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It only takes one

March 20, 2009 by Heather

We’ve all heard or been the victim of an individual’s actions, where those actions have caused the image of our group to be tarnished or distorted.

Consider the three Marines and one Navy corpsman who raped, tortured, and burned alive a twelve year old girl after slaughtering her father, mother, and baby brother around Haditha.  Does this mean there is something “funny” with the Navy-Marine Corps team, or is this an isolated incident irrelevant of the character of the United States military?  I would sincerely hope it is the latter.  I would also hope everyone could separate the two and not pass judgment on the entire organization.  In that case, shouldn’t KBR be given the same respect?  An INDIVIDUAL KBR employee may have fallen asleep on duty, but I can guarantee there are members of the armed services who are guilty of the same crime.  And yes, complacency does kill.  I knew a Marine who became complacent while doing maintenance on the main landing gear of a CH-53E and he lost his life after the landing gear collapsed and crushed him.  Another INDIVIDUAL KBR employee may have sold liquor to troops, but who were these troops purchasing the liquor.  They are as guilty as the contractor, since service members are not allowed to sell, purchase, or consume alcohol.  In addition, I also know of fellow Marines who had alcohol sent to them from home—another violation of this rule.  Finally, in the case of the electrocution, this is currently under investigation by the military and charges have been brought against the parties (not the entire organization) responsible.  This employee was probably being complacent, and that Marine should have never died, but the Marine repairing the main landing gear should have never died also.

Therefore, we should never pass judgment on an entire group based on the actions of a few individuals. If we did, then the problem exists that the U.S. military, or worse all Americans, are drug dealers, thugs, rapists, and murderers.

Comments

Tyler

Tyler
March 24, 2009

In Vietnam soldiers had judgement passed on them as a whole because of the actions of a few. We all now the horror stories of them coming home. Well, I like to think the American people have gotten over that and don’t pass judgement on all soldiers for the mess-ups of a few.

KBR will have to go through the same thing. Only thing is they get paid more, live a bit better, and don’t have to stay as long. So people wont feel as sorry for them as they do soldiers so judgement will be harsher.

With any luck people will soon judge the actions of a few in KBR the same as they do with soldiers.

Heather

Heather
March 24, 2009

Many KBR employees spend years in country, so they actually spend more time oversees than the military.

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