I've lost sixty pounds thus far. (That's the real purpose of this posting – so I can brag.) Forty pounds of that have come off since I started tracking my diet and exercise on MyFitnessPal.com on August 9, 2012. I've recommended this website in the past because it's the best I've ever found and it's free! I started out with Weight Watchers but their screwy system doesn't count fruits and vegetables as though they don't have any food value. 

However, I've hit a plateau. I've weighed in the mid-two-hundred and forties for six weeks now. It's been frustrating. So, I checked out the reports section on MyFitnessPal last night and discovered that my net calorie intake dropped about the time I stopped losing weight. Really? Really!

Obviously, I have no lack of will power. It's just that, according to them, my net calories are too low. Net calories include the total food consumed less the calories burned during exercise. The dramatic peaks and valleys in this chart are explained by the fact that I try to workout on an elliptical machine four times per week and practice Hatha Yoga seven days per week. I just began the yoga in early May. Yes, I miss a day or two here and there, usually when I have grand parenting duties.

So, should I increase caloric intake? That is, eat more. Do you have any idea the danger in telling a person who has battled his weight all his life to “eat more”? Yeah, that's a recipe for disaster...

I have posted the letters from the family of Lieutenant Behenna as they fought to find justice in his case. I am sad to say that this probably will be the final posting and it is a sad ending indeed. The Supreme Court has refused to hear his case. Here are the links to the previous postings in case you missed them:

Original Posting: Who is more deserving of justice than the men & women who fight to defend our freedom?

Update 1: Parole hearing scheduled

Update 2: Parole denied

Update 3: Government dragging its feet in responding to Supreme Court

Update 4: Is justice delayed justice denied in the case of Lt Behenna?

Update 5: Justice plods ahead slowly: Lietenant Behenna's case in conference at the Supreme Court

Update 6: What price justice?

Please send Lieutenant Behenna a card or a letter now and then. Not only will it help him survive his incarceration with some semblance of humanity, but also it will help you remember that justice in America is in peril. The daily news of scandals from the halls of power are not unrelated to this case. It is just another instance of the application of justice according to political and ideological tests that pervades this Administration. 

The only hope for justice remaining is a Presidential Pardon. Will the current occupant of the White House grant one? As my Magic Eight Ball might say, "It is doubtful". Inasmuch as this Administration is committed to appeasement towards the terrorists, they can't be expected to act justly to those who fight them. Hopefully the next President will be wiser and act more justly. We can only pray...

To all the thousands of Michael supporters,

Over the past five years all Michael truly wanted was a fair trial to show that he was defending himself when attacked by a known Al-Qa’ida member on that fateful May night in 2008.  A week ago the Supreme Court announced that Michael’s case was denied certiorari.  This effectively ends the possibility of a jury hearing from Dr. Herbert MacDonell, the expert witness for the Army prosecutors who told them in private during the original trial that he believed the evidence supported Michael’s version of the events.  As most of you know the prosecutors sent Dr. MacDonell home rather than have him provide testimony that would have corroborated what Michael said happened in that Iraqi culvert.  We will never know why the prosecutors wantonly withheld this evidence, or why the military chose to release a known terrorist whom Army Intelligence knew participated in the killing of Michael’s Soldiers (and for whom the Army had issued a kill/capture order on), or why Michael’s platoon was designated as the unit to return the very man responsible for the IED attack on Michael’s Soldier’s back to his home.  

Although many questions will remain unanswered, one thing that I can tell you with absolute certainty is that Michael remains in good health, good spirits, and will dutifully serve in prison until the Army tells him he can go free, whether that be next year or ten years from now.  I honestly don’t know how those that betrayed Michael sleep at night, but we are comforted by the fact that Michael is at peace in knowing his actions on May 16, 2008 protected himself, his troops, and all the Iraqi citizens that may have been harmed in the future by this Al-Qa’ida terrorist.  While the military justice system that denied Michael a fair trial is indeed broken, despite everything Michael’s spirit remains UNBROKEN!  To quote the poem Invictus, 'his head is bloody, but unbowed.'

