May 29, 2004
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On May 22 I interviewed marine veteran Jimmy Massey about his involvement in the Iraq war. Below is a portion of his story.
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Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey was a gung-ho marine for 12 years, serving as a range coach, recruiter and machine gunner. But none of his experience fully prepared this Haywood County resident for his participation in the American invasion of Iraq during the spring of 2003.

“We had just gotten to the outskirts of Baghdad, and tensions were pretty high,” said Massey. “I heard a stray bullet, and the next thing I know, my men are opening up on a group of Iraqi protestors. Then I swung my rifle up, and I started firing at the protestors too.”

At the end of this fusillade, eleven unarmed civilians lay dead.

During the initial stage of the invasion, Massey’s platoon was ordered to set up roadblocks, then stop and search Iraqi vehicles for weapons and munitions. At one roadblock near the Baghdad Stadium, a red Kia passenger car approached the marines at approximately 45 miles per hour. The marines fired warning shots over the vehicle, but the car kept coming. Massey and his fellow marines opened fire on it, killing three of the four occupants, all Iraqi men. No guns, ammunition or explosives were found in the Kia.

The surviving passenger was grief-stricken. After he was removed from the car, he looked at Massey and asked, “Why did you kill my brother? We didn’t do anything wrong.” “I looked in his eyes but didn’t know what to say to him,” Massey recalled.

The words uttered by the lone Iraqi survivor of that incident became the turning point in Staff Sgt. Massey’s career as a marine. Sometime after that encounter, Massey’s commanding officer asked how he was doing. “Well, you know, today’s not a very good day,” Massey replied. “We just killed a bunch of civilians.” The officer forcefully disagreed: “No, no, today’s a good day.” “I thought there’s something seriously wrong with this guy, but I kept my opinions to myself,” Massey said.

Massey also encountered the consequences of the U.S. bombing campaign on Iraqi civilians. “A father came up to us at one of our checkpoints carrying his injured child. A corpsman tried to help out, saying that the young boy probably had internal injuries from the concussion from our bombs. The corpsman was doing what he could, but the child died in my arms.”

In April, Massey’s platoon left Baghdad for Karbala. It was here that Massey had a confrontation with his lieutenant, telling him that he believed “we’re violating the rules of engagement and the Geneva Convention over here.” The lieutenant angrily stormed off, and Massey knew his Marine career was over.

“After that, they got me out of Iraq pretty quickly,” Massey said. “I was ordered back to stateside for treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. When the Marine Corps told me they were going to bring legal proceedings against me, I hired a lawyer. After that they backed off, and I wound up getting an honorable discharge in January of 2004.”

Since his return, Massey has suffered from nightmares, flashbacks and recurring disturbing memories of the war. In addition, he recently lost his job in Waynesville after speaking about his experience in Iraq at the March 20 peace rally in Asheville. “I can’t say that there was a direct connection, but my intuition tells me that was the cause. I guess they expected when they hired me that this marine was going to tell them all these war stories. But when I went to work there, and they asked me what I thought about the war, I don’t think they liked my answer.”

“People ask me why I’m doing this; it’s to repair my soul,” said Massey. “My soul is full of holes because of what I did and what I saw. And every time I talk about my experience, I’m repairing it. This is just something I have to do. Americans need to hear that war is not just fun and games. It was hard to talk about at first, but it gets easier every time I do it.

“I love my country so much I’ve got it tattooed on my arm. Those who claim I don’t love America weren’t there. They didn’t see what I saw. Until they put themselves in my shoes and walk a mile, then God bless them, but don’t be judging me.”