Digging a little deeper

“Who and Where Is Major Ben Connable?” is a piece of commentary by Jim Freeman, asking exactly that. Rather amusingly it got a defensive response from one of Connables friends.

I do have to say, the language of both Freeman and ‘defense’, although cooly formal and somewhat overly polite has a real undertone of disdain and suspision. It’s kind of unnerving to hear grown men, men in authority and responsibility, speak quite intolerantly to eachother. I think it says a lot about the divide between the military and the public they are in service to.

Who and Where Is Major Ben Connable? ~ Jim Freeman asks some questions…

He seems to moan about Connable not having a lot of Google hits - into the 100s, whereas his name gets into the 1,100,000s. Which is a bit weak, as Freeman is a more common name than Connable. Duh? What he does find doesn’t satisfy what he’s looking for. Obviously, Connable is a serving marine, any detail further than basic is understandable. But I do share Freemans need for some sort of credibility check, if the guy is going to put himself out there, then he should expect questions, questions and more qs.

I completely agree that Connables articles do have elements that seem quite contrived. But then again, he is a marine major and is probably been fed on language like this for most of his career - also if you’ve heard guys like this talk publicly, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any hint of cynicism or sarcasm, they’re pretty straight talking no bullshitters.

Following Up on the Elusive Ben Connable ~ Connables friend & Freeman tête à tête
Major Ben Connable Checks In ~ Connable responds via his friend

A Marine sees what defeatists don't ~ USATODAY
The Truth On the Ground ~ Washington Post