With the decision by the Supreme Court to not review Michael’s case our legal battle has come to an end, but our fight to secure Michael’s freedom goes on.   I know many of you who contacted your Congressional Delegations in the past had been told that they can’t do anything while Michael’s case works its way through the courts.  Well those excuses are no longer valid and we want all those in charge - the President, The Secretary of Defense, The Secretary of the Army, the Army Clemency and Parole Board, the Congress - to finally stand up for what’s right and allow Michael to return home to his family and start a new life.  These leaders and the entire country must ask the question: who is benefiting from Michael’s further incarceration?  Society?  The Army?  Michael?  Iraq?  In 2009 President Bush commuted the sentences of the Border Patrol Agents Compean and Ramos due to public outcry. With your assistance we can do the same for Michael.

Michael may have been denied by the Supreme Court, but he knows from your many cards and letters of support that he has not been rebuked or rejected by the American public or Soldiers/Marines who have walked in his shoes before him.  Please pass this latest disappointing news to your family, friends, and neighbors so we can work together to tell the political leaders of this country that we need to bring this brave Soldier home where he belongs! 

Bless you for your continued support of our son!

Scott & Vicki Behenna

The poem INVICTUS, by William Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

STORYTELLERS HAVE BEEN getting themselves in and out of tight spots ever since the first tales were narrated. Chester Gould, who originated the Dick Tracy series of comics, was a master of the craft. No cartoon character was better known for getting into situations that seemed impossible to escape. Indeed, Gould once admitted that he outdid himself on one occasion. Tracy was trapped at the bottom of a deep pit and the bad guys dropped a boulder on him that fit the diameter of the pit like a cannon ball fit a muzzle. Gould used a side story of Tracy's partner, Sam Catchem, to fill the comic's panels for more than a week while he pondered how to extricate Tracy from the pit. He almost went so far as to illustrate a pencil eraser appearing to eliminate the danger. I've gotten myself into a similar predicament.

My current project, a novel entitled Behind Every Mountain, is a story that takes place during the Korean War. It's not about Korea or the war. This novel traces the coming of age of a young man who joins the Army to escape an abusive father and is thrown into a flight for his life. Yes, that's flight, not fight. As an Army Ranger, he is parachuted with a reconnaissance patrol onto the flood plain of the Yalu River separating North Korea and China. Their mission is to observe the Chinese Communist forces massing there and estimate their strength and intent. Unfortunately, they arrive just as the Chicom army is crossing the Yalu and my hero is the lone survivor. (No pun intended, but he is the lone surviving Ranger.)

Cut off from the planned extraction point, he is forced to follow the Chicom army south as it drives the UN allies ahead of it while he looks for an opportunity to sneak past the enemy and rejoin any American unit. Obviously, he encounters many dangers during this adventure, but none so daunting as when he comes abreast of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. There he must cross the Taedong River.

Although this is a work of fiction, I attempt to remain true to the history, geology, culture, and time of the milieu in which this story occurs. I studied Korea and its history as far back as the arrival of the first Chinese outcasts who escaped there to hide in the mountains that dominate the peninsula. These same mountains provide my hero with cover and concealment as he travels parallel to the Chicom soldiers. However, crossing the Taedong River without revealing himself is another matter.

The Taedong River is more than a quarter mile wide at the point where the young Ranger must cross, as seen in this aerial photo. The dam that appears in it did not exist at the time of the Korean War. It is reasonable to assume that all bridges were heavily used by the Chicom army and well-guarded. Because the UN air force and naval aviators dominated the skies, the communists moved at night. My hero also would have moved at night when crossing dangerous areas like the river.

This photo also reveals that the river above the damn is covered in ice, while below the dam it is not. I have not yet been able to ascertain whether it was ice-covered during the winter of 1950 or if the ice was thick enough to bear the weight of a man walking across. I may have to make an assumption about that for the purposes of my story. Fortunately, I have my training as an infantry officer to fall back on when making assumptions about the conduct of war.

