Nice First Pitch

Feel free to compare and contrast with other first pitches.

The Battle of Wanat

One Infantry Company.
A 15 month tour in Afghanistan
100 Valor Awards
67 Purple Hearts
33 Bronze Stars With "V" Device
14 Silver Stars
1 Distinguished Service Cross awarded, one pending
2 Medal of Honor nominees

From Army.mil

VICENZA, Italy - In the early morning hours of July 13, 2008, Soldiers from Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment were not thinking about medals as they fought off roughly 200 insurgents attacking their vehicle patrol base in Afghanistan.

No Soldier in combat does.

The Army, however, takes pause afterward to honor those who distinguish themselves in battle and recognizes them before their peers.

Six Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company received medals of valor for combat actions that morning in Wanat, a village in northeast Afghanistan. Nine of their comrades lost their lives during the fight.

Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa, presented medals to the Soldiers during a March 20 ceremony held at Caserma Ederle.

Receiving the Silver Star was bittersweet, said Spc. Jeffrey Scantlin, 24, of Anchorage, Alaska.

"It's a big deal. But brings back a lot of memories of people who should be here, but aren't," Scantlin said. "For me the medal is more of a group achievement, something I wear to remind me of those who didn't come back."

The Silver Star Medal was also presented to Sgt. 1st Class Erich Phillips and Sgt. John Hayes. Bronze Star Medals with "V" device for valor were awarded to 1st Lt. Aaron Thurman, Sgt. Hector Chavez and Spc. Tyler Hanson.

As the ceremony began, the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team stood silent to remember those who died. Then, Garrett spoke about the bravery Soldiers displayed during the battle.

"Their courage under fire, valor, and loyalty to each other was absolutely astounding," Garrett said.

The platoon was near the end of a long deployment to Afghanistan, enduring many firefights along the way. Yet, when faced with enemy fire near Wanat, outnumbered and in some cases wounded, these paratroopers fought desperately for each other, overcoming fear and willingly risking their lives to save others.

"Incredible acts of courage and valor were commonplace on the battlefield that day," Garrett said. "Today, we recognize these six Soldiers for their courage - and we are thankful for the opportunity to serve with such men."

Garrett stepped forward and orders were read detailing each of their actions. The six paratroopers paused for photos, the bright ribbons and shining stars standing out against their gray digital fatigues.

In that quiet moment, each Soldier felt mixed emotions. Rows of paratroopers in maroon berets stood before them -many who have their own combat experiences from Afghanistan.

Additionally there is video via Uncle Jimbo at BlackFive from another award ceremony for members of Chosen Company held at FT Benning, GA.



A detailed description of that event is HERE.

Today Is National Medal of Honor Day

From the website Above and Beyond

Abraham Lincoln created the Medal of Honor which was first presented on March 25, 1863. But too few are aware of this momentous date and all that it stands for, so the Above & Beyond creators proposed that March 25th be set aside every year as a national holiday to commemorate Lincoln’s historic act and remind the American public about the Medal of Honor’s history and ideals.

This idea quickly gained the support of the 105 living Medal of Honor recipients who constitute the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and legislation was drafted up to put this new holiday on the national calendar. The Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on January 30, 2007, and was unanimously approved on February 27, 2007. A concurrent Bill was unanimously passed in the Senate on March 1st, 2007, and Senator John Warner announced the creation of this annual day to the American public on March 21st 2007.

March 25th 2007 was the first official National Medal of Honor Day in the United States. Perhaps Gary Littrell, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s President, summed it up best when he stated; “I do not view the 25th of March for the years to come as a day to honor ‘we’ the Medal of Honor recipients,” he said. “I view the 25th of March as a day that we the Medal of Honor recipients can give back to our youth.”

In my youth the Medal of Honor meant one person to me, Audie Murphy. A native Texan, Auide was a legend in Texas even when I was a child in the 70's. If you have seen his biographical film "To Hell and Back" you are somewhat familiar with his exploits on the field of battle. That being said when one reads the citation for his Medal you know the movie doesn't even being to tell the "whole" story.


Audie L. Murphy

Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B 1 5th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division.

Place and date: Near Holtzwihr France, 26 January 1945.

Entered service at: Dallas, Tex. Birth: Hunt County, near Kingston, Tex.

G.O. No.. 65, 9 August 1945. Citation 2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machinegun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.

This is but one of hundreds of citations like this. Go to THIS SITE and read a few for yourself and wonder like I do...where do we get such men?

Is This Guy Still Alive?!?

Via The Mudville Gazette.

If we could be heroes
by Greyhawk

Yes - Andy Rooney is at it again:

We don't have many heroes these days because there isn't much opportunity to be a hero and most people aren't usually heroic anyway.
It may be helpful to understand Rooney's definition of a hero. "Being heroic," he says, "means doing something that risks your own life while you're saving someone else's." I'd add that perhaps doing something you don't have to do that risks your life while you're saving someone else's (or even just trying to save someone else's) could be a better definition.

"In World War II we had a lot of heroes because there were a lot of opportunities to be heroic" writes Rooney, but as for now "we all must have the same attributes we've always had but I guess people don't have the opportunity to be heroic in peace as they do in war."

And if you're tempted to shout that we are indeed at war today - save your breath. I said "at it again" because Rooney dismissed today's soldiers as potential heroes back in 2004:

Treating soldiers fighting their war as brave heroes is an old civilian trick designed to keep the soldiers at it....

We pin medals on their chests to keep them going. We speak of them as if they volunteered to risk their lives to save ours, but there isn't much voluntary about what most of them have done. A relatively small number are professional soldiers. During the last few years, when millions of jobs disappeared, many young people, desperate for some income, enlisted in the Army. About 40 percent of our soldiers in Iraq enlisted in the National Guard or the Army Reserve to pick up some extra money and never thought they'd be called on to fight. They want to come home.
<...>
We must support our soldiers in Iraq because it's our fault they're risking their lives there. However, we should not bestow the mantle of heroism on all of them for simply being where we sent them. Most are victims, not heroes.

I don't how you can live to be as old as Andy Rooney and still be that stupid.

Are all soldiers heroes? No, they are not. I'm here to tell you just like the rest of society there are some reprehensible characters in our armed forces. But, by and large we are a force of dedicated individuals who signed up to do a job most people would never even consider.

If Mister Rooney wants to see some heroes there are plenty of them. You can read some of their stories in places like THIS.

Really these stories aren't that hard to find...If you WANT to find them.

Taking Chance

From BlackFive

In February HBO is going to air a film based on the true story of a Marine LtCol who escorted the body of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps from Iraq back to his home in the states.

Here's a preview.



Looks good...at least the part that I could see some dust got in my eyes there towards the end.

A Band of Brothers

Not a big fan of the opera (by that I mean I can't stand it). But on this 64th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, I thought this video might be appropriate.

Fans of the HBO series, "Band of Brothers" may recognize the melody.

Meanwhile Back In The Fight

From the Washington Post

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 12, 2008; Page A01

After jumping out of helicopters at daybreak onto jagged, ice-covered rocks and into water at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the 12-man Special Forces team scrambled up the steep mountainside toward its target -- an insurgent stronghold in northeast Afghanistan.

"Our plan," Capt. Kyle M. Walton recalled in an interview, "was to fight downhill."

But as the soldiers maneuvered toward a cluster of thick-walled mud buildings constructed layer upon layer about 1,000 feet farther up the mountain, insurgents quickly manned fighting positions, readying a barrage of fire for the exposed Green Berets.

A harrowing, nearly seven-hour battle unfolded on that mountainside in Afghanistan's Nuristan province on April 6, as Walton, his team and a few dozen Afghan commandos they had trained took fire from all directions. Outnumbered, the Green Berets fought on even after half of them were wounded -- four critically -- and managed to subdue an estimated 150 to 200 insurgents, according to interviews with several team members and official citations.

Today, Walton and nine of his teammates from Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group will receive the Silver Star for their heroism in that battle -- the highest number of such awards given to the elite troops for a single engagement since the Vietnam War...

Read the rest HERE

But if someone does a little research they will find this at the USASOC website...

RELEASE NUMBER: 081211-05
DATE POSTED: DECEMBER 11, 2008

3rd SFG recognizes more than 100 in valor award ceremony
By Staff Sgt. Marie Schult
3rd SFG (A) PAO NCOIC

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Dec. 11, 2008) – On Wednesday, more than 100 members of 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) received valor awards for their actions in Afghanistan.

The 3rd SFG(A) commander, Col. Gus Benton II, presented the awards to his men at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Auditorium, in the presence of more than 300 of their friends, Family members and colleagues. In all, the Soldiers received 43 Bronze Star Medals with V-device; 39 Army Commendation Medals with V-device; and 42 Purple Hearts.

The valor device denotes that individuals were awarded a decoration in recognition of a valorous act they performed during combat operations while under direct fire from enemy forces. It may also denote an accomplishment of a heroic nature in direct support of operations against an enemy force.

Benton encouraged the Soldiers to continue to find, fight and finish their enemies. He also took a few moments to praise his men and their actions. Benton said that if asked, none of these Soldiers would claim any greatness. They merely cling to the concept that they were just doing their job.

Benton was speaking about men like Staff Sgt. Morgan P. Ford, who received the Bronze Star Medal with V-device for his actions in a firefight on Nov. 2, 2007. Ford was the .50-caliber machine-gunner on his truck when his convoy was attacked.

“I don’t know what I think,” said the Special Forces weapons sergeant, who had a hard time finding words to describe his feelings on receiving this award. Ford wouldn’t talk about his actions that day, but he did say that his team performed very well.

He added that the action made him more ready for later firefights, of which there were many during the six-month deployment. Ford also received two Purple Hearts for injuries sustained while on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan.

“I did my job and I’ll continue to do my job,” said Sgt. 1st Class Karl W. Wurzbach, the senior weapons sergeant for his team. “I like to think I’m good at it, and I couldn’t imagine life in the civilian world.”

Wurzbach, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with V-device for his efforts during a six-and-a-half hour gun battle on April 6 in Afghanistan, in which six members of his team were injured —— four of them critically.

While the awards show the extent to which these Soldiers will go for victory they are by no means the capstone of 3rd Group’s efforts. A second valor-award ceremony will take place Friday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. in the JFK Auditorium. During that ceremony, 19 Soldiers will be awarded the Silver Star Medal. Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland, commander of the United States Army Special Operations Command, will present the awards.

I'm sure this will be on the news tonight.

Happy Veterans Day

I found this via The Aviation Art Hangar. It's veteran owned so if your in the market give them a shot.

"Sack Lunches"
written by Melvin Davison


I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap, I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq.'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago.'

His friend agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat belt, I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago, I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...


"A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."

Man, my allergies are acting up today.

Operators Rescue Hostage

From The Navy Times

H/T Ace of Spades

Spec ops conducts night raid in Afghanistan mountains
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 9, 2008 10:24:05 EST

The American businessman lay shackled in a mud hut 8,000 feet up a remote mountain in Afghanistan, armed captors posted inside and outside to prevent any escape attempt.

Earlier in his captivity, he had made a run for it, but — barefoot and much older than the insurgents who held him — he was snatched back before he could get far.

After nearly two months in captivity and out of contact with anyone who cared about him, the hostage reviewed what his fate might hold — whether ransom negotiations or rescue efforts or a miracle might bring him freedom.

“One option was for the money to arrive and be ransomed,” the 61-year-old engineer from Ohio told Military Times, speaking on the condition that he remain anonymous. Another was “that they’d just get tired of me and let me loose.” A third was “some kind of military intervention,” he said. “In my mind I’d given a military intervention a one out of a hundred chance. Not that they couldn’t do it, but they’re busy and I’m not that important a fellow.”

On an airstrip many miles away, however, several twin sets of Chinook helicopter rotor blades were starting to turn as about 60 of America’s most elite troops prepared to prove him wrong. Members of a task force that Military Times agreed not to name, the commandos had been hunting for the businessman since soon after he went missing. Now they were ready to act.

This is the story of one of the most daring and successful U.S. hostage-rescue missions in years...

For the rest please go HERE

This was all over the news wasn't it? Yeah, I guess not.

WWII Vet visits the Troops

...in Afghanistan



He's 90+ years old...what a guy!
Via Last of the Few

A Sad, Sad Story From the UK

From The UK Times on Line

Hannah Fletcher
A hotel that refused a wounded soldier a room, forcing him to spend the night in his car, was backed into a “grovelling” apology yesterday after receiving a barrage of abusive phone calls.

Metro Hotel, in Woking, Surrey, had to call in the police as their lines were flooded with angry, abusive and threatening calls from members of the public.

The attack on the switchboards came after it emerged that Corporal Tomos Stringer, 24, had been told by hotel staff that it was company policy not to accept members of the Armed Forces as guests.

A soldier since the age of 16 and veteran of multiple tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, Cpl Stringer had travelled to Surrey to help with funeral preparations for a friend killed in action...

