BLACKFIVE

Can a Paratrooper Be a Wingman?

Seriously, I'm the best damn Wingman out there.  I'm a professional.

Some interesting entertaining articles about other Wingmen was sent by Roger:

What Is A Wingman - How it Works

Wingperson becomes commodity in dating

Absent Companions - Sergeant Hook

Sergeant Hook's blog is leaving the blogosphere.  I've received about fifty or sixty emails and I've tried to answer each one.

To a one, they all ask for me to use whatever undue influence I may have with Hook to encourage him to keep blogging.  Believe me when I say that I already have.  I want him to keep writing as much as you do.  But also ask yourself if you ever heard of an Officer influencing a Sergeant Major to do anything?...really.

Sergeant Hook has chosen his soldiers over his blog.  I know that you all understand that, as much as you don't like it.  Leaders have to make tough decisions every day. 

For Hook, and unfortunately for us, that was an easy one for him to make.

Another Great MilBlog

Redsix (the callsign for a MilBlogger in Fallujah) drinks Tabasco to win over his men and then unleashes hell on Fallujah...cool.

Here is First Lieutenant Neil Prakash of Armor Geddon - a Soldier You Should Know.

Thanks to Tim Oren for the head's up on Prakash.

Gunner Palace - Coming to a Theater Near You Soon

I've posted about Michael Tucker's Gunner Palace before - specifically, the Rap Video and the Jimi Hendrix Style Soldier Video (Specialist Wilfenstein on a Baghdad roof).

Now, the Gunner Palace Trailer is out.  Gunner Palace will hit theaters in March, 2005.

It's not pro-war or anti-war, it's just about war and the soldiers who were there.

"This Is The Real America..."

Via Seamus, comes this email from Sergeant Mike Stutzke - a soldier in the Washington Army National Guard - who was home on leave in September.  Sergeant Stutzke is a Corrections Officer in Airway Heights, WA, when not in the Guard.  Stutzke's father is a Viet Nam vet who has stated that he is glad his son is treated differently than the way he was treated when he came home.

This is the real America ignored by CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS

I am a member of the Washington National Guard, an infantry squad leader, assigned to the 1st Calvary division, in Baghdad Iraq. After spending approximately 6 months in Iraq, I got to go home on leave. I had many people, strangers, walk up to me and thank me in a variety of different ways. I would like to share some of the experiences I had while traveling across our great country.

Some of the people would look at me, and quickly look away when I looked at them, eventually they would say something. Some would see me from across the airport or wherever I was, and make a B-line to me and say something. They all appeared to have nothing in common, some were old men, old women, young men and women and children. I enjoyed the children the most, the way they look at a soldier, with wide eyes and open admiration. I told each of them about my daughter who was at home who I was getting to see after a long time of being away from her.

Most started out the conversation by asking where I was going, or where I was coming from, others asked if I had been in Iraq. When I told people I was on leave from Iraq, they all made some kind of physical contact, shaking hands, putting a hand on my shoulder or arm, and a surprising number hugged me.

Some bought me drinks, some bought me lunch, some gave up their first class seat to me, some shared stories about their family members or friends who were in Iraq, and each asked me if I knew their family member or friends. Some asked for my address to send care packages to me and my platoon. All were incredibly polite, thankful, and inspiring.

Some, who spoke to me, did so with a red face, some with tears in their eyes, some crying. Each were, once again, inspiring.

The people who I spoke with made a lasting impression on my life, to me it was awe inspiring. I wish everyone could experience the love and appreciation I felt while traveling home to see my family.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the people who have inspired me.

To the people at the Bangor Maine airport, who where there at 5:30 am with coffee, cell phones, cookies, a handshake or a hug. THANK YOU!

To the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport fire department (real American heroes), who showered our plane with water, with their lights flashing, giving us a "heroes welcome". THANK YOU!

To the people at the Dallas/Ft.Worth airport, who applauded, shouted, held up "welcome home" banners, handed out water, and made us feel great. THANK YOU!

To the bartender who bought me a drink at the Sacramento airport, who only said to me, "Thanks" THANK YOU!

To the man at the Sacramento airport who spent almost 2 hours just visiting with me and insisted on getting my address so he and his company could send me and my platoon care packages. THANK YOU!

To the woman at the Sacramento airport who shared her stories of her family members who were in Iraq, shared her fears, hopes and dreams for when they came home. Who hugged me to the point where I didn't think she was going to let go. THANK YOU!

To the cab driver in Portland OR., who was a Vietnam vet., who I had to argue with to pay my cab fair. THANK YOU!

To my daughter, who nearly knocked me over at the airport. I LOVE YOU!

THANK YOU!

To all my family who traveled from all over the state of Washington to have BBQ's with me. I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU!

To the TSA lady at the Spokane airport who shook my hand and hugged me on my way back to Iraq. THANK YOU!

To the maintenance supervisor at the Spokane airport who visited with me and bought my lunch. THANK YOU!

To the women who were going on vacation from Spokane who invited me to be in their group picture. THANK YOU!

To the many, many people at the Denver airport who spoke to me, thanked me, and told me they will pray for me and all the soldiers in Iraq. THANK YOU!

To the woman who approached my friend traveling back to Iraq with me, and said "Thank you." Then later returned and gave us a hundred dollar bill and said "I came across this unexpectedly and want you guys to buy
lunch somewhere nice" Then quickly left the area with tears running down her face. THANK YOU!

To Keith, who I sat next to on one of the flights, who visited with me the hole flight, and offered many things, which I could not accept because I was reporting for duty. THANK YOU!

To my new friends at Belo interactive in Dallas. Who took my friend and me out, welcomed us, then opened their business to us, took us to lunch and just spent time hanging out with us. Who also send our whole platoon care packages every month. THANK YOU!

To all the people at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport who took time out of their schedules to visit with me. THANK YOU!

To all the flight crews who flew us overseas and back. THANK YOU!

To all Americans who support the American soldiers, simply because we are serving all over the world, who we will never meet, or get to personally thank for their enormous support. THANK YOU!

The support, love and respect that I received all across America, is humbling. To be treated like a hero for doing one's job, is something I wish everyone could experience. It is incredible. For the record, none of us consider ourselves heroes, we are just soldiers trying to do a job, then to get home to our families.

I know I've said it many times, but THANK YOU AMERICA.

A grateful American Soldier

Sgt. Mike Stutzke C co 1-161 Infantry Baghdad, Iraq

Sergeant Stutzke patrols Baghdad's Greenzone.  He is due to come home in four months.

The Future of Democracy - Stangers In A Strange Land Part 2

"People are hungry to speak out.  They are just waiting for a way to express their ideas.  We are going to find...thousands of bloggers expressing their thoughts from inside the Iraqi world." - Omar of Iraq the Model (from my hand written notes)

"Through blogging we can spread love more than hate." - Mohammed of Iraq the Model (again, from my notes)

Here is the follow up to yesterday's Strangers In a Strange Land post that I promised.  I'm still waiting to see if the audio transcripts are available from the Global Voices On Line conference.   A lot of bloggers have done their own reporting on the discussions stirred by Omar and Mohammed.

For now, you'll have to settle for this:

1.  Freedom, Democracy, Peace

Imagine what would happen to the spin of the Main Stream Media and Al Jazeera if there were thousands of Iraqi bloggers.  Imagine what that would do for Freedom and Democracy.  Imagine what that would do for Peace.

That's what Spirit of America is all about...Freedom, Democracy, Peace.  And they are doing something about bringing those concepts into reality.

They developed an Arabic Blogging Tool prototype (with help from Iraq the Model and Jeff Jarvis) that will help to stimulate discourse in Iraq.  Not pro-American discourse, just free and open discourse.

I can see it now - "The Arabic Blogosphere - Fact Checking Your Ass Since 2004".

Don't know about you, but people like the folks at Spirit of America and Iraq the Model give me hope for the future.  I remember looking around the dinner table and being proud to be in that company and feeling lucky to have spent the day with them.

2.  I Don't Use The Term "Friend" Lightly 1.0

There were signs on the doors to our lecture hall -  "No Photographs".  The reason behind this is simple - there are dissident bloggers and bloggers who's lives may be in jeopardy who were in attendence - they don't want to go home and get killed, jailed, etc.  Omar and Mohammed are in that category.

Of course, several people still took pictures.  And, no, I didn't bust their chops.  Probably should have, though.

