WAR-FILM ‘HERO' IS A RAPIST

By MEGAN TURNER
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December 18, 2001 -- The Army pressured the filmmakers of "Black Hawk Down" to change the name of the war hero portrayed by Ewan McGregor - because the real-life soldier is serving a 30-year prison term for rape and child molestation, says the man who wrote the book that spawned the movie.

In Ridley Scott's highly anticipated movie, McGregor plays Ranger John Grimes, a desk jockey who is called into battle during the botched Army operation in Somalia in 1993.

The character is based on real-life Ranger John "Stebby" Stebbins, but Pentagon officials asked his name be changed in an attempt to keep his shame a secret, claims author Mark Bowden, who also penned the original screenplay for the movie.

Stebbins' embittered ex-wife, Nora Stebbins, complained in an e-mail to The Post: "They are going to make millions off this film in which my ex-husband is portrayed as an All-American hero when the truth is he is not."

Army sources confirmed to The Post that Stebbins -who was awarded the Silver Star, one of America's highest honors, for his bravery in the bloody Battle of Mogadishu - was court-martialed and sentenced on June 8, 2000.

Janet Wray, a spokeswoman for Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, confirmed yesterday: "We have a John Stebbins here. He arrived on June 9 last year and is serving a 30-year sentence for sodomy with a child under 12 and rape."

"Black Hawk Down," the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie which opens Dec. 28, is based on Bowden's best-selling book of the same name.

In the book, Bowden refers to Stebbins by his real name and says he surprised everyone with his heroics.

"He was a changed man, a wild animal, dancing around, shooting like a madman," wrote Bowden, who also penned the original draft of the screenplay.

But Stebbins will not get to see McGregor's portrayal of him in the $95 million film, which was filmed in Kenitra, Morocco, in March this year.

"As it happened, Stebbins got in trouble with the law," Bowden was quoted as saying recently. "The Army asked us to change the name."

A Revolution Studios spokeswoman would say only that the name-change was "a creative decision made by the producers."

"There were 100 men in the battle and only 40 speaking parts, so we had to condense some of the characters," she said. "[Grimes] is one who is a compilation of a number of soldiers who fought in that battle so his name was changed."

Stebbins, 36, a former baker from upstate Ithaca, had tried and failed to join the Army three times during the Persian Gulf War and finally made it into the crack Rangers unit, Bowden's book says.

But he worked as a company clerk, and was ribbed by his fellow soldiers as "chief coffee maker" and "paper pusher."


[url]http://nypost.com/news/nationalnews/36965.htm[/url]

Thats a shame...

If it is the same guy, it is a shame.  One wonders how heroism and filthy perversion can coexist in the same person.

His other "activities" aside, guess he proved those guys wrong, didn't he?

If a perverted rapist saved your life...
...would you rather be dead?

No, because I am not a perverted rapist.  Evil people can be USED to accomplish great things.

Are you referring to the inmate who took out Jeffrey Dahmer?

Out of respect for TFR, I would ask that you drop this thread and remove it.

-SARguy

"Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum"

Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington USMC(ret)
                   

TAR?

If you mean TFR? It stands for "Task Force Ranger" The official designation of the Rangers in the fire fight in Mogadishu. He apparently feels that the behavior of one soldier damages the reputation of all the Rangers in TFR. Maybe it does if your the kind of person who judges all by one.

People who do heroic things are not different from anyone else.  They come in varying degrees of morality and character.  

THAT, my friend, is the *farthest* thing from the truth.  It's called respect.  There is simply no reason to bring it up.

Simmer down now! I wasn't saying that YOU are judging all of the Rangers in TFR. I interpreted your protest to mean that you thought some people might. The guy is a POS. However, I doubt that the men whos lives he saved by his heroics will be any less grateful to be alive. Why not bring it up? People bring up abhorations of behavior in other professions on this board all the time(Lawyers, Doctors, Cops, Teachers Politicians, etc) Why should Soldiers be exempt. We were all sickened to watch those third world parasites draging the bodies of our soldiers through their filthy streets. That doesent excuse the behavior of a child molester, I don't care if they gave him the Congressional Medal of Honor, he's a child molester.