People You May Know: Joseph M. Darby

[Bill Floyd]

When he confronted Charles Graner about what was on the discs Graner had given him, Graner said, "The Christian in me says it's wrong, but the corrections officer in me says, 'I love to make a grown man piss himself.'"

As any Christian knows, a man cannot serve two masters, and each and every photo made it clear which master Graner and the others had chosen.

He wanted to serve his country and he wanted to be someone his comrades could rely upon--hell, he'd known Lynndie since basic--but somewhere along the line, someone had taught him right from wrong.

The military assured him he would remain anonymous, but then Donald Rumsfeld named him publicly at a Senate hearing.

After he was identified, he and his wife had to live under protective military custody at an undisclosed location, while Graner eventually served a little over half his prison sentence before being freed.

Rumsfeld later sent Darby a personal letter demanding he quit reminding people that Rumsfeld had outed him.   

[Mike Handley]

Thank you, Bill. Well written. It needed to be written. Here. By you. This might be my favorite of the bunch, but you don't make choosing easy.

[Jamie Hogan]

I'm about to go back through every single one of these, bud. Gits muhsef sum lernin. This one, well...the Christian in me says it's wrong, but I kinda hope Darby sent that letter back to Rumsfeld after using it for a "personal" purpose.

[Teresa]

Once again, I've been educated (not hard to do when there's so much empty space in the attic where history should be....ha). 

[Angela]

At a loss here.  Didn't know a damn thing about this poor guy.  Why would Rumsfeld do such a thing?

[Cita]

I don't even know how to comment.  But... oddly enough, I thank you for the reminder.  LOVE sentence #2.

[Gita]

What happened at Abu and what continues to happen at Guantanamo -- not being done in MY name. And if there truly is a hell, Donald Rumsfeld will be bunking with Pol Pot.

Great piece.

[Bill Floyd]

Darby's wiki page is here.  Remember what was done in our names here.