Entire Interview with “WWII Vet”

April 15, 2009 By CJ
Posted in Uncategorized

I put that in quotations because I highly doubt that this man is a vet at all. I say that for a number of reasons. First, his lack of specific information relating to his experience. Second, the fact that he “doesnt’ give a damn” about my combat experience. Third, our back and forth email conversations.

In a follow up email on Saturday evening, I sent Mr. Hart the following email:

Mr. Hart,

We spoke on the corner of Whitesburg and Airport on Saturday. I’m in the process of writing up my story and need a little more information.

Can you please tell me which units you were in while in the Pacific theater?
What type of dive bomber did you fly in?
Who was your co-pilot?
What are your dates of service?
You mentioned that war wasn’t declared in Iraq and therefore it was an illegal war. Can you explain how that is possible in light of House Joint Resolution 114 that authorized force against Iraq?

Thank you for your time. I look forward to speaking with you again in the future. Again, my blog is called A Soldier’s Perspective and can be found below.

In response he reverted to the standard quotations of the famous anti-war, WWII Medal of Honor recipient General Smedley D. Butler. He’s the one credited with the “war is a racket” quote and equates war with some sort of corporate creation designed to line the pockets of the military industrial complex.

He attempted to cast some focus back on me with the following:

I doubt that there are many veterans who never did anything, under orders, that they’re not proud of.

I’m sorry that we won’t have an opportunity to talk again. However, I wish you good luck in tracking down terrorists.

And at least I learned a few things, among them not to agree to an interview by a hostile interviewer when I’m chilled, at my age. I guess it’s never too late.

I can say there are some things I did I’m not proud of, but I was never ordered to do them. And even the things I did weren’t illegal, immoral, or unjust. I just wish I had done them differently. I’m sure you’ll see from the following video that I was anything BUT “hostile” to Mr. Hart.

When I recognized that he wasn’t answering my questions, I reiterated and even gave him a by on the hardest question:

Thank you, Mr Hart. I must have just misinterpreted your statement that you “don’t give a damn” about my service. Thankfully, I’m not one easily offended or beholden to grudges. Life is too short.

Are you able to answer any or all of those questions I posed earlier
so that I can more accurately tell your story? Don’t worry about the
HJ Resolution 114 question, just the ones about your service will
suffice. If there are any stories from your campaigns you’d like to
share, those are naturally welcome as well.

Good luck to you and I hope to hear from you soon so I can get the
piece written today.

Again, I was rebuffed and redirected as if to get me off a trail that was going cold quickly.

Sorry, CJ. I don’t believe an interview would be productive for either of us.

I’m proud of my six years years in the Corps, especially of the 21 months I was in the Pacific, most of that time engaged in combat at Guadalcanal, Munda, Bougainville, Green Island, and on our drive to neutralize Rabaul. Nothing heroic, but trying all the time.

I don’t like reneging on a commitment, but I’m sure you’ll find many much more fruitful sources than myself.

At that point, I decided to reevaluate my tactics and held off on replying for the moment. There was obviously more to this than meets the eye. Could this be another fake veteran that the peace movement likes to parade around as authorities on combat and all things “veteran”? Without provocation, I began to receive a series of emails from Mr. Hart attempting to further explain himself without saying anything.

Sorry, CJ. Guess I’d rather boast than keep my mouth shut.

I’m more proud of what I’ve done in combat situations, trying to bring peace and comfort victims of combat. The things that help me with memories in my old age are the time I spent in Central America, trying to help struggling peasants under attack and wounded veterans from both sides after ceasefires were reached.

The time I spent in the islands during WWII were satisfying—I did my best, but nothing heroic. But the satisfaction I harvested from my time in pursuit of peace and trying to bring comfort to veterans who’d lost legs and the function of other body parts, as well as time in the mountains while others were producing crops and learning trades.

I hope you’ll understand.

Thus began a series of redirects. He sent me emails that focused on others instead of answering the simple questions about what plane he flew in, his periods of service, and other non-invasive questions. I didn’t want to know about his “heroics” or anyone else’s for that matter. I simply wanted biographical data. I got everything but.

There’s no way I can claim my service in WWII to be worth the time you’d have to invest in it. Nothing I did was particularly noteworthy. I fell far short of being a hero, but I knew many men who met the definition.

This was just a small snippet of a large email about Private First Class William R. Caddy, a Medal of Honor recipient with whom he allegedly served and a fellow pilot. Again, no answers to simple questions, only redirections.

I’ve been trained a lot in interrogation methods. I’ve been to the Reid Course on Interrogation, Stan Walter’s course on Tactical Kinesic Interrogation, and LSI Scan. Mr. Hart’s emails are classic examples of what criminals use to lie their way out of trouble, to get the focus off of them. Speaking to him one on one, the deception indicators were pinging left and right.

I really hate that a gentle old man had to be caught by a “hostile” young stud like myself, but no one gets a pass when claiming to be a veteran. You put up or shut up. I don’t have the money to request a FOIA on Mr. Hart, so I’m not going to follow through with that. You see, I donate seven times more money to charity than our Vice President, pay taxes, and have a family to raise so my funds are short for this sort of stuff. I’ll just leave you with with the complete interview and you can tell me if I was hostile or just seeking some facts.

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