However, I know that with absolute certainty that the moon was full at the time of his attempted crossing, December 27, 1950, thus adding another layer of difficulty. It is reasonable to assume that the communists would have positioned observers along the river's edge, probably on both sides. They must have known that remnants of the American army were attempting to straggle back south after the Chicom army surprised and routed them in November of that year. I used the Moon Phase Calendar when writing Rebels on the Mountain to determine how difficult it must have been for Fidel Castro to sneak past Mexican authorities as he set out from the Tuxpam River on his fateful trip to Cuba to launch his revolution.

Obviously, my fictional Ranger ultimately will cross the Taedong River safely. But, how? That is the question. You'll just have to wait for the novel later this year to find out.

JUSTICE DOESN'T COME CHEAP. Just read the most recent letter that I received from the family and friends of Michael Behenna. You'll see. What's even more tragic is that the opposition is well funded. They have the full faith and credit of our broken government funding the fight to keep Michael locked away. Is it fair? Of course not, but justice isn't supposed to be fair, just impartial. 

In case you are new to this story, please take a moment and use the following links to catch up. Otherwise, skip them and read the letter which begins below the image of Michael.

Original Posting: Who is more deserving of justice than the men & women who fight to defend our freedom?

Update 1: Parole hearing scheduled

Update 2: Parole denied

Update 3: Government dragging its feet in responding to Supreme Court

Update 4: Is justice delayed justice denied in the case of Lt Behenna?

Update 5: Justice plods ahead slowly: Lietenant Behenna's case in conference at the Supreme Court

To the thousands of Michael supporters,

My name is David Wahl.  I am the father of Michael Behenna’s girlfriend Shannon Wahl and run the DefendMichael.com website.  I have known Michael for several years going back to when Michael and Shannon first started dating.  I attended Michael’s officer school graduation at Fort Benning, his Ranger school graduation, and his deployment to Iraq from Fort Campbell.  I was in the courtroom for Michael’s trial for premeditated murder at Fort Campbell, including the moment when a jury of seven non-combat officers convicted him of unpremeditated murder.  I witnessed the stunned look of betrayal on Michael’s face.  I was in that same courtroom again three weeks later when the trial judge denied a request for a mistrial on a Brady law violation (the government had withheld evidence.)  And I was in the small room at the back of that courtroom with Michael and his family for his last thirty minutes of freedom before he was taken away.

These past four years that Michael has sat in a small prison cell at Fort Leavenworth have been a tortuous journey for those closest to him – but as you can imagine, most of all for his parents Vicki and Scott.  They have endured the emotional pain of seeing their son treated as a criminal at the hands of a broken and blind military justice system, of five hour drives to ‘celebrate’ birthdays and holidays in a noisy visitation center, of the heartbreak of one court ruling after another go against Michael, of bizarre prison rules that change from visit to visit and which make civilian prisons look like Club Med.

But beyond the emotional toll that the Behenna’s have carried is the financial burden of taking on the United States government that has unlimited resources at their disposal (our tax dollars hard at work.)  Starting with the original trial to the CAAF appeal which we lost by a narrow 3-2 vote the Behenna’s have spent well over $400,000 in their fight for their son’s freedom.  I know that so many of you have already graciously stepped forward and lightened this financial burden, but unfortunately a significant shortfall remains.  And if the Supreme Court decides to hear Michael’s case that shortfall will grow by at least another $100,000. 

The Behenna’s are a proud family and asking for financial support is not something they are comfortable doing, especially given how many people are in need today, including so many fellow Oklahoman’s devastated by the recent tornados.  So I humbly ask each of you who believe in Michael’s cause, to consider giving a few dollars to his legal fund, which can be found on his web site at www.defendmichael.com.  If each one of the thousands of supporters of Michael gave $20 then the Behenna’s would be able to cover most of the current deficit.  Donations can be made through PayPal on Michael’s web site, or if you prefer you can mail a check directly to his Michael’s defense fund at:

Michael Behenna Legal Defense Fund
c/o Jack Dawson, co-trustee
100 Park Avenue, Second Floor
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102-8099

Please know that your support for Michael, whether in the form of a donation, a card, or a letter, is appreciated more than words can say.  For Michael and his parents this difficult journey has only been possible because of the outpouring of support from all of you.  It has sustained them in their darkest hours, of which there have been many. Finally, please keep Michael in your thoughts and prayers as we await the ultimate decision by the highest court in the land on whether they will hear Michael’s case.  

