THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701090001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 46 lines
The litany of articles in the endless wake of the 1991 Tailhook convention has progressed to an unparalleled level of absurdity.
On Dec. 25, an Associated Press article in The Pilot grouped the ``crimes'' that allegedly occurred at Tailhook with two other very sad military incidents: the friendly fire shootdown of two Army Blackhawk helicopters in Iraq and the bombing of the Air Force barracks in Saudi Arabia.
I'm at a loss to see the similarities. I wasn't in the helicopters or the barracks, but I know that many innocent people tragically lost their lives. I feel sick for the poor families of the victims.
I also feel sick for the poor families of the victims of Tailhook. I'm not talking about the alleged victims of the heinous ``groping'' crime who are now multimillionaires with movie rights. I'm talking about the true victims; the numerous highly respected naval officers whose careers and lives were destroyed in the aftermath of an incident which caused no deaths, no enormous property damage, no prosecutable crimes in a civilian sense; nothing but a good old-fashioned finger-pointing, mud-slinging, military-bashing news story.
I'm sure my career is now at risk, but I'm going to say it anyway - I was there! It was a great opportunity to get together with old friends, do that male bonding thing and, yes, God forbid, maybe drink a few too many (no DUIs in a hotel). There was no murder, no rape, no arson. It was a convention no different from most other Las Vegas conventions and no wilder than your average fraternity party or good Irish wedding reception.
Though I don't know it for a fact, I don't doubt the possibility that one or two intoxicated individuals may have actually groped one or two other intoxicated individuals. Believe me, those ``one or two'' numbers are much closer to reality than what has come out in the press. I only wish the guilty parties could have been caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law for their ``groping'' crimes.
I am in no way condoning unofficer-like behavior. Groping constitutes sexual harassment, and military penalties for sexual harassment are rightfully severe. But how about putting this all in perspective? I would wager there have been more stories about Tailhook than the Oklahoma City and Olympic bombings combined.
Get over it!
P. R. HURNI
Lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy
Virginia Beach, Dec. 30, 1996