Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher Releases The Names And Faces Of Active Duty SEALs Who Testified Against Him In An Instagram Video
SAN DIEGO —
A retired Navy SEAL whose war crimes trial made international news has launched a video attack on former SEAL teammates who accused him of murder, shooting civilians and who testified against him at his San Diego court-martial in June.
In a three-minute video posted to his Facebook page and Instagram account Monday, retired Chief Special Operator Edward Gallagher, 40, referred to some members of his former platoon as “cowards” and highlighted names, photos and — for those still on active duty — their duty status and current units, something former SEALs say places those men — and the Navy’s mission — in jeopardy.
Gallagher was accused of several war crimes by some of his platoon subordinates, including that he shot civilians and stabbed a wounded ISIS fighter in the neck, killing him, while in Iraq in 2017. He pleaded not guilty and was acquitted of most charges, but was convicted of posing for a photo with an Isis fighter’s corpse, a crime for which the jury reduced his rank.
When I first saw the video that Gallagher put on his Instagram page, I was legit shocked. Over the years here and Barstool and my time in the Marine Corps, I got to know several SEALs and other members of "special units." Green Berets. Rangers. SEALs. Raiders. Recon. Most are very private about where they serve and how they are serving. People in intelligence communities are hesitant to take pictures at all because they fear that there might be a link back to their families one day.
One dude I was good friends with was so paranoid that he hadn't taken a single picture with his son. His son was 6. I mean, he had NEVER TAKEN A PICTURE WITH HIS KID. That's how protective some of these folks are. You've seen the picture featuring operators with black bars over their eyes and faces. We even talked to Jocko Willink about taking pictures just last week.
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Eddie outing these people and the units they are in might be unprecedented in the SEAL community. I've certainly never heard of anything like this happening. In fact, I talked to the ZBT group chat before writing this blog. I didn't want to spread the names and wanted to see what they thought before even hitting publish but it's out there. Task and Purpose has written about it. The San Diego Times-Union has written about it. The toothpaste is outta the tube and there is no putting it back in now.
One aspect of this video that I find really interesting is that it's obviously from a larger-scale project. I doubt Eddie Gallagher is thumbing away on his computer and coming up with these graphics and effects himself. This is from a large project that will surely shock the military world.
I thought, well hoped after the fact, that these military pardons would lead to something good. I hoped the men who were acquitted or pardoned would use their platforms to bring awareness about issues facing veterans and active-duty members. From this clip, it doesnt appear that will be the case. It appears as though a revenge tour is just getting started and that's a really sobering thought.
Truth be known, I fucking hate talking about this kinda shit in the military community. I like talking about fighter jets drawing sky penises and what smells reminds folks of the military. But, the good comes with the bad. This story is all bad and just when you think it's behind us, there's another headline that brings it all back. No one wins in this story. No one.
For a couple of lighter stories, check out Zero Blog 30's new episode that just came out this morning, one of which highlighted some Army Rangers who performed multiple blood transfusions in the middle of a firefight. Well, I guess that's not lighter. It's just wildly different than anything Eddie Gallagher related.