You can read the rest of the article HERE

One of the most absolutely shameful things I have ever read...those people should be ashamed to show their faces in public.
Well, CPL Stringer is welcome here anytime.

This Is Our President...

From the good folks at BLACKFIVE

The Value of Service
Commentary by Lt. Col. Mark Murphy
354th Maintenance Group deputy commander

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- I learned a big lesson on service Aug. 4, 2008, when Eielson had the rare honor of hosting President Bush on a refueling stop as he traveled to Asia .

It was an event Eielson will never forget -- a hangar full of Airmen and Soldiers getting to see the Commander in Chief up close, and perhaps even shaking his hand. An incredible amount of effort goes into presidential travel because of all of the logistics, security, protocol, etc ... so it was remarkable to see Air Force One land at Eielson on time at precisely 4:30 p.m.--however, when he left less than two hours later, the President was 15 minutes behind schedule.

That's a big slip for something so tightly choreographed, but very few people know why it happened. Here's why.

On Dec. 10, 2006, our son, Shawn, was a paratrooper deployed on the outskirts of Baghdad . He was supposed to spend the night in camp, but when a fellow soldier became ill Shawn volunteered to take his place on a nighttime patrol--in the convoy's most exposed position as turret gunner in the lead Humvee. He was killed instantly with two other soldiers when an IED ripped through their vehicle.

I was thinking about that as my family and I sat in the audience listening to the President's speech, looking at the turret on the up-armored Humvee the explosive ordnance disposal flight had put at the edge of the stage as a static display.

When the speech was over and the President was working the crowd line, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a White House staff member. She asked me and my wife to come with her, because the President wanted to meet us.

Stunned, we grabbed our two sons that were with us and followed her back into a conference room. It was a shock to go from a crowded, noisy hangar, past all of those security people, to find ourselves suddenly alone in a quiet room.

The only thing we could hear was a cell phone vibrating, and noticed that it was coming from the jacket Senator Stevens left on a chair. We didn't answer.

A short time later, the Secret Service opened the door and President Bush walked in. I thought we might get to shake his hand as he went through. But instead, he walked up to my wife with his arms wide, pulled her in for a hug and a kiss, and said, "I wish I could heal the hole in your heart." He then grabbed me for a hug, as well as each of our sons. Then he turned and said, "Everybody out."

A few seconds later, the four of us were completely alone behind closed doors with the President of the United States and not a Secret Service agent in sight.

He said, "Come on, let's sit down and talk." He pulled up a chair at the side of the room, and we sat down next to him. He looked a little tired from his trip, and he noticed that his shoes were scuffed up from leaning over concrete barriers to shake hands and pose for photos. He slumped down the chair, completely relaxed, smiled, and suddenly was no longer the President - he was just a guy with a job, sitting around talking with us like a family member at a barbeque...

Go read the entire thing HERE

Army VS. Navy

This is an awesome short film that is well worth your time.

Reveille
Uploaded by UrbanX

Farewell To An American Hero

You can't get much better than this...

Commentary: Farewell to an American hero
By Joseph L. Galloway McClatchy Newspapers
For the better part of 60 years, two old Army pilots who loved each other argued over many a meal and drink as to which of them was the second best pilot in the world.

The two shared the cockpits of old Beaver prop planes and Huey helicopters; they shared rooms in military hooches all over the world; they shared a love of practical and impractical jokes and they shared an undying love of flying and soldiers and the Army.

They also shared membership in a very small and revered fraternity of fewer than 105 men who are entitled to wear around their necks the light blue ribbon and gold pointed star that is the Medal of Honor, America’s highest decoration for heroism above and beyond the call of duty.

Their story was told in a book my buddy Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and I wrote 15 years ago titled "We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young" and in the Mel Gibson movie, "We Were Soldiers," released in the spring of 2002. Too Tall and Old Snake were ably portrayed in the movie.

Their argument over which of them is the Best Pilot in the Whole World sadly came to an end this week when our friend and comrade-in-arms Maj. Ed (Too Tall to Fly) Freeman slipped the surly bonds of earth and headed off to Fiddler’s Green, where the souls of departed cavalrymen gather by dispensation of God Himself...

To Read the whole thing please click here.

Our hearts so stout have got no fame
For soon 'tis known from whence we came
Where'er we go they fear the name
Of Garryowen in glory.



