combined Joint Task Force 82, commanded by then-Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, was charged with handling Swenson's Medal of Honor packet while the investigations were ongoing in 2009. The packet "had vanished into thin air, forgotten by everybody in the chain of command," the book said. It suggests Swenson symbolizes Ganjgal and the battle "conveyed the wrong message: failure to support advisors, failure to provide artillery support, failure to deliver timely air support, et cetera."

Doesn't sound like much of a "rift" to me....

By the way, if you need to raise your blood pressure read the book. It's a wonder any of those guys made it out alive.

 

[n1oty]

The problem for Captain Swenson is that he chose to publicly expose the leadership failures that occurred during this battle. This ultimately poisoned his Army career as many in the chain of command were well connected, rapidly advancing officers. In fact, I see that Scaparrotti has already advanced two ranks since this battle and is now a full General, even though he oversaw the medal package that was "lost". Having spent time at West Point myself and being immersed in that part of Army culture, I am reasonably confident that the shunning of Captain Swenson and the loss of the original file was hardly accidental.

 

[garandman]

There's another part to this story, namely that CPT Swensen has questioned the USMC's CMOH citation.

I wasn't there, so all just words. Swensen sounds like the kind of brave, honest, humble and hard-working officer that the Army is built on, so it's a shame he's moved on, but good luck to him.

And the best to Sgt Meyer as well, who has publicly stated he does not deserve the medal, obviously also a humble man from appearances.

I've met two MOH winners in person, and both of them were extremely reluctant to cast any credit on themselves, didn't like the limelight, but felt an obligation on behalf of their comrades.

Dakota Meyer Citation

Swensen invites Gold Star parents.

The mother of Marine SSG Aaron Kenefick publically agitated in support of CPT Swensen.

Susan Price says her world was upended when she found out her son was killed.

But the pain of losing a child to war would be compounded as she learned that the mission he was on was poorly planned and poorly executed, with a lack of support from aircraft and artillery that might have made a life-saving difference. It was further compounded by the fact that unlike Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, who received a Medal of Honor two years ago for risking his life to help recover the bodies of Kenefick and others killed that day, Swenson, who criticized the chain of command during the investigation into what went wrong in Ganjgal, had to wait.

“We have been waiting so long for Capt. Swenson's Medal of Honor,” says Price. “It was ambushed.”

Susan Price prides herself on being “a people person” and, as the daughter of a Marine, “a grab-the-bull-by-the-horns kind of gal.”

She did just that in the wake of her son's death, reaching out to the families of the other fallen, the military and the congresswoman representing the Buffalo area where her son grew up.

It was through then-Rep. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., that Price, who had been agitating for change in how the military carried out its missions, learned that not only was that change in the offing, but that officers in charge of the mission were being disciplined.

Price then turned her attention to making sure that Swenson – like Meyer did on Sept. 15, 2011 – received his Medal of Honor.

 

[OfficerObie59]

Doesn't sound like much of a "rift" to me....

<snip>

Meyer's book points out that Combined Joint Task Force 82, commanded by then-Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, was charged with handling Swenson's Medal of Honor packet while the investigations were ongoing in 2009. The packet "had vanished into thin air, forgotten by everybody in the chain of command," the book said. It suggests Swenson symbolizes Ganjgal and the battle "conveyed the wrong message: failure to support advisors, failure to provide artillery support, failure to deliver timely air support, et cetera."

By the way, if you need to raise your blood pressure read the book. It's a wonder any of those guys made it out alive.

Sorry in advance to any All-American die hards out there, but I had the displeasure of serving under the 82nd Airborne HQ Brigade in Ramadi from 2003-2004. I will NEVER wear the combat patch of such and elitist, cocky, and snoot bunch of *******s I have had the misfortune of serving under.

