美国国家公共电台 NPR--'Taking Cover' examines a friendly fire incident in Iraq and the ensuing cover up

'Taking Cover' examines a friendly fire incident in Iraq and the ensuing cover up

Transcript¹

NPR podcast Taking Cover delves² into the worst Marine³-on-Marine friendly fire incident in modern history.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

An exclusive NPR investigation⁴ reveals a piece of history that never made it into the history books. It's been 20 years since the U.S. invaded Iraq. And a new limited series podcast, Taking Cover, explores a terrible friendly fire incident early in the war that was buried for political reasons. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and Graham Smith from NPR's investigations⁵ unit brings us a piece of that podcast about the tragedy and the cover-up. And we should note, there are graphic⁶ descriptions of war and language that some may find vulgar.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE⁷: It's mid-April, 2004. Gunfire rips through the streets and alleyways of Fallujah, a city just west of Baghdad, where there's a growing insurgency⁸. U.S. Marines are holed up at a schoolhouse. Suddenly, in the courtyard, there's an explosion, then a terrible firefight. The men of Echo Company told us how it started, just as the sun was setting.

JOHN SMITH: As I'm lifting my flak jacket up to put it on - boom - shrapnel is ripping through everyone.

CARLOS GOMEZ-PEREZ: And before I could turn to Tommy, we both got thrown forward against the freaking wall.

EVERETT WATT⁹: And then everything went black.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CHRIS COVINGTON: I knew who some of the guys were that got hit because I recognized their screams.

GRAHAM SMITH, BYLINE: Everett Watt, a Navy corpsman, treated men in the courtyard amid the firefight. Some couldn't be saved. Watt remembers treating a young Marine from California, Brad Shuder.

WATT: I got to Brad. And he was pretty much, like, making a joke about he was supposed to go back and go to the club. And he's not going to get to dance. And I'm like, no, man. Like, you're going to be good, dude. We're going to go downtown. And we're going to go dance.

G SMITH: In the end, three men died. A dozen more were wounded. And as it turns out, the officers commanding these men knew almost immediately what had happened. The Marines accidentally fired an 81 mm mortar¹¹ on their own troops. But NPR learned that the investigation into what happened was never shared properly. In fact, it was covered up.

GREGG OLSON: I assume that all your recording¹² stuff has been...

G SMITH: Cleared?

OLSON: Oh, yeah.

BOWMAN: Gregg Olson was a lieutenant¹³ colonel at the time, the battalion¹⁴ commander. He was given faulty information and then personally approved the mortar mission that killed his own troops.

And when did you realize it was a friendly fire?

OLSON: Almost immediately. I mean, it was a single round in adjust. Echo Company simultaneously¹⁵ reported taking incoming indirect fire. My heart sank. I knew exactly what happened. That round had landed in a friendly position.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

BOWMAN: Olson is a three-star general now. He told us an investigation was ordered. But he was instructed not to say anything, not even to the families of those killed, until the investigation was wrapped up. In fact, the families were told that the men were killed by enemy fire. They weren't even told there was an investigation until much later.

ELENA ZURHEIDE: It took them three years. That's three years too many.

G SMITH: Elena Zurheide is a war widow. Her husband, Robert, died almost instantly from the blast.

ZURHEIDE: And then they are like, oh, we want to tell you about the investigation.

BOWMAN: Did they say why it took so long? Did they say...

ZURHEIDE: We had to make a full investigation.

BOWMAN: Three years?

ZURHEIDE: Three years.

BOWMAN: We're really sorry. There was a big screw-up?

ZURHEIDE: Oh, no, they didn't apologize. And they said nobody is getting punished for it.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

G SMITH: Elena was right. And she gave us a copy of the investigation that had been done. When we asked the Marines for a copy of it, they told us they didn't have it in their records anymore. Although the regimental commander recommended discipline for three officers, that was all brushed aside by Major General James Mattis, later to be defense¹⁶ secretary.

BOWMAN: General Mattis was supposed to make sure that every wounded Marine was informed about the nature of the explosion. Our investigation found that didn't happen.

When did you hear officially that it was actually friendly fire?

WATT: I mean, it was officially - officially, officially - about, like, two minutes ago (laughter) when you guys said it.

BOWMAN: Corpsman Everett Watt took shrapnel to his shoulder.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

G SMITH: So until we just mentioned that there was an investigation a couple of minutes ago, nobody from the Marine Corps¹⁰ ever, like, gave you a copy of the investigation or told you that your wounds were the result of a friendly fire? Like, nobody ever contacted you and told you that?

WATT: No, sir. No, sir. I never got any notification or anything about anything.

BOWMAN: What do you think about that?

WATT: I mean, it almost, like - honest to God, it almost, like, devalues the fact that I got a Purple Heart.

BOWMAN: So why were Watt and the others kept in the dark? Here's one possibility. We found that a politically connected Marine was involved in the screw-up. His name, Duncan Hunter Jr. In 2004, he was a young lieutenant. His father, also named Duncan Hunter, was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, which oversees¹⁷ military policy, including the Iraq war and the budget.

G SMITH: Duncan Hunter Jr. eventually won his father's seat in the House. He wouldn't give us an interview, but here he is on a podcast talking about his time in Fallujah that spring.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DUNCAN HUNTER: I got to go shoot artillery¹⁸. And it was a wide-open area, too. I mean, you had a free fire area in parts of Fallujah for a month or two.

BOWMAN: It was during this time, when he says Fallujah was a free fire area, that this deadly mistake happened. Years later, Hunter pleaded guilty to felony misuse¹⁹ of campaign funds. He eventually resigned and was pardoned by President Trump²⁰.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

G SMITH: Mick Wagoner is a retired²¹ Marine lawyer who looked at the investigation Elena Zurheide gave us. He said the way it was handled is a stain on the organization.

MICK WAGONER: We do not lie to our Marines. We owe them that as an organization that effed them up that we tell them the truth.

BOWMAN: Well, not only that, it's in the Marine Corps hymn²².

WAGONER: Yeah, it's in our motto.

BOWMAN: Keep your honor clean.

WAGONER: It's in our motto, Semper Fidelis - always faithful. And faithful means, you know, know your troops, and look out for their welfare.

BOWMAN: General Mattis wouldn't give us an interview. His boss at the time and later the top Marine officer, General James Conway, told us in a brief interview he didn't remember the incident. Months later, he sent us an email calling the friendly fire regrettable and saying the failure to inform the families was corrected. What he didn't say was the Marine Corps only corrected the record after they were dragged to Capitol Hill. And it took two hearings for them to finally acknowledge these friendly fire deaths. I'm Tom Bowman.

G SMITH: I'm Graham Smith. NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MART?NEZ: Tom Bowman and Graham Smith are hosts of the new NPR podcast Taking Cover.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 delves   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That delves the grave duly. 误不了你的洞房。 来自互联网
• The exhibition delves deep into the physics, aromatics and even the timbre of flatulence. 此次展览向人们介绍了人体物理、气味甚至肠胃胀气的声音等各方面知识。 来自互联网

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

6 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

9 watt   

n.瓦，瓦特

参考例句：

• The invention of the engine is creditable to Watt.发动机的发明归功于瓦特。
• The unit of power is watt.功率的单位是瓦特。

10 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

14 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

15 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

16 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

17 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

18 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

19 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

20 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

21 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

22 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。