I spoke to Mohammed about the security issue before dinner.  We were standing at the bar when I told him that I thought that he and Omar were very, very courageous.  Of course, Mohammed didn't agree with that.  To make my point, I pulled out my placard from the conference that had my full name and the blog name on it.

"Mohammed, this is the first time that my name has been associated with Blackfive.  I've been careful about it and I live here in the states.  And I don't have death threats and mujahadeen looking for me."

I was trying to make a point of admiring their courage.  It wasn't lost on them.  It just made them uncomfortable.  To good men, that's the correct reaction. 

So we new friends had a few rounds.

3.  "MilBlogs" the Movie

I tried to represent my brother and sister MilBloggers well.  Sgt Hook or Smash or Greyhawk (or the others who have been or are fighting the War) really should have been there instead of me.

We are all different, have different political views, have inter-service rivalries, and are flung far and wide.  We also have our own language.  [More than a few non-military visitors have pointed that out to me.]  In order to reach the maximum amount of people, you need to use the lingua franca (which happens to be English, for now).

Some of us have become activists - whether counter-protesting moonbats, funding resources for our wounded, getting an important Bill passed or just telling the stories that might never be heard.  I never thought I would be an activist, but that's what I've become.

Hoder has a few theories about blogging - there are three types of blogs - Windows, Bridges, Cafes.  Many of us MilBloggers are Bridges.  We connect veterans, military, and others by our blogs.

Another point was that, in order to build a blogosphere, you have to have several bigger bloggers promote the smaller promising blogs.  We MilBlogs were fortunate to have Glenn Reynolds, Hugh Hewitt and others write about us in their blogs and in their articles.

I spoke of Mudville getting things started for us and how we've grown as a group.  I spoke about the need for us to counter the negativity of the Main Stream Media - not that there aren't negative stories that need to be told, but that there are hardly any good stories reported.  There are thousands of great stories for every Abu Ghraib.  But good news doesn't sell.

I was asked a few questions.

Jeff Jarvis wanted to know if we MilBloggers were connected with Iraqi bloggers.  I answered that I didn't think so other than by reading blogs.  I am a fan of Iraq the Model but wasn't "connected" to Omar and Mohammed before that first morning coffee across the street from our hotel.

The founder of OhMyNews (a left leaning South Korean amateur reporting phenom) asked an interesting question about reports about many soldiers in comas but not being reported as such.  I responded by first explaining that our body armor, while protecting vital organs, has created the situation where we have more amputees than corpses (a good thing).  But that many are put into drug induced comas to stabilize until they get to the States for treatment.  I said that I highly doubted reports that thousands had nerve damage or were in comas.  I don't think he liked my answer.  I offered to have lunch with him to discuss it further.  Then, I talked to him during a break.

4.  Where the Hell is Phil Carter?

Phil Carter of Intel-Dump was on the guest list, but I didn't see him there (and I was trying to find him to say hello).  He just had a piece in the NYT published so maybe he was busy.

5.  I Don't Use The Term "Friend" Lightly 2.0

I've been wanting to meet Marc Danziger - Armed Liberal of Winds of Change - for some time now.  And I was able to spend time with Tim Oren of Due Dilligence and Winds of Change - which was one of the first blogs on my blogroll when I was a blogspotling.

Let's just say that I about fell over when Tim ordered Laphroaig...I've been drinking Laphroaig for years and never witnessed anyone else ordering it.

Marc drank Oban - another great choice.  Had some myself.

Also with us all day was Donovan Janus.

It wasn't until dinner that I put two and two together - Donovan is the Founder of Exposure Manager - a service where you can store, share, and print your digital photos - and we had talked via email months ago when he offered free photo storage for any military deployed overseas.  Marc put him in contact with me in order to spread the word amongst the troops.  I was able to finally thank him in person for his generosity.

We didn't tie one on, but had a good time.  Everyone was tired, and they were headed for LA the next morning.  I was *slightly* disappointed that we couldn't keep going and that I wasn't going to Roger Simon's house for dinner.

Oh, and it was determined that I need to have a drink (or twenty) with Joe Katzman sometime.

5.  Final (and Weird) Observations

I noticed that the guy (at the conference) talking about his work at Microsoft building their blogging software was using a G4 (Mac).