UPDATE: For those unfamiliar with the traditions of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th Cavalry, Garryowen is the official song of the 7th Cavalry regiment and the 1st Cavalry Division. It is rumored to have been the last song played for the 7th Cavalry prior to Custer's last stand.

GARRYOWEN

Let Bacchus' sons be not dismayed
But join with me, each jovial blade
Come, drink and sing and lend your aid
To help me with the chorus:

cho: Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.

We'll beat the bailiffs out of fun,
We'll make the mayor and sheriffs run
We are the boys no man dares dun
If he regards a whole skin.

Our hearts so stout have got no fame
For soon 'tis known from whence we came
Where'er we go they fear the name
Of Garryowen in glory.

Here's the 7th CAV version:


1.
We are the pride of the army,

And a regiment of great renown,

Our name’s on the pages of history,

From sixty six on down.

If you think we stop or falter,

While into the fray we’re goin’

Just watch the step with our heads erect

When our band plays "Garry Owen."

Chorus

In the Fighting Seventh’s the place for me.

It’s the cream of all the cavalry;

No other regiment ever can claim

It’s pride, honor, glory, and undying fame.

2.
We know no fear when stern duty

Calls us far away from home,

Our country’s flag shall sagely o’er us wave,

No matter where we roam.

T’is the gallant Seventh Cavalry,

It matters not where we’re goin’

such you’ll surely say as we march away,

When our band plays "Garry Owen."

3.
Then hurrah for our brave commanders!

Who lead us into the fight.

We’ll do or die in our country’s cause.

And battle for the right.

And when the war is o’er

And to our home we’re goin’

Just watch the step, with our head erect,

When our band plays, "Garry Owen."

I am humbled every time I think of the history of this Division and the Cavalry. It is a honor to wear the uniform and serve in the company of gallant men such as these. Godspeed and rest in peace MAJ Freeman!

Too Tall Inbound

...to Fiddler's Green.
H/T Argghhh!

Idaho veteran of three wars, Medal of Honor hero dies
Among those who visited Ed Freeman in a Boise hospital were those he had saved.

BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 08/21/08


As Ed "Too Tall" Freeman lay ill in a Boise hospital over the past few weeks, many came to pay their respects to the 80-year-old national war hero and former helicopter pilot.

One unexpected visitor offered a very personal thank you to Freeman, a veteran of three wars and recipient of the highest military award - the Congressional Medal of Honor - for his actions on Nov. 14, 1965, at Landing Zone X-Ray, Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam.

"A guy came into the hospital and said, 'You don't know me, but I was one of those people you hauled out of the X-Ray,'" said Mike Freeman, 54, one of Ed's two sons. "He said, 'Thanks for my life.'

For the rest of this article please go HERE.

FIDDLER'S GREEN

Halfway down the trail to Hell,
In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers' Green.


Marching past, straight through to Hell
The Infantry are seen.
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Fiddlers' Green.


Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene.
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he's emptied his canteen.
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddlers' Green.


And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge of fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,
And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddlers' Green.

Man Bites Dog

As much grief as people give the press, there are actually some that are worth the title of human being.

A FOX News cameraman helped save the life of an injured Marine in Afghanistan — and was injured himself — when the armored Humvee convoy he was traveling in was struck by a roadside bomb Sunday night in the Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

Two U.S. Marines were badly injured when the improvised explosive device detonated near their convoy. Though FOX News cameraman Chris Jackson was injured in the blast, he went back to the burning vehicle to rescue one of the Marines.

To read the whole thing go HERE

A Follow Up

Those of you who regularly follow this page might remember this story about CW5 David Cooper of the 160th SOAR.

The Army Times found more info, some of which can be seen below.

‘Neither of us expected to get out ... alive’

Pilot earns Distinguished Service Cross after fighting off surprise attack
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jul 20, 2008 11:47:16 EDT

In the clear skies north of Baghdad, a single word — “Mayday!” — turned a special operations mission on its head, diverting some of America’s most elite forces from their mission to kill or capture a known terrorist to a desperate fight for their lives, pinned down, outnumbered and outgunned.

In the brutal hours that followed that Mayday transmission on Nov. 27, 2006, Chief Warrant Officer 5 David Cooper of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment — the “Night Stalkers” — would earn a Distinguished Service Cross for his heroic actions to relieve his beleaguered colleagues, while an Air Force F-16 pilot would lose his life.

