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#1
11-01-2003, 11:04 AM
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cowardice
Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, October 31, 2003 A soldier with Fort Carson?s 10th Special Forces Group has been charged with cowardice for allegedly refusing to do his duty in Iraq, according to a Thursday report in the Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette. Special Forces interrogator Staff Sgt. Georg Porgany?s charge sheet says he showed ?cowardly conduct as a result of fear, in that he refused to perform his duties,? according to the report. If convicted in a court-martial, the soldier faces prison time and a dishonorable discharge. He was charged Oct. 14. His first court appearance is Nov. 7 at Fort Carson. A cowardice charge is extremely rare, military law experts told the Gazette. Army officials couldn?t say Wednesday the last time it had been filed. Porgany, 32, said he is wrongly charged. The soldier said he experienced a ?panic attack? after seeing the mangled body of an Iraqi man and told his superior he was heading for a ?nervous breakdown.? After that, Porgany said he didn?t request to go on missions nor did the unit ask him to go. He told the Gazette that he asked for help but was denied the care soldiers with ?combat stress? are supposed to receive. Instead of help, Porgany said, one of his superiors told him to ?get his head out of his ass and get with the program.? Army officials declined the Gazette?s requests to talk about the case. Porgany?s unit was working on Sept. 29 out of Samarra, north of Baghdad, when Porgany saw the body of an Iraqi man brought into the Army compound. Porgany had never seen anything like that. Shortly after, he said, he began shaking, couldn?t focus and kept throwing up his food.
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\"Freedom Is A System Based On Courage\" 
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#2
11-01-2003, 11:10 AM
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It will be an interesting to story to watch.
I saw many a mangled body as a civilian medic, but that didn't prevent me from going out on the next call. However, I know of one medic that made one call with us and never again went on a medic run. Couldn't handle it. Two sides to this story, it will be interesting to follow. My guess is there more to it than the cover article.
Keith
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#3
11-08-2003, 10:22 AM
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Some people just aren't constitutionally capable of looking at that kind of trauma. That's true even of highly-trained Special Forces soldiers. Of course we aren't fulling privy to the facts here, but it seems to me, both as combat veteran and lawyer, that "cowardice" charges ought to be reserved for things such as fleeing one's post in the face of the enemy or some such thing. This guy just isn't fit for combat duty, in spite of all the training and screening he had to go through to become SF qualified. Discharge him, and don't waste the UCMJ on things such as this, is my gut reaction. But get him some treatment. This situation seems to require more humanity on the part of his superiors than discipline.
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"No one has greater love than this; to lay down one's life for one's friends.". John 15:13
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#4
11-08-2003, 11:55 AM
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Montana
HE has a lot of training. I don't if I would discharge him but I certainly would reasign Him. Hate to waste all his education.
Keith
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#6
11-16-2003, 05:14 PM
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Having seen a few mangled bodies myself I can understand the man's problem. UNDERSTANDING is the only solution given, that we are, one assumes, human beings. Cowardice? No. He did say he had a problem and they ignored it. I myself passed out after handling a rather nasty situation (was given an award and such in spite of my reaction since a life was saved). Happens. And normal.
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#7
11-16-2003, 10:57 PM
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The SF soldier had a low tolerance for gore. To call him a coward is too severe. Perhaps, all he needed was to talk with a Chaplain. Maybe then, he could have dealt with the death of his enemy so that he could go on to fight...
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#9
12-30-2003, 10:25 PM
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As,...
...it should be,...
...No one knows what the face of death looks like until your facing it,... ...sound counseling at inception of trauma might lessen the affects over long term, but it's apparent that he wasn't given any also,... ..."what can I say,... it's my time of the month",... ...
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"Let me tell you a story" ..."Have I got a story for you!" Tom "ANDY" Andrzejczyk ...
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#10
12-31-2003, 02:12 AM
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Everyone's perception and tolerance for death and destruction is different. If a person says they can't handle it, they should be listened to and taken care of, so they don't endanger their fellow troops. "Cowardice" may not be the issue. Of course some people use "mental illness" as a cover. But then some folks are disturbed. It is hard to make judgments about something like this... unless you know all the facts.....
Larry
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