On the flight home to Chicago, as I boarded the plane, I noticed one of the Soros Open Society folks sitting in First Class.

Draw your own conclusions.

Update: Grim met Omar and Mohammed in DC.

'The Iraqi people will never disappoint you.'

He means, of course, the ones who have not chosen to join the insurgents. But he is dismissive of them, in spite of all they do. What we don't understand, he said, is that the kind of terror they can create is nothing to the people of Iraq. Under Saddam, terror was systemic. It was daily. It meant every night, listening for the police at the door.

'Compared to that, these insurgents are nothing.'

Chap and Patterico met them in Santa Monica.

You can help by donating to Spirit of America's Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge.  It's tax deductible.

Strangers in a Strange Land

In a comment on my trip to Harvard to be at the Global Voices OnLine Conference, I said that words can't describe the experience of meeting the brothers from Iraq the Model.  They can't.  But I'll give it a shot.

I'm sitting in Logan right now (6am EST) trying to download and understand all of the information from the last 24 hours.

First, Jeff Jarvis (BuzzMachine) sums up a bit about the brothers. 

The conference was led by Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon.  They are both brilliant (both in the cool sense and the intelligent sense) and Ethan ROCKED as the host/moderator.  I have a lot of respect for those two.

I met Omar and Mohammed 22 hours ago in the hotel lobby.  They were with Kerry from Spirit of America who sponsored their trip to the conference (and mine as well - THANKS SOA!).  Naturally, the first thing that I said was, "Hey, do you guys want to get some coffee?"

We found our way to the conference.  While waiting for things to kick off, the brothers had a smoke outside (having to smoke outside is intriguing to them), we talked about Harvard.  We joked about a school in America being old after a few hundred years, but in Iraq, a few millenia earns an institution that title.

Often you hear/read about people chosing to read blogs based on which bloggers they would rather have a beer with...Omar and Mohammed are no exception to that rule.

Once the conference began, I looked around.  Sitting on my left was Jeff Jarvis.  Yeah, I was sitting next to Jeff Jarvis...never thought THAT would ever happen.  On my right, Armed Liberal.  In the seats in front of me were Omar and Mohammed.  Behind me was Jim Hake, Tim Oren, and several boy geniuses.

Hey, over there.  That's Dan Henninger from the WSJ.

Over across the way was Hoder, Jeff Ooi (the guy can write), Joi Ito, Isaac Mao and many, many others.  All politics aside, the bloggers at the conference are some of the best and brightest thinkers (especially about blogging as a communication tool). 

Oh yeah, the Soros people were everywhere too (as they were sponsors of the conference).

With company like that, I wondered what kind of reception a MilBlogger might receive. 

As much as I was a fish out of water, the brothers from Iraq the Model must have felt like strangers in a strange land.  They were the first up to bat and I would follow...

Gotta catch my flight to Chicago - Part 2 will be posted later where you find out what's in store for Iraq, whether there are thousands of brain dead soldiers being hidden from the media, and if Tim, Marc, Mohammed, Jeff, Jim, Omar, Kerry, Donovan, Janice and I really did tie one on...

Update 12-13-04:  Here is Part 2.

Sergeant Bozik Update

Here's an update on Sergeant Joseph Bozik who you have helped tremendously through prayers and substantial donations (you people ROCK!!!).  I'll place some recent pictures associated with the emails below in the Extended Section (you can click on the thumbnails for larger images).

Joey is having a rest from surgery this week.  He will go to casting on Tuesday and also the hand doctor will remove 3 pins from his left hand.  The other pins and metal plates will be removed surgically.  He is still running fever, 101.8 this a.m.   It seems to fluctuate so keep praying about this acinedobacter, bacteria the soldiers are bringing back from Iraq in their wounds.  It is resistant to antibiotics.  This morning was a setback as he was overmedicated with morphine and had to be reversed with versaid (sp.)  I stay by his side so that these mistakes can be caught right away.

Joey is placed in an electronic wheel chair and taken to occupational therapy.  Yesterday, a demonstration for voice acitvation for electronic devices, such as tv, lights, etc. was done for Joey and hopefully he will have this help in his room and his residence if it gets approved financially by the government. 

Joey is still his wonderful, sweet self with a big smile.  He keeps me upbeat and everyone around him.  Keep praying and helping us through these months.

