Everyone, look at the subject of this letter. Remember that right this very second the terrorists held in Guantanamo bay are being treated more humanly then the Marines at Camp Lejune. This personally makes me sick! Regardless of whether they are guilty or innocent they deserve better then this! I am upset with President Bush for folding under the unfair and biased pressure of our counties left wing megalomaniac media. I have one piece of advice for W and that is to forget public opinion polls and do what’s right! Remember who’s making most of the accusations against our troops in this war. Remember that the only opinions about the war that truly matter are those of the troops in harms way. They know the truth; they don’t have the luxury of forming their opinions on the war from biased editors and reporters. They get news out the front doors of their barracks or half shelters. These are the only opinions that matter to me. I consider myself lucky to have served this great country and hope that Mr. Bush will do the right thing and take the shackles off, allow these Marines to prepare a proper defense and give them a speedy and FAIR Trial!!! PLEASE everyone reading this post, regardless of your political views, feelings on the war and the President, Voice your opinions against the horrid treatment of these ACCUSED (not convicted) Marines. We just want them to have the same treatment that Jeffery Dahmer, or better yet OJ Simpson received prior to their trials.

Glasberg,

I was rather expecting you to say something about not believing anything a deserter says, but look at this logically: He reports a couple macabre chants he says was used in his unit. You report a similarly macabre chant you heard from someone in some other unit. If you don't doubt the veracity of the second, why the first? Do you honestly think the 82nd airborne was using nursery rhymes as their cadences?

As further evidence, I just went to Military.com and under the Army discussion boards, under the "cadence" topic--though I was only able to find this in Yahoo's cache, since the main board was not able to get to the linked page--I found a number of cadences. Some highlights:

"Up in the morning and out of the rack

prepared for a mortar attack

commander issues a warning order

were going to war, were going to slaughter.

Die die Iraqi die

light 'em up and watch 'em fry

run run Iraqi run

lock and load, let's have some fun

the prone position is where I'll be

waiting for the enemy

I scan my sector from left to right

I'm gonna be in a firefight

Die die Iraqi die

light 'em up and watch 'em fry

run run Iraqi run

lock and load, let's have some fun

I look through my rear sight

5.56 round in flight

I shoot the enemy in his head

he fell to his knees and then he was dead

he knew right then he'd met his match

I wear the stripes, I wear the patch

So die die Iraqi die

light 'em up and watch 'em fry

run run Iraqi run

lock and load let's have some fun

see the Iraqi dressed in red

I put a bullet in his head

see the Iraqi dressed in black

my bayonet is in his back

Die die Iraqi die

light 'em up and watch 'em fry

run run Iraqi run

lock and load, let's have some fun.

And then there's this one, which as I found listed on other sites is from the Vietnam era:

Air Force, Air Force

Flying High

Drop some napalm from the sky

(Chorus) Napalm sticks to kids...Napalm sticks to ribs

See those kids on the paddy dike?

They won't be going home tonight...

(Chorus)

See those kids down by the lake?

Drop some napalm and watch them bake

(Chorus)

See the baby sleeping in that hut?

Drop some napalm on it's butt.

(Chorus)

See the little girl in the grass?

Drop some napalm on her a$$.

(Chorus)

Given these chants right there on Military.com, I have very little trouble believing that the 82nd airborne was using the "train to kill/kill we will" chant. Moreover, while the citations are all from Army sources, it's pretty damn unlikely that some members of the Marines have not also picked up these same macabre folk chants.

You can cast aspersions on the veracity of a deserter all you like, but it doesn't change the fact that if he were going to make something up, he could have made up something far more damning. After all, I've just scratched the surface and found two chants that are worse.

Cache where these may be found:

http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&fr=slv1-sbc&p=%22Napalm+sticks+to+kids%2C+napalm+sticks+to+ribs.%22+&u=forums.military.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1431924461/m/5340043520001&w=%22napalm+sticks+to+kids+napalm+sticks+to+ribs%22&d=K8i43jmtMw3J&icp=1&.intl=us

Kevin Andrew Murphy

Great research. FYI, though, the 82nd Airborne is part of the Army, not the Marine Corps, which is probably why I never heard this chant.

By the way, I doubt the testimony of a deserter who has an axe to grind. I doubt his sudden bout of conscience. I saw too many people suddenly decide they were pacifists when things got tough. I can respect a genuine pacifist who has the courage of his convictions and lives the life consistently. The rest of these guys are simple cowards and hypocrites to boot.

I agree about your thoughts on an interesting anthropological study, too.

Here's an Airborne one I got from a former Army Ranger friend:

"C-130 rolling down the strip

Airborne Ranger gonna take a little trip

If his chute don't open 'round

He'll be the first guy on the ground."

There's a certain element of morbid humor in a lot of them.

Funny how Bush seemed so vague about this...as if he wasn't the 'war president', as if he didn't have the title of Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the U.S.A.

As the C-I-C, shouldn't the ultimate responsibility with Haditha rest with him? Yeah, right...