My Father Was Killed on 9/11 When I Was Five, But What I Experienced at Guantánamo Bay Did Not...

MY COMMENT:

Dear Jessica, I am so very sorry for your loss. On 9/11/2001, my oldest son was in school, a first grader at the time and six years old. It was the first day of pre-school for my second son, 3. My third son (and I have four now and one daughter) who was not born but conceived, was about 5 months along. He was born on January 23, 2002, a few days before I left all of them and my wife, my job, my friends, my colleagues for the US Army detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As a Medical Service Corps captain, I was the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group (JDOG for short), Joint Task Force 160. My boss was the Camp X-Ray Commandant. My job was coordination of good guy and bad guy care, environmental and preventive medical services to the camp and liaison to the detention hospital, Navy Fleet Hospital 20. I am disappointed that not once in your article did you mention the strength, dedication and professionalism of the US armed forces serving our great nation and performing some of the most difficult tasks imaginable among at least some of the detainees who would just as soon slit your throat as look at you. Your pain, my pain, the pain of other victims, military and civilian agency families and loved ones does not equate with the pain and suffering of the unlawful combatant Islamists held at Gitmo now, nor the 731 who have been released. Not ONE of them was executed, beheaded, blown up, hacked to death, dragged naked and lifeless through the streets, drowned or burned alive; all things our enemies have done to us and/or our allies. Detainees receive FREE Qurans, prayer rugs/beads, halal and special Muslim holy holiday meals, white robes, beards, directions to Mecca, services of US military Muslim chaplains, world class health, vision and dental care, recreation, video games, DVD's, TV, library and sports. There is no moral comparison between Gitmo and how our enemies treat their captives. It is too bad you could not acknowledge the sacrifice, suffering and dedication of those who kept the released 731 and the 41 still there, safe, secure and healthy. None of us tortured anyone, ever. Was there abuse? Yes. But it was limited and dealt with. Only the CIA were trained in Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT). No DoD personnel, military or civilian were ever trained in EIT, nor administered such. We performed our duties with professionalism and distinction. It is unfortunate that the powers that be can't seem to get out of their own way with regard to the pace of the pre-trial proceedings, but that's American justice for you, more concerned with letting a guilty person go than pronouncing an innocent person guilty. Just keep in mind, we are not the enemy, unlawful combatant Islamists who want to kill us are the enemy, and until or unless they no longer have the means or will to kill us, we must defend ourselves. Gitmo is a small but essential part of how we win the Global War on Terror. The world watches to see whether or not we get this right. I wish you, and all of us directly affected by the events of 9/11/2001 Peace. Sincerely, Montgomery J. Granger, Major, US Army, Retired. Author, "Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior."