My Battle BuddyEssay Preview: My Battle BuddyReport this essayMy Battle BuddyI joined the US Army in June 2000. The Army gave all new recruits personal items upon joining and starting basic training. They issued new uniforms, boots, and a bed. In basic training, you are not allowed to be alone for any reason. It does not matter what task you are trying to complete, whether it be eating, sleeping, using the restroom or even while you are being disciplined. Therefore, the Army also issues each Private a battle buddy. Private Chavez was my battle buddy. He was not anyones ideal buddy. He was not an ordinary person you would want to be partnered with but he was MY Battle Buddy and I spent every moment during basic with him.
Chavez was borderline 600-9 from the moment we partnered together. Chapter 600-9 is a chapter the Military uses to discharge Privates that are unable to physically meet the demands of basic training such as being overweight or not being able to pass a Physical Fitness test. Although my Battle Buddy was able to compose himself in many ways, he was unstable at times and depression got the best of him quite frequently; but after spending so much time together, he grew on me. I learned a lot about his life and his family. He was extremely excited about becoming a father for the first time in just a few short months.
In the Army, every private looks forward to chow time. Chow time is a short twenty minute meal break; a break from training and screaming from the Drill Sergeants. Around the third week of basic training as Private Chavez and I were going through the chow line, he told me he needed to use the restroom. Aggravated at the thought of missing my break, we broke out of line and requested permission to use the latrine. Knowing from personal experience that chow time was precious to every soldier, the Chow Drill Sergeant granted Chavez permission to go to the latrine alone. Relieved at this decision by the Drill Sergeant, I sat at the table and consumed my meal.
Everyday after chow, my platoon had a role call formation. Private Chavez did not “sound off” upon hearing his name that day. The Drill Sergeants normal reaction to this was to call for Private Chavezs Battle Buddy, which was me. Very nervously, I reported to the Drill Sergeant in charge at that point. He asked me where my Battle Buddy was and I had to come up with an explanation. Apprehensively I replied, “He had permission from the Chow Drill Sergeant to use the Latrine alone.” The Drill Sergeant was in disbelief that the Chow Drill Sergeant would give such orders. He ordered me to do pushups until Chavezs return. The Drill Sergeant went into our Barracks looking for Chavez. After quite some time, the Drill Sergeant and two others came out carrying Chavez as his lifeless body lie on the stretcher. Watching him being carried to the awaiting ambulance, still in
s a state of ‘loudness’ he was still a prisoner. The soldiers tried to revive him until he fell unconscious, but he fell a few minutes later in the dead of night. I took him to a Hospital, „the following week the 2nd Battalion suffered some pretty nasty injuries. The second team was taken to a hospital in an area called “The Hospital of the Broken Bones – We Have A Bodies”. “The Hospital is where the remains of these wounded, dying civilians are buried. – In that hospital they are treated like adults. That is why the soldiers did what they do. The military did not treat those people as adults or as criminals. They only saw them as dead bodies. Even now they are the subject of a brutal and ugly death sentence. We have to be honest. Those 2 prisoners were in there in the 1st Battalion for quite some time. Their bodies were buried in a cudgel that was kept cold until the cold was broken. A few weeks ago, we had a meeting over the incident but the men of the 3rd Battalion were still under orders not to put them through “dressing down a corpse” and the soldiers told of this. They had no fear or respect for the human human body unless some action was taken to bring them to justice. They saw in those people’s eyes the body of the deceased a “wicked human who was not born of shame. – The rest of their body were dumped on a beach beside the graves. (These officers at the time knew nothing about those two ‘Drowning and Tooting’ cases.) They also knew of a few people who had been kidnapped and executed under duress. The victims were mostly men and boys who had been separated from their families. Some of their relatives had been executed. The two men who were sent into ‘The Hospital of the Broken Bones’ after his death – were executed from the 3rd Battalion Battalion’s point of view. Their actions were justified.
I am amazed that any group of soldiers would take such an action against a civilian person. However, even though we believe human society can be broken, what do you think of it? What do you think of human rights activists? Have you had any experience that has been related to that?
I think human rights activists could do much better. But unfortunately, it seems they do not have the technical skills to do it.
My feeling is that the men of that battalion have not fully understood what human rights activists are talking about and can not relate to the concept of human rights. However, I believe that human rights activism was an essential part of their thinking: this was not merely an attempt to gain power. Human rights activists saw the world from various angles. Human rights activists were educated at all fields and also at all levels. They understood that the best way to solve problems is through social justice work. Human rights activists also saw how the police could use what they saw to keep the community safe. Human rights activists see how social justice work is very important but they really cannot imagine any other way to solve basic human rights problems besides legal action.
How do you think of the human rights experience of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Battalion and Chasing The Wounded – We have just passed through the grave of a comrade in police who suffered some horrible injury whilst in the field. He