Today I received this e-mail message:

Subject: ARTICLE ON LT. BRANDON TURNER, USMC

Dear Sir,

���� I don’t know from the photograph whether or not the Marines are in the mosque that sheltered 34 Iraqi terrorists who were arrested, followed by a search of the basement that disclosed a major arms cache, nor I suspect does the writer of the article about an “insane” Lt. Brandon Turner.�

���� Neither your writer nor I was there, but the article in the LA Times does not reflect anything like what he wrote in relation to the situation.� I am familiar enough with combat situations, though, to know that in a firefight it is unlikely that soldiers on either side will take time to remove their shoes before entering a mosque or church.�

���� As for the desecration or destruction of holy places, I invite your writer’s attention to the bombings of Coventry Cathedral, St. Paul’s, or the destruction of synagogues on Kristallnacht as examples of really unnecessary entries into holy places [no weapons or ammunition found in any of them, and even the Nazis didn't claim that there were].

���� Certainly your writer is entitled to his opinion, and rest assured that I am not in total agreement with all of the decisions made by my government in this context, but I think that his letter reveals that he has never been shot at and is, therefore, somewhat lacking in credentials to say what is “insane” and what is not “insane” in a combat situation.

���� Thank you for your attention.

���� ���� ���� John McClellan Marshall
���� ���� ���� COL,
���� ���� ���� Inspector General, Texas State Guard (Ret.)

I replied kindly, with an invitation to post on this weblog. Unfortunately, the e-mail bounced. So, I went to google. John McClellan Marshall is real, and a former Judge in Texas with a impressive record. Somebody I would definately listen to and who would get room on the weblog to comment. However, Google cannot find any military record, even for the Guards, nor does it appear former Judge Marshall was ever Inspector General. Also, the “from” address bounces, and the only occurrence of the email address for the Judge is in an Alumnu listing in reference to a course the Judge gave in Poland.

It sounds fishy – it looks like somebody is abusing the Judges name, but for the life of me I cannot image why. For the moment I’m assuming it’s all a forgery, but if I’m wrong, I’d love to see a message from the Judge from an e-mail address that accepts replies. Preferable non-AOL.