Brahdah Dat Speak Da Truth ‘Bout Iraq Kine Torture Rest Easy At Arlington

⬇️ Pidgin | ⬇️ ⬇️ English

Inside Arlington National Cemetery, right dea wea da Pentagon stay looking, Ian Fishback, da guy who wen blow da whistle ’bout da US military doing torture stuff during Afghanistan and Iraq kine times, wen finally go rest on Tuesday. Da place get choke honor and respect, and dis guy, he earn ’em. 🇺🇸⛰️

Bout two years before dat, wen Fishback was 42, da buggah wen pass away ’cause of heart attack inside one Michigan kine mental health place wea da court wen tell him fo’ go. Plenny family and friends, including guys he served with, veterans, peeps he wen teach, and plenny dat looked up to him, all came fo’ give respects. 🙏❤️

All these peeps was dea fo’ honor da paratrooper and Special Forces officer who wen get enough guts fo’ question da Army about how da soldiers was treating da Iraqi and Afghan guys they wen capture. Dis ceremony, was also one kine time fo’ his ohana and friends fo’ reflect on how he wen go through all da hard times and how he never really got da kine care he needed from da Department of Veterans Affairs. 😓💔

Fishback neva was da kine guy who jus’ follow da crowd. He wen graduate from West Point and always held on to da values and pono (righteousness) he learned dea. He believed dat everybody, no mattah if they friend or foe, deserves respect and aloha. 🌺🤙

Da big kahuna Army chaplain, Maj. Joanna Forbes, wen say, “Ian wen fight with all his heart fo’ his country and his fellow soldiers. He also stood up fo’ those some guys only seen as da enemy but he knew dey were real peeps who deserved respect and aloha.” And she wen add, “I wen bury plenny heroes, but Ian Fishback, he stay one of a kind.” 😇🌟

Da time wen come, back in 2004, Fishback wen tell his bosses in da 82nd Airborne Division bout how he felt some guys was treating da prisoners. He wen make big noise ’bout how da soldiers wen act and even wen call ’em out fo’ doing torture kine stuff. He wen say first, was like da military neva set da right rules, but den later, was like da big bosses was trying fo’ hide all da bad stuff, even up to Donald Rumsfeld, da defense secretary back den. 👀💥

By 2005, wen nobody in da Army really wen take him serious, Fishback wen talk story with Human Rights Watch. He wen show dem three anonymous Army guys who told stories ’bout how some soldiers was treating da prisoners all bad, like giving ’em licks, not letting ’em sleep, and otha bad kine stuffs. 😱🚫

Right around dat time, all da bad stuff U.S. soldiers was doing to da Iraqi guys inside Abu Ghraib prison wen come out. Fishback’s story wen show dat wasn’t just one bad apple, had plenny more going on. Aftah dat, Congress wen pass da Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which basically wen say dat you cannot mistreat any prisoner under US control, no way, no how. 📜⚖️

Marc Garlasco, one former Human Rights Watch investigator, wen say Ian was one brave young officer who wen put what was right and his promise to da US Constitution above everything else. “Aftah everybody else told him fo’ shaddap, Ian was da only one saying, ‘Eh, America, no can torture peeps, brah!’” ✊🗽

Come 2006, Time magazine even wen recognize him as one of da most influential peeps of da year. But even with all da attention and respect from some peeps, Fishback’s time inside da Army neva was all good. Aftah he wen go Iraq two times with da Special Forces, he wen tell his ohana and friends how he felt like da outcast and how some peeps was treating him like he wen turn his back on them. He wen try fo’ change career, going school, teaching at West Point, and den going University of Michigan. But even with all dat, da loneliness and da stress wen get to him. Some peeps say had mental health issues too, and dat wen make things worse. 😞🌀

His last years was real hard. He wen act all different kine in class and even outside, which wen land him inside one mental health place. But even dea, seemed like da system, especially da Veterans Affairs, wasn’t really taking care of him. Fo’ his ohana and supporters, felt like da V.A. wasn’t really helping, even wen he was inside other hospitals, getting all kine meds even when he neva want. 🏥💊

Right now, da state of Michigan and da Department of Veterans Affairs is still checking out what went wrong and why things went da way they did fo’ Fishback. As fo’ where fo’ bury him, dat was one big decision. His faddah, John Fishback, decided Arlington National Cemetery was da place. Even though his maddah, Sharon Ableson, neva agreed, ’cause she felt da military neva treat her son right. But John felt like Arlington was da place where peeps who stand up fo’ what’s right, like his son, should be. On da ceremony day, he was wearing one “Veterans For Peace” cap, all fo’ honor his son and all he stood fo’. 🧢❤️

