Posted on Aug 22, 2014
What are your thoughts on writing about people you served with who performed poorly on the deployment, who caused problems, trouble, etc?
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Earlier I posted about writing about deployment experiences and I got some helpful information from some of you out there.
This time, I have a more detailed question about this topic: what are your thoughts on writing about people you served with who performed poorly on the deployment, who caused problems, got into trouble, or otherwise did not live up to standards? Would you change their names or would you just not write about them at all?
A perfect example of this is the story 'Roughneck Nine-One' by SFC Frank Antonelli (Ret). Sergeant Antonelli was part of an A-Team in Iraq that fought in the Battle of Debecka in 2003. His team was the first to use the Javelin antitank missile in combat. In his story, his commanding officer is referred to as 'Major X' because this major turned out to be a terrible leader and made several bad calls during their operations. Antonelli even went so far as to describe it in the end that he changed his name to Major X to prevent any defamation.
On my deployment we had quite a few troublesome NCOs. Since I have been thinking about writing about our deployment, I brought this up with some of my boys and one of them said, "You realize that if you write about Sergeant Whatshisface, he will sue you" so it got me thinking. I know that whatever I write was from my point of view, it's my side of the story, even if I am being impartial to the fullest. Those who were not so good on the deployment might read that and think, Why would LCpl Pouliot write that about me that's not true. So I'm just trying to see what anyone's thoughts are on this, because I figure if I talk about the dynamic of our group and the stuff we did and went through, it would have to include these men and women because as terrible as they were, they were a part of all of it. I figure changing their names would work just fine. Thoughts?
This time, I have a more detailed question about this topic: what are your thoughts on writing about people you served with who performed poorly on the deployment, who caused problems, got into trouble, or otherwise did not live up to standards? Would you change their names or would you just not write about them at all?
A perfect example of this is the story 'Roughneck Nine-One' by SFC Frank Antonelli (Ret). Sergeant Antonelli was part of an A-Team in Iraq that fought in the Battle of Debecka in 2003. His team was the first to use the Javelin antitank missile in combat. In his story, his commanding officer is referred to as 'Major X' because this major turned out to be a terrible leader and made several bad calls during their operations. Antonelli even went so far as to describe it in the end that he changed his name to Major X to prevent any defamation.
On my deployment we had quite a few troublesome NCOs. Since I have been thinking about writing about our deployment, I brought this up with some of my boys and one of them said, "You realize that if you write about Sergeant Whatshisface, he will sue you" so it got me thinking. I know that whatever I write was from my point of view, it's my side of the story, even if I am being impartial to the fullest. Those who were not so good on the deployment might read that and think, Why would LCpl Pouliot write that about me that's not true. So I'm just trying to see what anyone's thoughts are on this, because I figure if I talk about the dynamic of our group and the stuff we did and went through, it would have to include these men and women because as terrible as they were, they were a part of all of it. I figure changing their names would work just fine. Thoughts?
Deployment
Writing
Leadership
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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In my opinion, unless you are trying to incite a call-to-action against that person, there is no need to refer to them by name. You can still tell your story without recognizing that person in full; all you need from them is their character/actions for the sake of the story. Calling them out does nothing at this point. That's just how I see it, and that is how I write.
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Sgt Andrew Pouliot I was in the command post during the cold war at Ramstein. First day there terrorists blew NATO HQ.
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Sgt Andrew Pouliot
Jesus ... I can't imagine how that might have been. I had a 107mm rocket land and detonate 40 feet behind me at my FOB. That was an eye-opening experience.
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