Cooper received his award — the highest ever for a Night Stalker — from Adm. Eric Olson, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, July 11 at the 160th’s home post of Fort Campbell, Ky.

In the early afternoon of Nov. 27, 2006, Cooper was the pilot in command of an AH-6 Little Bird attack helicopter, flying lead pilot in a flight of six helicopters: two AH-6s, two MH-6 troop-carrying Little Birds and two MH-60 Black Hawks, also with special ops ground troops aboard. Their mission was to kill or capture a “foreign fighter facilitator,” according to a summary of the action released by the 160th...

...The weather was perfect — “Clear, blue and 22,” in aviator-speak. But as the six helicopters flew between “logger” sites about 50 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, Cooper’s wingman suddenly transmitted “Mayday!”...

...Cooper’s wingman had to land the aircraft quickly, while simultaneously keeping its speed up so that the wind would keep the helicopter straight. Fortunately, the landscape below was mostly flat, open desert...

...Cooper and his co-pilot stayed airborne for several minutes to make sure the position was safe, then, seeing no enemy forces, he landed.

After about 40 minutes, several trucks with anti-aircraft machine guns approached their location. Unsure whether these belonged to Iraqi police, a local militia or enemy fighters, the senior ground force non-commissioned officer asked Cooper to get airborne and check them out. The question was answered when the gun trucks opened fire on the small special ops force.

Cooper took off and quickly realized the full extent of the threat: there were six to eight gun trucks mounted with double-barreled ZPU-2 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns about 1,400 to 1,600 meters away. Each gun truck was crewed by four or five men, “so there were probably about 40 fighters out there,” he said.

Meanwhile, another two trucks had appeared and disgorged at least 20 enemy fighters. They occupied a house about 800 meters from the grounded helicopter and took the U.S. force under fire with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, RPK machine guns and AK-series assault rifles.

The U.S. troops were armed with infantry weapons that could reach the enemy fighters in the house, but not those in the gun trucks.

To make matters worse, the desert offered no cover to escape the gun trucks’ murderous fire. “It was flat like a tabletop, so we really had no defilade to get to,” Cooper said. “The ground forces were pinned down immediately … It was kind of a one-sided deal.”

For the entire story please go the the Army Times website

Shocker!

No not "the shocker", but a sarcastic shocker...like who didn't see this coming?

Commander: Media reports on Afghanistan outpost battle were exaggerated
173rd’s fight not symbol of more violent Afghanistan, says Preysler
By Mark St.Clair, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, July 20, 2008



"The sky is not falling," Col. Charles "Chip" Preysler, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, said Saturday from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Preysler spoke via telephone less than a week after his paratroops and their Afghan allies were involved in a fierce attack at a small post near the village of Wanat. In the July 13 battle, nine of his men were killed and 15 others wounded.

But the attack is not a sign of conditions worsening in the country, he said.

The battle occurred just after dawn at a temporary vehicle patrol base near Wanat. A platoon-sized element of Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne) soldiers and a smaller Afghan National Army force were occupying a hastily built area as they had done many times over the 15 months they’d been in country, Preysler said. The soldiers were there on a reconnaissance mission to establish a presence and find a good location to connect with the local government, populace and Afghan National Police, he said.

The small outpost had been built just days before the attack and consisted of protective wire and observation posts surrounding strategically placed vehicles. "That’s all it was, a series of vehicles that went out there," Preysler said...Preysler ended the interview by lauding his soldiers.

"I get emotional about this, you’ll have to forgive me," he said. "These guys have fought for 15 months, and they have fought harder, and I mean this literally, they have fought harder and (had) more engagements, more direct-fire engagements, than any brigade in the United States Army in probably the toughest terrain. These guys are absolutely veterans and they know what they’re doing and they have that airborne spirit and they fought a very, very tough battle and held the ground and did everything they were supposed to do.

"I would like to also say I wish my guys who were wounded a speedy recovery and obviously condolences to the families, and that’s very close and personal to us. It’s tough to take casualties toward the end of any combat tour for any unit, but it signals that we’re in a fight, and we’re going to continue to fight."

Now I will say you might look upon this knowing that this gentelman is the commander of the unit in question...so read the entire thing in Stars and Stripes and draw your own conclusions.

Why is Stars and Stripes the only one reporting this?

Stuff You Might Not Know...

You may have seen the headlines the other day...