In da end, John Fishback wen say, “I had 42 years with dat amazing man. Das how I gotta see ’em.” And dat’s how everybody going remembah Ian Fishback. A soldier, one hero, and most of all, one brahdah who stood up fo’ what was pono. 🌈🤙

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NOW IN ENGLISH

Ho, Check Dis Out! 🤙 Soldier Dat Speak Out Against Torture in Iraq Get One Pono Sendoff

Eh, you guys heard about da braddah Ian Fishback? Was one big kahuna in da Army, yeah? Rank of major! But no like how tings was going down in Iraq, so he wen call ’em out. Now he restin’ up in Arlington. Sadly, at 42, da guy went down a hard mental health road and left us too early. 🌀

Right dea, Arlington National Cemetery, close to where da big guys work at da Pentagon, dey wen put Ian to rest. Was bright and sunny, dat day. Ho, two years already since he wen pass away from cardiac arrest while he was getting mental help in Michigan. 🌞💔

Plenny peeps wen come – his ohana, his Army braddahs and sistahs, his students, and choke admirers. All for say aloha and mahalo to one paratrooper and Special Forces officer who no scared tell da Army, “Eh, no treat Iraqi and Afghan guys bad!” And for all of them, was one morning to think about how maybe he neva have to die like dat if da Veterans Affairs guys wen do their jobs right. 😢🇺🇸

Fishback, was one odd kine bird. Gave up his awesome military gig and wen try philosophy. Major Joanna Forbes, da Army’s chaplain lady, talked about how he took all da good values from West Point and tried fo’ make sure every single person, even da enemies, got treated right. She wen say, “Ian, he fight for his country and his Army braddahs and sistahs. And he made sure everybody got treated with aloha and respect.” 💪

Forbes wen add, “I wen bury plenny heroes. But none like Ian Fishback.”

Back in 2004, Fishback wen talk to da big bosses about da bad stuff happening to prisoners. He wen stake everything on showing da world da truth. He said, “Eh, dat’s torture!” And da Army, no like set standards for treat prisoners, and even wen try hide ’em. And guess what? Even da big boss, Donald Rumsfeld, knew about ’em. 🙅‍♂️

Fishback, he no stay quiet. Wen talk story with Human Rights Watch, and even got three sergeants fo’ spill da beans about da beatings and sleepless nights dey was giving da prisoners. And then, he wen write one letter to Senator John McCain, who wen go through torture too when he was captured in Vietnam. Told McCain, “Bruddah, gotta make things pono for da soldiers. Give ’em da right kine standards, cuz dey risking their lives out dea!” ✊

Was ’round da same time da world found out ’bout da bad kine stuff going down at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Fishback’s words wen shake up da Pentagon big time. After dat, Congress wen make da Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. Say, no matter who or where, nobody should get treated bad. No cruel or degrading stuff. 🚫

Marc Garlasco, one investigator from Human Rights Watch, wen say Fishback was one of da bravest guys from da Afghanistan and Iraq wars. “Ian was da only one who wen stand up and say, ‘Eh, America, no make torture!’”

In 2006, Time magazine wen call him one of da 100 most influential peeps of da year. But after dat, things wen get sour for him in da Army. And even though he wen try go back to school, study philosophy, his mental health wen go downhill. All dat stress from speaking out, his ohana say, wen make him go all lolo sometimes. 😔

Da last years of his life, was hard, brah. He wen act all kine ways, causing trouble, and had to get court-ordered mental care. And da sad part, da V.A. wen treat him all junk, even when he was super sick, giving him medicine he no like.

Now, da Michigan state and da V.A. inspector general checking all dis out. Michael J. Missal, da inspector general guy, wen say, “We tinkin’ of da ohana. We looking into da care he got. Gonna let everybody know when pau.”

Earlier this year, New York Times Magazine wen talk story about Fishback’s rough journey. Denis R. McDonough, da V.A. head hancho, wen admit, “Eh, we wen mess up with da guy.” He wen say how important fo’ take care of da veterans, especially in hard times.

Fishback’s faddah, John, wen decide fo’ bury his son’s ashes at Arlington. Was hard cuz of how da military and V.A. wen treat him. His maddah, Sharon Ableson, was all against it. She say, “Da military and V.A. wen betray my son. No like he rest dea.” But she hope Ian’s life and legacy can make tings betta in da future. 🌱

John Fishback, da faddah, even though he get issues with da military, he chose Arlington. He like make sure dat everybody can find his son, and remember da good he did. For dat, he think Arlington was da best spot. 🌺

On da day of da ceremony, John Fishback wen sit down, wear his Veterans For Peace cap, and talked story with all da peeps who came fo’ show love and respect. He wen say, “Had 42 good years with my boy. Dat’s how I gotta remember ’em.” ❤️🌺🤙