The outrage over this incident, or series of incidents, is certainly appropriate.
But perspective is needed.
But this is not My Lai. Hundreds of absolutely innocent & unarmed Vietnamese civilians were butchered over an hour or so by young American GIs aged between 18-24.
It is not Abu Grahib. A generation of Iraqis, hell maybe several generations, had their opinion of Americans turned negative, hostile or even violent by the images there. It marked the turning point of the American occupation, in a bad way.
It is not even Tailhook. Female Naval personnel numbering almost 100 were physically assaulted by drunken male (Navy & Marines) "comrades" over several extremely drunken hours in Las Vegas in 1991. The offenders were entirely commissioned officers, not high-school dropout enlisted personnel.
Absent digital photography and the internet, the current scandal breaks down to a lot of immature guys (whom probably are without real-life girlfriends) doing a lot of big-guy talking, cyber-style. Unfortunately, unlike a lot of BS over a few beers at e-club in my day, the same attitudes in 2017 have caused a major scandal.
Maybe that's progress. Expose harmful speech and such.
But let's remember, no one was raped, or otherwise physically harmed or killed.
This isn't like soldiers of the Syrian army dunking people's heads into buckets of gasoline and then lighting them on fire. Which happens almost every day.
As a father of three sons and a male myself, I must confess I might feel more strongly if I had daughters. If I wasn't a former Marine, I might not feel as defensive either.