Love,

Gail and Joey

Purple Heart Pinning on Dec. 5th by Gen. McNeill (Joey guarded him in Afghanistan for 7 months before going to Iraq.

And here's another update from a few hours ago:

Thought you might want to see this upclose pic of Joey and his Purple Heart.  His commander emailed me yesterday to say that he has requested another award called the Bronze Star.  I hope Joey can receive it too.  I'll keep you posted. 

The doctors are still trying to regulate his pain medicine this week.  His blood count is 8.7 so he is feeling a little tired.  He goes to casting on Tuesday to remove the cast to check his left stump.  Pray all will look well and they don't have to open it again for that bacteria and that the skin graft is ok.  Also on Tues. they will remove 3 pins from left hand.

Monday, MSNBC, Chris Matthews with Hardball is suppose to interview Joey.  If this happens, it will air on Wed. night I think.  You can double check this as I may have it all wrong.  Also, MTV called Joey and talked for long time.  The interviewer is presenting Joey's life story to his bosses to see if MTV wants to do an documentary on him.  I'll let you know if this is successful.  Also, CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) wants to interview Joey.  Pray about all this.  I want God to receive the praise and glory.  Joey was in his coma upon arriving from Germany and on the 3rd day he opened his eyes and said, "Dad, come here Dad, this is my calling".  He laid back down and closed his eyes. He was still in the coma for several day.  Later,  we asked Joey if he knew anything and he said no.  We are taking this as comfort that his life is in God's hands and that his deceased Dad of 24 yrs. visited us through Joey to comfort us.  May God Bless all you good people.

Keep praying for us.

Love,

Gail and Joey Bozik

One last thing, Sergeant Bozik is going to marry his fiance on December 31st in a brief ceremony (they'll do the whole wedding/party thing later).  Any ideas on what we should do?  Start a registry or just donate?

The last update for Sergeant Bozik is here.  Pictures are below.

Above:  General McNeil pins Purple Heart on Sergeant Bozik

Below:  Wounded hero, Sergeant Joseph Bozik

Rumsfeld And Military Discontent

I have received a few emails that were mostly critical that I didn't post something about Donald Rumsfeld's latest remarks to troops in Kuwait.  From the New York Times:

...One soldier, Specialist Thomas Wilson, a scout with a Tennessee National Guard unit, said his unit had been forced to dig through local landfills to find enough scrap metal to bolt on to their trucks for protection against roadside bombs in Iraq.

Another soldier from an Idaho National Guard unit asked what Mr. Rumsfeld and the Army were doing to addresses shortages and outdated equipment that reservists were taking into Iraq.

Mr. Rumsfeld responded that the Army was sending armored vehicles to Iraq as fast as it could, but growing frustrated with the complaints, he then retorted: "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want."

Then, of course, the Democrat response:

"I was deeply disappointed to hear Secretary Rumsfeld's callous and dismissive attitude toward our troops," Representative Martin Meehan, a senior Massachusetts Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. "When confronted with multiple instances of National Guard units about their lack of preparedness and equipment, it is the responsibility of the secretary of defense to fix the problem, not disregard the concerns. Secretary Rumsfeld's dismissive attitude simply should not be tolerated."

Mr. Meehan called on President Bush to dismiss Mr. Rumsfeld, barely a week after asking the secretary to stay on the job in his second administration.

Now, a few emailers point to this confrontation as a failure of the administration to properly conduct the military in war.  And they point to it as a failure on my part to criticize the administration.  I've been critical of the administration and Republicans.

As you might recall, I had pushed for the Rapid Acquisition Authority Bill to be sent out of the Senate Armed Services Committee and into a vote.  The RAAB gave commanders the ability to make purchases that would protect their troops in a combat zone - purchases without going through the laborious and lobbyist intense acquisition process for the Pentagon.

Unfortunately, both Republicans and Democrats killed the bill.  Their excuse was that the 2005 Defense Budget addressed the need for Rapid Acquisition. 

They were/are incorrect.

Commanders in the field need the ability to quickly acquire materials - whether it's heavy steel plating to "armor" trucks or vehicle parts to keep equipment running - and they need it last year.

But, back on topic, did Rumsfeld do something wrong?  Did he finally slip up and show his true hand at the town hall meeting?

