A lot is being written about the phony things a soldier wrote about seeing in Iraq, things that got published in the National Review and were widely quoted.

The soldier is getting grief for this now, even being called one of the "phony soldiers" by some. The magazine, which is covering up the problem, is getting a lot more grief. That's all been covered.

But from Michael Yon, the Rest of the Story.

Beauchamp is young; under pressure he made a dumb mistake. In fact, he has not always been an ideal soldier. But to his credit, the young soldier decided to stay, and he is serving tonight in a dangerous part of Baghdad. He might well be seriously injured or killed here, and he knows it. He could have quit, but he did not. He faced his peers. I can only imagine the cold shoulders, and worse, he must have gotten. He could have left the unit, but LTC Glaze told me that Beauchamp wanted to stay and make it right. Whatever price he has to pay, he is paying it.

The commander said I was welcome to talk with Beauchamp, but clearly he did not want anyone else coming at his soldier. LTC Glaze told me that at least one blog had even called for Beauchamp to be killed, which seems rather extreme even on a very bad day. LTC Glaze wants to keep Beauchamp, and hopes folks will let it rest. I’m with LTC Glaze on this: it’s time to let Beauchamp get back to the war. The young soldier learned his lessons. He paid enough to earn his second chance that he must know he will never get a third.

The man wrote a phony story. But that is not automatically synonymous with being a phony soldier. A "phony soldier" is one who claims to be in the military, or have been in combat, when they have never done it. Beauchamp is not that, and I hope this gets wide circulation.