GI Special 4G11: Defending This Country - July 11, 2006
Thomas F. Barton
Andrew Sapp made up his mind last year while he was outside the Iraqi town of Baiji.A staff sergeant with the Massachusetts Army National Guard, he had long opposed the war in Iraq, but not publicly.Standing in a guard tower on Aug. 9, 2005, Sapp saw a flash in the sky."A moment later the ground shook. It really shook," Sapp, who lives in Billerica, told a group of about 75 summer session students at Phillips Academy last night.Two roadside bombs had exploded nearby, Sapp said. The second, meant for a tank, hit an American Humvee. The gunner on the vehicle was thrown 50 feet but survived. Four others, members of the Pennsylvania National Guard, died."They had to pick pieces of them out of trees," Sapp told the high school-age students.The stress of the memory was enough to drive feelings of intense anger through his mind and send Sapp into counseling."All I wanted to see was the town of Baiji leveled," he told the group. "I now understand, very well, how war crimes happen.""
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Andrew Sapp made up his mind last year while he was outside the Iraqi town of Baiji.A staff sergeant with the Massachusetts Army National Guard, he had long opposed the war in Iraq, but not publicly.Standing in a guard tower on Aug. 9, 2005, Sapp saw a flash in the sky."A moment later the ground shook. It really shook," Sapp, who lives in Billerica, told a group of about 75 summer session students at Phillips Academy last night.Two roadside bombs had exploded nearby, Sapp said. The second, meant for a tank, hit an American Humvee. The gunner on the vehicle was thrown 50 feet but survived. Four others, members of the Pennsylvania National Guard, died."They had to pick pieces of them out of trees," Sapp told the high school-age students.The stress of the memory was enough to drive feelings of intense anger through his mind and send Sapp into counseling."All I wanted to see was the town of Baiji leveled," he told the group. "I now understand, very well, how war crimes happen.""
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posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 9:15 AM
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