Keough is the only Marine unhappy about the POWs being treated on board with injured Marines.

“The first day here, they put a POW right next to me in the ward. That was crazy. You can’t put someone in with you when he was just out there trying to kill you. It may not have been the exact one, but it’s still the enemy. Those Iraqis, they treat us like f—-ing shit when they capture us, but we have to treat them humanely.”

Keough said he has no plans to return soon to the Middle East: “I want to stay as far away from here as possible. No, I don’t see any vacation plans in the Middle East soon. Didn’t see much I liked while there, and there’s nothing worse than fighting a battle in the desert with nowhere to hide.”

“Look, we’re not in Iraq to make it our 51st state, we’re in Iraq to make the world a safer place,” said Capt. Sam (Harry) Porter, 32, who was run over by a tank.

Asked about having POWs on board, Porter said: “I understand and agree with the logic. If the enemy knows they will be fairly treated, it will be easier for them to give up. But if they think they will be treated harshly or killed, they will fight like hell and take down a lot of Marines with them.”

Asked his personal feelings about the war, Porter said: “It’s brutal, like all wars. I think a lot of Iraqi people are caught up in something where they’re not willing participants. Think there are some brutal people in the regime who are forcing the Iraqis to do something they may not want to do; but they know they have to do it, or they’ll be killed by the regime.”

Porter said he’s traveled enough around the world to know that people are basically the same wherever one goes. “Everybody everywhere wants the best for their family, and a good life.”

He also has no vacation plans in the area: “This is my third trip to the Middle East. I never want to come back. But then I said that the last time I was here, too. I was here in 1997-98, and then again in 1998, both times on training operations as a signals intelligence officer. This is it for me.”

Sgt. Jacob Hopkins, 22, has been a Marine for almost three years, and was hurt by “friendly fire.”

The Marines are “respecting our part of the deal regarding how we’re treating their wounded,” he said, “but the way they’re treating our POWs... I have no respect for them.”

Despite the fact that he has “no love for them,” Hopkins said: “But I’ll respect the Geneva Convention and will respect them if they surrender in the field.”

1st Lt. Andrew Turner, 26, who lost three members of his crew in a helicopter accident, has no problem with the POWs on board.

“I know there are POWs here; someone has to take care of them and we’re humanitarian enough to do that. We’re trying to show that we’re not here to conquer, but that we’re here to liberate, which is why we’re doing this.”

Sgt. Sidney Young, 35, was injured by mortar fire at Umm Kasr, and also has no problem with POWs on board: “I don’t care. I was in the first Gulf War, and I was in Somalia. An enemy is an enemy, you have to fight them. But when they give up, they’re no longer your enemy.”

He said the Iraqis were tough fighters: “I’ve seen them when they give up; they’re usually cut up pretty badly. You feel sorry for them, but your heart also teaches you to be hard and callous, because once you let your guard down you become vulnerable and they can get you.”

Sgt. Steven Zaker, 26, was injured when his group entered the Nassiriyah hospital where the chemical suites were found. He’s fine with the POWs on board.