Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Learning from the past

Friday, Sept. 5, 2003 | 5:20 a.m.

THE COALITION FORCES IN IRAQ hoped they had heard the last charges about the possible mistreatment of prisoners of war. The first big flap fell by the wayside after Col. Tim Collins of the Irish Guards was proven to be innocent of spurious charges made by a Civil Affairs major of the U.S. Army.

Collins, prior to the charges, had become known for how he spoke to his troops prior to combat. "Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle, remember to be magnanimous in victory," he said. These certainly aren't the words of a man who would mistreat prisoners. Collins' troops said the accusing major had been chastised by the colonel, for what he considered inappropriate conduct, prior to the charges being made by the U.S. officer.

Now along comes some questionable charges against four military reservists from Pennsylvania. Master Sgt. Lisa Girman, Sgt. 1st Class Scott McKenzie, Spec. Timothy Canjar and Sgt. Shawna Edmondson have been charged with dereliction of duty, assault and other offenses when moving POWs. All of them are reservists in the 320th Military Police Battalion from Ashley, Pa. Hearings on the charges, made by soldiers of another U.S. outfit, have been held in Camp Bucca, Iraq. Testimony given last week gave no indication of any prisoner being seriously injured.

Girman, 35, has been a Pennsylvania state trooper for 14 years and runs a summer camp for kids. She was injured in the 1991 Gulf War when Iraqi POWs revolted.

Sgt. Shawna Edmondson, 24, is a public safety officer at the University of Scranton.

Staff Sgt. Scott McKenzie, 38, works in a state corrections boot camp facility and is active in the Boy Scouts.

Spec. Tim Canjar, 21, was enrolled to attend Penn State University before being called into active duty.

A couple of weeks ago I talked on the phone with Girman's mother, Carol Graff, and was deeply impressed by her words. She spoke with pride about a daughter who has proven herself time and again when serving her community, state and nation. Both she and her daughter find it difficult to believe that these charges have been made against the four soldiers.

Mistreating prisoners isn't the American way of doing things. During my first few weeks on Guam I was assigned to guard Japanese POWs. Not once did I see any of them abused and all of us made certain they had good food and care. The war was over and soon they were to be sent home.

During the Korean War our military learned a tough lesson at the Koje-do POW camp in 1952. We learned that prisoners can't be allowed to run the prison compounds. They tried and executed some of their own who they learned didn't want to be sent back home after the war.

On May 7, 1952, the Chinese and North Korean prisoners took an American general captive and put him on trial. This made it necessary, a month later, to bring combat soldiers of the 38th Infantry Regiment to retake control. During this action 31 prisoners were killed and 139 were wounded. Also, one U.S. soldier was speared to death and 14 were wounded. Prisoners shouldn't be mistreated but they can't be allowed to set the rules and endanger the lives of their captors.

We don't know what will be the final determination of the Army about our soldiers at Camp Bucca. The charges and testimony to this point make me believe that somebody has an ax to grind or is incompetent to judge the actions of soldiers doing a difficult but necessary job.