I can only imagine what would have become of me if I'd slandered my ship or shipmates in such a manner as this.
Youth and arrogance go hand in hand, so it’s not difficult to see how one starts down this sort of path. Still, I find it impossible to feel sorry for this young man, and I have to wonder what sort of defects a person must have to follow that path so far to the detriment of his fellow soldiers.
My experience (submarines) taught me quickly that you were either crew…or you weren’t. I can’t imagine that an Army unit in a war zone feels less strongly about that concept.

Although it's not really on topic, I've been to FOB Falcon a couple of times. We lived just down the road at dirthole FOB St. Mike. Sometimes we'd end our missions in their area, so we'd be forced to eat in their rockin' chow hall.

Yeah, I recently read a some of this guy's Emo writing. It's pretty silly.

"Sanchez on Beauchamp" hummm, I would like to hear what real reporters have to say about Beauchamp and his bs stories. Things are desperate when we have to take the word of an admitted gay male porn star like Sanchez.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/03/mcsanchez070314/
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/03/mcsanchez070309/
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/03/marine_porn_sanchez_070323
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/03/marine_sanchez_investigation070330/

blastmarine - Has there been a problem with Sanchez' prior reporting or do you just have a problem with gays?

As daleyrocks states, what precisely, does Sanchez' past have anything to do with what he reports? He is at FOB Falcon... something none of our other media outlets can claim.

While your homophobia is noted, information surrounding this case is only "desperate" from the perspective of Beauchamp, Franklin Foer, and The New Republic.

I'm thinking that Scott Beauchamp's stories were just the warmup for his book and his "Jimmy Massey" media tour. Everyone remembers how that one turned out don't they? Massey was a real soldier too who engaged in a little Joe Wilson type literary flair he was forced to back down from when none of the incidents he described could be corroborated.

Once again, full meme ahead!

Sanchez has never fully laid out the facts in his gay porn past, escorting (prostitution), or fully detail the facts behind the aligations of his misrepresenting himself as a combat Marine (he has never served in combat) to the United Way and U-Hall to receive money or services. In the links from "The Marine Corps Times" above you will find the quote from the investigating officer to Sanchez:
"“Specifically, you wrongfully solicited funds to support your purported deployment to Iraq” by coordinating a $300 payment from the UWVC and $12,000 from U-Haul, Jones wrote."

Col Jones is the Marine Corps Investigating Officer and UWVC is New York City United War Veterans Council.

Sanchez is writing about Bouchamp who is under investigation for breaking military rules and he wants to report on them, well, for one I want him to release the full report of the investigation into his behavior and the details of his discharge. Until then you can call me a homophobe for calling him out, but I believe I have good cause.

Hmmmm.

@ blastmarine

*laugh* keep trying. Nothing you, or any other lefty troll, writes is going to take the spotlight off of Beauchamp and TNR.

The fact that TNR hasn't responded for *2 weeks* now in their "investigation" is interesting. That TNR has taken an unscheduled August vacation is even more interesting.

So far it appears that Beauchamp is probably going to be drummed out of the Army and TNR is going to be shown, again and again and again, to be the home of liars.

And pretty much nothing you or the other lefty trolls on any website are going be able to do anything about it.

memomachine, is that the best you can do? Are you Sanchez or one of his "special butties"

Beauchamp is scum and will be taken care of. Sanchez still has not come out with the truth and released the information I mentioned in my previous comment.

Lefty troll memoachine?, dude, you seriously need to have your head examined.

Hmmm.

@ blastmarine

1. 'memomachine, is that the best you can do? Are you Sanchez or one of his "special butties"'

Sorry but that's your personal fantasy.

2. 'Beauchamp is scum and will be taken care of.'

*shrug* probably.

3. 'Sanchez still has not come out with the truth and released the information I mentioned in my previous comment.'

I'm sure he's sweating bullets right now and worried that you might post yet another comment about him. I'd inform "60 Minutes" about your expose, but I'm sure they already know.

4. 'Lefty troll memoachine?, dude, you seriously need to have your head examined.'

*shrug* that's what you sound like.

Frankly if Sanchez is into gay porn I couldn't possibly care less.

And whether or not you do is also something I couldn't possibly care less.

memomachine

I feel compelled to point out the hypocrisy of someone with Matt Sanchez's background leading any kind of investigation (reporting) without first having come clean on the documented case the Marines had on him. Maybe in your world you find the open questions about his bahavior acceptable, but for me they are not. People who read his dispatches need to know who their information is coming from.

I looked at you blog and probably in some other instance we could have had a decent discussion, but you decided that my comment about Sanchez makes me a "lefty troll" and instead of addressing the merits of the comment or the information on the links from the Marine Corps Times, you instead try to deminish my statements by making sweeping characterizations that were completly incorrect and had nothing to do with anwsering the comment. If anything your tactic is like the lefty's I have seen.