I remain, now and forever, a proud supporter of a young man who some day I hope will be my son-in-law.

Respectfully,

David Wahl

www.defendmichael.com

I'VE BEEN HAMMERED a few times in my life. Not many, but enough to know better. However, a recent email from a friend reminded me of one of my earliest misadventures. No, he didn't write about drinking. He sent me an email featuring photos of unusual recycling projects. 

Now, what the hell does recycling have to do with drinking, I hear you cry. Well, look at the item in the lower left hand corner of this montage. Those appear to be vases fashioned from bottles. 

When I was a young man, barely into my majority (in fact, I may not yet have been 21), I was drinking some Michelob with my friends and we attempted to make drinking glasses from the beer bottles. Please, before you castigate me for my choice, I had not yet developed a palate for the better brews. Indeed, that brings to mind a funny story that I heard not too long ago. (Please forgive the aside.)

The story that came to me claimed that Michelob was crafted by assistant brewers during a strike. They failed several times before the company founders allowed them to bottle their product. The beer that they discarded was simply dumped into the streets and flowed down the gutters. Thus, it became known as “gutter beer”. The beer that they bottled was named Michelob. I'm not claiming that the story is true. However, if I had my way, all of the beer crafted by the mass marketers would flow in the gutters. I like ale that is found at the micro breweries now flourishing across the United States.

But, I digress... As we drank our Michelob in that distant time, I shared another story with my friends. I had heard that a glass could be fashioned from the Michelob bottle by following these simple instructions:

1. Drink the beer.
   


2. Tie a string around the bottle where you want to sever the bottom from the top.
   


3. Soak the string in gasoline and ignite it.
   


4. Strike the bottle on the edge of a hard surface (such as a concrete step) after the flame has had sufficient time to heat it
   

Had the first bottle merely shattered, the experiment might have ended there. Unfortunately, it didn't. In fact, it broke leaving a perfectly smooth lip around approximately ninety percent of the bottle. At the point where the string had been tied into a knot, a jagged peak extended above the lip of the “glass”. Success was close enough at hand to encourage us to try again. And, we tried again with every one of the remaining bottles in the six pack. I was then sent to buy another.

Every attempt produced the same results, just close enough to success to encourage us to try again. Another bottle. Another six pack. I lost count.

Fortunately, we lived in the country and only the trees were in any danger as I traveled back and forth. Well, the trees and the woodland animals. Well, those and my car. My father's car, actually.

I would really like to know if anyone else attempted this trick, however, please don't tell me you succeeded. I would like to enjoy a safe and sane holiday weekend. By the way, don't forget to pause for a moment of silence for those who gave “the last full measure of devotion” so that you too could enjoy it.

This is the fifth installment in the continuing saga of the imprisonment of an American infantry officer for "murdering" a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. If you are new to this story, you may review my previous postings:

Original Posting: Who is more deserving of justice than the men & women who fight to defend our freedom?

Update 1: Parole hearing scheduled

Update 2: Parole denied

Update 3: Government dragging its feet in responding to Supreme Court

Update 4: Is justice delayed justice denied in the case of Lt Behenna?

The following was broadcast by Lt Behenna's parents in an email:

To all the thousands of Michael supporters,

Michael's case, including the Petition, the Government Response, and the Reply to the Government Response, is now complete and before the Supreme Court.  The Supremes have set Michael's case to be initially discussed at their conference on May 30th which is ironically during the 50th Anniversary of Brady vs Maryland (the Supreme Court case demanding that prosecutors disclose all beneficial information to the criminally accused).  During the conference, four out of the nine Supreme Court Justices must vote to hear the case in order to grant certiorari.  If certiorari is granted in Michael's case it would be the first time the Supremes would have granted a service member's appeal from the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF).  Needless to say, anxiousness will abound for the next few weeks and prayers are certainly welcome.  We should have the Court’s decision sometime during the first week of June.  If the Court grants certiorari, Michael’s case would proceed through a briefing process, oral arguments, and a decision by the Supreme Court hopefully before the end of the year.