As part of a reserve MP Company for the first summer of 2003, we served under the 3rd ACR who treated us as equals and like family. The 82nd totally threw us into all the shitty duty available and sending their own guys out on all the missions we were doing far more competently. One of their MP's was so jacked up, he didn't clear the round from his MK19 until AFTER he got on post, and ND'd a round over the Euphates and into an Special Forces compound directly across the river.

The one that used to piss me off was when I'd hear "We're the 82nd...we dropped into D-Day and stormed Berlin." No you didn't. You're ****ing grandfather did. Being proud of your unit's lineage is one thing, saying that YOUR unit is better or more squared away because of it is dickish.

IF it sounds like I harbor some deep-seated hatred of the 82nd...its because I do. So, with that said, knowing what I know of the culture (if you're not active duty Army airborne, you're shit) of that unit and their command, albeit five years before, I'm not really surprised at what's allegedly happened to Swenson and the ****show that was TF82 in Asscrackistan.

 

[xcom]

The one that used to piss me off was when I'd hear "We're the 82nd...we dropped into D-Day and stormed Berlin." No you didn't. You're ****ing grandfather did. Being proud of your unit's lineage is one thing, saying that YOUR unit is better or more squared away because of it is dickish.

Not to mention the fact that, as I recall, the Soviets stormed Berlin.

 

[dustoff22]

The problem for Captain Swenson is that he chose to publicly expose the leadership failures that occurred during this battle. This ultimately poisoned his Army career as many in the chain of command were well connected, rapidly advancing officers. In fact, I see that Scaparrotti has already advanced two ranks since this battle and is now a full General, even though he oversaw the medal package that was "lost". Having spent time at West Point myself and being immersed in that part of Army culture, I am reasonably confident that the shunning of Captain Swenson and the loss of the original file was hardly accidental.

Nothing new........shades of Col David Hackworth's meteoric fall from grace for calling the Army out for its failure to fight a guerrilla war in an appropriate manner during the Vietnam era. As a side note, during my attendance of the Command and General Staff College in 1979, guerrilla tactics were superficially brushed over in favor of WW2 tactics which we didn't and won't face post Korea.

 

[garandman]

Video footage conflicts with accounts of events that led to Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer being awarded the nation's highest military decoration.

WASHINGTON — In his memoir of the 2009 battle in Afghanistan that brought him the Medal of Honor, Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer describes how he reflexively switched from his machine gun to his rifle and back to his machine gun as he mowed down a swarm of charging Taliban from the vehicle's turret.

"My mind was completely blank. I fired so many thousands of rounds I didn't think what I was doing," Meyer, then a corporal, wrote in his 2012 book, "Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War."

But videos shot by Army medevac helicopter crewmen show no Taliban in that vicinity or anywhere else on the floor of the Ganjgal Valley at the time and location of the "swarm." The videos also conflict with the version of the incident in Marine Corps and White House accounts of how Meyer, now 25, of Columbia, Ky., came to be awarded the nation's highest military decoration for gallantry.

The videos add to the findings of an ongoing McClatchy investigation that determined that crucial parts of Meyer's memoir were untrue, unsubstantiated or exaggerated, as were the Marine Corps and White House accounts of how he helped extract casualties from the valley under fire. The White House and Marine Corps have defended the accuracy of their accounts of Meyer's actions. The Marine Corps declined to comment on the videos.[

 

[Hustler One]

The one that used to piss me off was when I'd hear "We're the 82nd...we dropped into D-Day and stormed Berlin." No you didn't. You're ****ing grandfather did. Being proud of your unit's lineage is one thing, saying that YOUR unit is better or more squared away because of it is dickish.

Quoted for the MFing truth! I was in Afghanistan for a second tour in 09' and serving under the 101st. Those shit fowl were screaming more about "Bastogne" than I heard hooah come out of someone's mouth.

 

[ccm75]

Rift between Medal of Honor recipients exposed

Uncommon path to Medal of Honor ceremony for Afghan war hero Swenson | PBS NewsHour | Oct. 15, 2013 | PBS