Why don't you read about it from the MilBlogs?

Sergeant Missick was actually at the meeting. 

2Slick has some points about the meeting, Rumsfeld, and armor in general.  He also relates it to an experience he had with the Clinton Administration.

And Froggy Ruminations has had similar experiences with the Chief of Naval Operations.

The President That You Never Hear About

Below is a link to one of many stories about the President's recent visit to Camp Pendleton on Tuesday to speak to the Marines and their families.

San Diego Union Tribune

In all of the stories about the President's visit, there are many soundbites and a lot of quotes of the President praising Marines for a job well done in Iraq.

But what you may not know from the MSM is that he was at Camp Pendleton for another reason.  Some of the articles touch briefly on that reason, but they don't (or won't) do it justice.  This is from a Marine Colonel at Pendleton who writes of the President's visit:

...we had the lead for the POTUS visit and I was privileged to spend much of the day with him.  Let me tell you something that was, very deliberately, not in the news.  President Bush came here for two reasons.  To thank the Marines and sailors of Camp Pendleton for all they do, and to meet with the families of our fallen warriors.  The first part was public.  The second - and I believe far more important - was to meet privately with 170 family members who had lost a loved one.  He forbade the press corps from viewing or photographing any of it.

The Plt Sgt Mitchell Paige Fieldhouse (a brand new $12.5m facility) has two basketball courts.  One was curtained off and decks covered where he met with them together.  Then, he met with the family members of each fallen Marine in the other gym individually.  Having had the duty of a Casualty Assistance and Notification Officer many times in the past, I know how emotionally draining it is to talk to even one family at a time.  When we put the President back on Marine One some three hours later, he was as somber and drained as I've ever seen him.  It took an emotional toll on everyone involved.

Obviously, he did not have to make this visit.  He could have delegated that task to anyone to do it for him.  I have great respect for ones that will do the "right" thing, regardless of how tough it is.

Just thought you would like to hear a bit of the background.

Victory for Ohioans in the Armed Forces

Thanks to all who supported the Ohio Patriot Plan.  Below is a message from Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Steve Lynch for you:

Blackfive:

Great news on the Ohio Patriot Plan - it passed UNANIMOUSLY in the Ohio Senate yesterday afternoon!!  By early next week it is expected to be "reconciled" with the original House version, and then move on to the Governor's office for signature early in January!!.  This is really great news for Ohioans in the military and their family members.  I sincerely believe that without your help and the help of other bloggers who linked to http://www.blackfive.net, that the bill would have died in committee.  Please accept my sincere thanks for all of your help and please convey my thanks to all those who have answered the call. 

I would encourage supporters to e-mail/fax/write or call in a word of thanks to the bill's primary sponsor, Peter Ujvagi (v:614-644-6017, f:614-644-9494, district47@ohr.state.oh.us), and do the same for any other legislators you may have contacted.  They came through for the men and women in uniform who could not be here to fight for themselves - because they are away from home fighting for us.  Not only is our thanks in order, but it can help to keep the path open for further legislative progress on issues of direct interest to Ohioans in the military - such as tax relief.  There is the possibility that in 2005 a bill will be introduced to exempt from Ohio state income tax ALL Ohioans in the military who are stationed outside of Ohio.  Similar legislation is already the law of the land for Pennsylvania, New York, California and elsewhere.  More to follow.

Again, many, many thanks, Blackfive, Happy Holidays.  I haven't posted the news - I thought I'd let you know directly first.

Sincerely,

Steve

Thank you all.

Smashing a Deserter

Deserter Pablo Paredes refuses deployment as a protest against war...and MilBlogger Smash writes him a letter.

...In the big scheme of things, your action will have no impact on the war. The Bonhomme Richard sailed out of San Diego on Monday, along with her entire battle group. Your attempted desertion may have caused a media stir, but you did not delay the battle group’s departure by so much as a minute. The embarked Marines are on their way to the Sandbox, to perform the mission that they were trained to do.

You did, however, manage to @#$% up your own future...

Smash attempts to have a man-to-man chat with Paredes.

Update:  Heh.  Sgt. Hook labels him a Disgrace You Should Know...aside from Hollywood and a very, very few in the military, there aren't enough of those to start a series with that title.

Want to Send a Message to a Soldier in Iraq...