We can't thank you enough for all the encouraging cards and letters that you sent to Michael for his birthday.  As Michael told us this past weekend it is these cards and letters that help him navigate the sometimes helpless and hopeless thoughts that have haunted him these past four years behind prison walls. He reads every card and letter sent to him, but given his prison schedule of work, exercise time, meals and early lights out he unfortunately does not have time to send out very many thank you notes.  For this he sends his apologies and hopes a day will come soon when he can thank all of you in person.  

If you did not see the Mother's Day tribute to Vicki last Sunday in the Oklahoman, hopefully the attached video and article will describe the huge appreciation we have for all your support and what your individual words of encouragement have meant to Michael and our whole family.

Vicki's Mother's Day Video - http://newsok.com/multimedia/video/2372015906001

Vicki’s Mother's Day Article -  http://newsok.com/behenna

Bless you all for your support of our son,

Scott & Vicki Behenna

www.defendmichael.com

IT'S TOO EASY to clutter a good story with distractions. This is especially true when writing historical fiction. My desk became littered with tantalizing notes accumulated during the two years that I researched the background of Cuba and Castro's revolution. It was so tempting to use them all, but I refrained from cramming most of them into Rebels on the Mountain. Instead, I turned them into blog postings. That way I didn't feel the time was wasted. I've been having the same problem with my research on the Korean War.

The Tootsie Roll story came by way of my brother-in-law. How could I resist including it? It's an endearing piece of trivia. Unfortunately, the epic tale of the U.S. Marine's escape from the Chosin Reservoir won't find its way into my tale. It was tempting. I have even had the honor of spending some time with one of the “Chosin Few”. 

My upcoming novel Behind Every Mountain is not a war story, not in the classic sense. Much like Patton, which also wasn't a classic war story, my novel is about a soldier and focuses on the process of becoming a soldier. The central conflict of the story will be “the first kill”. Only sociopaths lack an aversion to taking a human life. Most of us who enter combat need an overwhelming incentive to overcome that aversion.

Although I never killed anyone I could have. In my case, anger overcame the aversion and I went looking for an enemy to kill. The opportunity occurred one night when I was the officer in charge of a sector of our base camp perimeter. Ordinarily, the field of fire outside the camp's berm would have been lit by illumination rounds fired at regular intervals by Division Artillery. However, we had none that night. A cluster of barrels containing CS gas had been stored in our sector that night. Someone decided that there was a risk of gassing the base camp if a flare fell into their midst. Thus, we were left in the dark.

Most people have never truly experienced the dark, at least, not most Americans. Those who live in wilderness areas or have sailed far from shore, understand what I'm talking about. However, those who live in cities, suburbs, or even small towns, are rarely in the dark. I'm talking about the kind of dark when you have to lay down so that you can see objects silhouetted against the sky. Add a solid cloud cover to block moonlight and starlight, and even that trick won't help.

Our guards couldn't lie on the ground. They sat atop bunkers looking down on the open field surrounding the base camp and its rows of barbed wire and land mines. Without the light of illumination rounds, they had only their hearing to rely on. One of my guards heard something hit the wire near his bunker and called it in.

We sat side by side for about a quarter of an hour listening until I decided to launch a hand-held flare. We studied the ground by its dim light, counting shadows that might have been someone lying on the ground until the flare extinguished itself. We waited five minutes and then launched another. It seemed to both of us that shadows had moved. I then called Division Artillery to inform them that we had potential enemy contact and requested illumination rounds. They denied the request stating that they would not respond unless I could “produce a body”. That's what I went looking for.

After contacting the other bunkers and ordering them to hold their fire unless authorized, I and a sergeant went looking for a body. After moving about a hundred meters beyond the berm, we separated and lay down on the ground. We soon saw the silhouette of a person stand, run a few meters, and drop to the ground. I whispered to the sergeant asking if he had seen it. He responded that he had.

