To the Pentagon: Americans Don't Need You to Invent Incredible War Stories -- We Have Real Ones

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To the Pentagon: Americans Don't Need You to Invent Incredible War Stories -- We Have Real Ones
Paul Rieckhoff


Anyone who saw last week's testimony given by Jessica Lynch and the Tillman family should be as livid as I am. The exploitation of these young troops' stories, and the terrible and unnecessary additional suffering the Pentagon caused their families, is simply unconscionable. That those at fault still haven't been held responsible makes it even worse.

On the fourth anniversary of the "mission accomplished" speech, it is no wonder less than half of Americans believe that the military is giving the public an accurate picture of the war.

But the most infuriating part of this scandal is the fact that the military brass and Pentagon PR consultants thought they needed to invent stories at all.

Over 1.5 million troops have served with honor in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their stories are rarely caught on film in time for the evening news, so they aren't easily packaged for a ratings bounce or a public distraction from an unpopular and poorly-planned war. I wrote about the thirty-eight heroes I had the honor of leading in my book, Chasing Ghosts. At IAVA, I have had the privilege of working with thousands of these heroes, and I'd like to share two real-life stories with you.

Meet Mike Zacchea, who spent a year in Iraq training the Iraqi Army and leading them in combat. When he was wounded in an RPG attack in the Battle of Fallujah, he refused to be evacuated, unwilling to leave the side of the Iraqis he had trained. Mike was awarded two Bronze Stars for valor and a Purple Heart, but he doesn't usually talk about that. Instead, he'll tell you about a different award, one he received from interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi: the Lion of Babylon Medal for service to Iraq.

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