Captain Hill

Captain Roger T. Hill. I can assure you that no one reading this has ever heard of this man. He is a soldier in Afghanistan, or rather—was. My science teacher recently told me and my class a story that I will never forget.

What do you know about the Army? They fight for our country; there are men and women dying every day. . . But do you know anything else? Anything about what goes on behind closed doors?
This is what my science teacher had to say:

“Roger Hill. Any of you know him? No, okay he was one of my students here. He was a smart boy, a good student. Well, he’s in the Army now. I’ve kept contact with him over the years, kind of like a pen pal. He’ll tell me all about what’s going on over in the Middle East and what not.

I’ve not been receiving messages from him lately, and I heard something from his family that disturbed me. Here’s the story.

Roger was given 100 men, give or take a few, to cover a land area the size of Connecticut. They set up camp and patrolled the area. Before they left to go to Afghanistan, Roger promised every family that he would bring their soldier back alive. Well, Roger’s men were being shot, and wounded—even mutilated. One man, the opposing force took and cut out his heart and cut off his fingers, and sold them out in a nearby village. Roger—being the group’s captain—had to go out and collect this man’s body parts. He couldn’t figure out why many his men were dying.

One day, Roger caught wind of a spy in the group. It was rumored to be his interpreter. The man that was dressed in an American uniform, holding an American gun, was a spy. Roger, deciding to take action, went to his battalion commander.

Every twelve hours, for ninety-two hours straight, Roger called his battalion commander. Each time, the man did nothing about Roger’s situation. He had eighty-nine men left to patrol the area. He was saying, ‘Sir, there’s something going on here. We need someone out here to investigate.’ Nothing was done.

So, Roger decided to take action. He gathered his whole group—everyone—in one place, and took a man outside. Roger shot into the ground, asking who the spy was. This was to-correct me if I’m wrong-shake the interpreter into telling that he was a spy. Of course, the other soldiers inside knew about the plan.”

So get this: Roger Hill is being dishonorably discharged from the Army because he could’ve caused ‘psychological damage’. His troop is also being punished, because they didn’t tell on him for doing this. If he’s given a dishonorable discharge, he will not be able to own a gun again, he cannot have a gun permit—it will be like having a felony on his record. One man in his troop was on RNR—the Army gives a small vacation, maybe three days, just to get away from the fighting—this man that was on vacation is being punished along with his men, and he wasn’t even there!

Captain Hill stood beside Ronald Reagan’s casket at his visitation and memorial service. Roger stood guard through the whole ceremony. That uniform, with medals and all, is hanging in a museum.

And they’re going to give him a dishonorable discharge for doing his job? His men were being killed! What else did they expect him to do? Roger will be dismissed from the Army either way, but out community is fighting for an honorable discharge. That’s what we want. And if we bring enough publicity to this matter, we will get what we want.

Tomorrow night we're having a special service for Roger Hill. Unfortunately, he won't be there, but we'll sing songs, show a PhotoStory of his pictures, and have a prayer. There will be news crews and photographers. Our science teacher feels very strongly about this matter, and I hope that there's something done about it.

Another thing. A soldier was guarding an opposing force’s prisoner and ordered him to sit down. The prisoner didn’t, so the man kicked his feet out from under him to make him sit down. Now, tell me, who in the U.S. has not done that to a friend before? You’ve been standing there or walking down the hall and suddenly BAM!, you’re on your butt. You and your friends laugh about it and shake it off. We would all be in jail for that, apparently, because he’s being punished for something that happens all the time and goes unnoticed.

My question is: Who would tell on a fellow American soldier? Who would do that when there’s a man being held prisoner that would shoot you in a heartbeat if he had the chance?
Not me.

Doesn’t all this make you wonder what the government isn’t telling us? Does it make you think twice about having confidence in your armed forces, or even thinking twice about joining?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope I’ve made an impact, because that’s what I’m looking for.