The sergeant was carrying a grenade launcher and I ordered him to fire a round in the area of the sight we had seen. I never hesitated, nor did he. 

We didn't find the body but the sound of the grenade exploding brought the division chief-of-staff to my sector wanting to find out what was going on. After I explained, my sector was lit up like a birthday cake. We had illumination rounds for the rest of the night, many illumination rounds. I suppose that the risk of a sapper tossing a satchel charge among the barrels of CS gas was greater than any possibility of an illumination round on a parachute drifting on top of them.

So, what else beside anger could help a soldier overcome a person's innate aversion to taking a human life? That is the question that I've been exploring.

This is the fourth update in the continuing saga of the imprisonment of an American infantry officer for "murdering" a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. If you are new to this story, you may review my previous postings:

Original Posting: Who is more deserving of justice than the men & women who fight to defend our freedom?

Update 1: Parole hearing scheduled

Update 2: Parole denied

Update 3: Government dragging its feet in responding to Supreme Court

The following was broadcast by Lt Behenna's parents in an email:

To all the thousands of Michael supporters,

Just a quick update to let you know that the Government filed their Response to Michael's Petition before the Supreme Court.  Michael's lawyers now have ten days to file a Reply to the Government's Response. The Supreme Court will then set Michael's case for Conference (hopefully by June) and decide whether to grant Certiorari which means a review by the whole Supreme Court.  For the Supreme Court justices to grant Certiorari from the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces would be the first time a military petition has reached this stage - so prayers for discernment for these nine Justices are certainly welcomed. 

An encouraging tidbit was that Michael's case was selected by the Supreme Court Blog as the petition of the day for May 1st - http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/05/petition-of-the-day-446/

We ask that you spread this email and please continue to tell Michael's story.  Have your friends and neighbors sign Michael's petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/MBehenna/petition.html .  If they want to further assist, please have them contact their Congressional Representatives and Senators and let them know that Michael has served enough time in prison and deserves the same freedom you and I all enjoy.  To locate your state’s Representative's / Senators click on the following link: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Lastly, Michael will ‘celebrate’ his 30th birthday on May 18th behind the prison walls of Fort Leavenworth.  We’d like Michael to receive no less than 500 birthday cards and well wishes to let him know that despite this being his fifth birthday in prison he is anything but forgotten.  You can mail your cards to:

Michael Behenna  87503

1300 Warehouse Road

Ft. Leavenworth, KS  66027-2304

Bless you all for your support of our son,

Scott & Vicki Behenna

www.defendmichael.com

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”   (John F. Kennedy)

“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.”  (Ursula Le Guin)

DESPITE THE CAPTURE of the Boston Bombers, many people have been decrying the infringement on privacy in the techniques used to identify and apprehend the culprits. Thousands of photos and videos were analyzed during the investigation. Virtually everyone in the area of the bombing or transiting it was identified. Was this an infringement on their privacy? Does anyone have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place? NYPD Police Commission Ray Kelly doesn't believe there is. He wants more video cameras in more public places. In an interview on WNYC, he opined that the Boston Bombing “takes privacy off the table”. 

Was privacy in a public place ever “on the table”? Constitutional scholars have been debating the right to privacy for almost as long as there has been a Constitution. An article appearing on the website Exploring Constitutional Conflicts offers an excellent overview of this issue.

However, your appearance at a public place is hardly private, is it? If it were, eyewitness testimony might be barred at trials. Indeed, some might argue that eyewitness testimony should be barred. It has been proven highly unreliable. Many innocent persons have been incarcerated on the weight of faulty eyewitness memories and perceptions. 

A recent program on the National Geographic Channel, Brain Games, also clearly demonstrated this fact. After viewing it, I was seriously left in doubt that I would ever volunteer eyewitness testimony. I can sing commercial jingles that appeared on television in the 1950s, but I can hardly remember what I ate for breakfast. It's a common complaint of my age. No, I think that I prefer having video cameras record occurrences in public places. How about you?