NY Times
9 Americans Die in Afghan Attack

By CARLOTTA GALL
Published: July 14, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents carried out a bold assault on a remote base near the border with Pakistan on Sunday, NATO reported, and a senior American military official said nine American soldiers were killed.

CNN
Scores die in wave of attacks in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Nine U.S. troops were killed Sunday in an attack on a base in a remote province of eastern Afghanistan, a Western official said.

It was the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in three years.

NEWSWEEK
US abandons Afghan outpost where 9 troops died
US abandons remote outpost in Afghan border region where 9 troops died in fighting
By JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press Writer AP
Jul 16, 2008

What they didn't tell you about was this...

From Stars and Stripes
Soldiers recount deadly attack on Afghanistan outpost
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, July 19, 2008

Everything was on fire. The trucks. The bazaar. The grass.

It looked surreal. It looked like a movie.

That was what Spc. Tyler Stafford remembered thinking as he stepped onto the medical evacuation helicopter. The 23-year-old soldier would have been loaded onto the bird, but the poncho that was hastily employed as his stretcher broke. His body speckled with grenade and RPG shrapnel, the Vicenza, Italy, infantryman walked the last few feet to the waiting Black Hawk.

That was Sunday morning in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province. At a forward operating base — maybe as big as a football field — established just a few days prior.

Outnumbered but not outgunned, a platoon-plus element of soldiers with 2nd Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team accompanied by Afghan soldiers engaged in a fistfight of a firefight.

After maybe two hours of intense combat, some of the soldiers’ guns seized up because they expelled so many rounds so quickly. Insurgent bullets and dozens of rocket-propelled grenades filled the air. So many RPGs were fired at the soldiers that they wondered how the insurgents had so many...

...The whole FOB was covered in dust and smoke, looking like something out of an old Western movie.

"I’ve never seen the enemy do anything like that," said Walker, who was medically evacuated off the FOB in one of the first helicopters to arrive. "It’s usually three RPGs, some sporadic fire and then they’re gone … I don’t where they got all those RPGs. That was crazy."

Two hours after the first shots were fired, Stafford made his way — with help — to the medevac helicopter that arrived.

"It was some of the bravest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life, and I will never see it again because those guys," Stafford said, then paused. "Normal humans wouldn’t do that. You’re not supposed to do that — getting up and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in over your head … It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ’ em off."

Stafford offered a guess as to why his fellow soldiers fought so hard.

"Just hardcoreness I guess," he said. "Just guys kicking ass, basically. Just making sure that we look scary enough that you don’t want to come in and try to get us."

It's called context, something you'd think people might have learned about in that thing they call a college. It's also called a war. In a war the enemy gets a vote. They want to win as badly as some of us do. For people not to expect the enemy to try and hurt us and actually inflict some damage in the nearly 7 years this version of the fight against terrorists has been going on, is ridiculous. And even though they managed to kill nine brave Americans, what was the cost to the enemy? DO you know? Can you find it anywhere?



Read the entire article HERE

CW5 Cooper to Receive the Distinguished Service Cross

From the160th SOAR PAO

RELEASE NUMBER: 080703-01
DATE POSTED: JULY 3, 2008

MEDIA ADVISORY: 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) Soldier to receive Distinguished Service Cross

160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Public Affairs

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (USASOC News Service, July 3, 2008) – A 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) Soldier will be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during a ceremony at 2 p.m. July 11 at the Personnel Processing Center, Bldg. 7162, on Fort Campbell, Ky.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 David F. Cooper is being awarded the DSC for extraordinary heroism when he selflessly chose to fly as a single attack helicopter at low levels over an active firefight to draw enemy fire away from United States Special Operations ground forces on the scene. He acted with complete disregard for his own safety as he single handedly took aerial action against an armed and numerically superior enemy during a combat engagement in central Iraq in 2006.

The DSC is the Army’s second highest award for combat valor and is awarded for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States during military operations. This is the eleventh DSC to be awarded for actions in Iraq since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. To date, Cooper is the only aviator to receive the DSC non-posthumously for actions in support of the War on Terror.

Adm. Eric T. Olson, Commander, United States Special Operations Command, and Lt. Gen. Robert W. Wagner, Commander, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, will preside over the ceremony and present the awards.

CW4 Keith Yoakum (A Company 1-227th AVN) has been the only other aviator to receive this award during OIF as noted, posthumously.

It is refreshing to see that the Army has chosen to recognize valor as exhibited by Soldiers that survived the action they were involved in. Let's hope we see more of these in the future.