So the origional disussion was on Beauchamp, my comment was on Sanchez and how his reporting is in question (in my book) due to the articles written in the Marine Corps Times about him, and Sanchez not fully answering them publicly. I would hate to find the MSM attack the coverage of Bouchamp as being somehow tainted due to a "gay porn star" with a reported history of deceit being the main conduit for uncovering any details about Beauchamp.

blastmarine - Have you noticed problems with Sanchez' reporting or are you just being a lefty troll?

daleyrocks,

I don't comment on blogs much. Sanchez could be giving accurate information or he could be lying. I guess you have to take someone at their word, unless his word has already been called into question. If you read the articles from the Marine Corps Times maybe you might come away with the same opinion I have of Sanchez.

I guess it has something to do with the nature of Col Jones investigation into Sanchez for lying to organizations like the United Way and UHall. If he lying then is he lying now?

I think it is a honest question especially if Sanchez is reporting on a soldier accused of what Beauchamp is. So I will take the word of Michael Yon or others, but I know of Sanchez's history and his word is suspect in my book.

I would like to know how one is a lefty troll for bringing a point like this to a conversation? For me, I am a conservative republican and find it ironic to be called lefty for bring up this information. I guess I won't drink the cool-aid from any side if it means keeping quiet when someone of Sanchez's ilk is "reporting".

Hmmmm.

@ blastmarine

Quite frankly considering the enormous list of strange, unbelievable and frankly quite mad things I saw in my (short) time in the Marine Corps, participation in gay porn doesn't even meet the minimal threshold.

In just two (2) years I saw:

1. My company Staff Sgt had an affair with the First Sgt's wife ... naked and on the *lawn* of the barracks. First Sgt came back on base after finishing one (1) of his second jobs and found the two naked and doing the "beast with two backs" on the *lawn*. Staff Sgt (still naked) got chased all over the base by a very angry First Sgt.

2. Company armorer got drunk and decided to reprise a movie scene **in the armory** by taking a 100-rd belt of M-60 ammo, pulling the bullets and dumping the gunpowder into a pile. This idiot then *lit* the gunpowder. Modern gunpowder, unlike blackpowder, doesn't just burn, it explodes.

The resulting explosion scared the hell out of everyone since it came at 3am and from the armory where they just got a shipment of new LAWS rockets, 200,000 rounds of M-60 ammo, 400,000 rounds of M-16 ammo and a couple dozen cases of grenades. Plus the armory was about 50 yards from the barracks.

He was dragged out of the armory and taken to the First Aid station where they saw that he had blown his eyebrows, and most of his hair, off.

3. A Corporal in my platoon, who will be unanmed, decided as he had a USMC vehicle, a USMC issue M1911A1 pistol with US government issue ammo and *was the Duty NCO for that day* that he'd go deer hunting **on the base while on duty**.

He got caught because:

A. he and a messhall cook were trying to shove a gutted deer carcass into a messhall freezer.

B. a private was detailed by the Corporal to wash out the blood from the back of the USMC pickup and to bury the deer guts somewhere.

C. The base CO, a US Navy Lt. Commander, was on his daily walk around the base and found "B" the private washing out the deer blood and "A" the Corporal stuffing a deer carcass into a freezer.

4. A couple Marines from my unit got drunk at famous local bar, got obnoxious and were thrown out. One of the Marines broke into an grenade storage unit, stole a couple CS gas grenades and went back to the famous local bar, which was packed by this point, and threw the live CS grenades into the bar causing all sorts of hell.

5. A Marine from my unit took his service M-16 along with some stolen ammo to a local beach resort town and decide that what he needed to do was shoot the place up a bit.

6. The Lt commanding my platoon got caught smoking dope with our Sgt.

etc etc etc. Endless etc's.

Frankly. Posing in a gay porn rag really doesn't set a fire.

Hmmm.

@ blastmarine

Honestly I don't know your political affiliation and it really doesn't matter to me. The reason why I thought you were a lefty is because the whole "gay porn" angle is what drove the left on their witchhunt of Jeff Gannon.

*shrug* perhaps it's a big deal to you. Good for you. I consider it irrelevant. A lot of Marines I knew got into the most amazing trouble and almost universally they were good people doing stupid things. But hey that's what people do in the military when they're stuck on base, out in the middle of nowhere and/or bored out of their minds.

For some of us having a good time means going bowling. For a unlucky few, yes a fellow Marine, having a good time means staggering down a residential street and taking a piss on a telephone pole, in front of a cop and on some prominent local citizen's lawn.