...but don't know one or have an address?

Air Force Sergeant and blogger, Slaglerock, has an option for you.  His friend is heading for Iraq on December 24th and will hand carry your comments/messages to the soldiers there.

BBC Video - Fallujah - Marine Assault

This is a BBC video by Paul Wood covering U.S. Marines during the attack on Fallujah.  It is about 20 minutes total, but the footage is outstanding and well worth watching the entire thing.  It does have some graphic footage. 

It contains interviews, then fighting at about the five minute mark.

Posted by Blackfive on December 08, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBack

Military Transformation

Winds of Change has a new chapter for their MilStuff for Dummies series.  This one is on Force Structure. 

It's a good read for all - novices and experts - as it depicts the transformation from Cold War orientation to modularization.  The content includes links to more detail for those military *ahem* enthusiasts who want more information.

Posted by Blackfive on December 08, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

December 07, 2004

Compassion From Killers - Marine Commander Speaks Out

"We're going out where the bad guys live, and we're going to slay them in their ZIP code."  - Marine LtCol Mark Smith, Commander of 2/24 Marines before the Assault on Fallujah.

The following is an email from Marine LtCol Mark Smith who commands the 2/24 Marines - a Reserve Battalion out of the great city of Chicago.  LtCol Smith is an Indiana State Trooper in civilian life.  The New York Times recently wrote an article about 2/24 (thanks to JarheadDad for the link).  Here is what the LtCol has to say:

If you will indulge me a few moments of your time, I feel absolutely compelled to share some thoughts with you, based on some recent events.

I have expressed with you on many occasions that I am a simple man. To me "class" is where you go in school and "sophisticated" is drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon from a bottle, and while wearing a tie.  With that said, and with the disclaimer that for me "art appreciation" was a required class before I could be commissioned in the Marine Corps and learn how to kill things and blow trash up, not a skill; I would like to communicate to you a recent masterpiece I was subject to.

You see, I like to think of God as an artist.  His painting is life, his subjects are us and his canvas is the earth we live on.  Now, under normal conditions, you see the painting and only identify the biggest shapes and the brightest colors.  However, either when one takes the time to focus, or when situations of intensity change the prism through which you view the painting, you start to notice the incredible amount of work that the artist puts into his creation.  You notice subtly of color.  You notice various shapes.  You notice fine details.  You notice intricate patterns. You notice connection and blending and contrast and shadow.  You find yourself immersed in the study of the work and inside the mind of the artist, trying to see and FEEL what he was thinking as he created.

In the attached photo [Blackfive note: Click on thumbnail below to enlarge picture], I would ask you to take the TIME TO FOCUS.  In focusing, I believe you will see what I am talking about!  It is a picture of some of our Marines and Sailors on an operation we run as frequently as we can that we call "CandyCaps."  These are ops where we send the Marines into an area, solely to distribute candy, toys and hygiene items to the kids of an identified neighborhood.

Now, as you FOCUS on the photo, please keep in mind the following while studying the photo.  The Marine and Sailor in the photo have seen more than their fare share of violence!  They have seen death.  They have seen IEDs explode on their patrols.  They have been engaged in firefights, have seen their fellow Marines and brothers injured and bleeding, have patched many an Iraqi who was the victim of insurgent and terrorist violence, and have stood by my side as we recovered and transported our fallen and honored dead. They could easily be filled with hate, rage and indifference! 

Now, as you FOCUS on the photo, please keep in mind the following while studying the photo.  The woman in the photo has known a life of repression and poverty.  She lives in squalor and draws her water from a wastewater infested canal.  She has been inundated her whole life with a hate of Americans and everything western.  She has probably known countless dozens who were kidnapped, tortured and murdered in a previously psychotic "nation" known as Iraq.  She could easily be filled with hate, rage and indifference!

Now, I ask you, in the Marine and Sailor, do you see hate, rage and indifference?  I don't!  I see compassionate, kind, gentle Warriors who are showing love of their fellow human beings.  I see the best humanity has to offer in the worst of human conditions.  I see what we bring to the oppressed of the world, HOPE, and it comes in the form of a UNITED STATES MARINE and one of the UNITED STATES NAVY'S FINEST who serve with them.

Now, I ask you, in the woman, do you see hate, rage and indifference?  I don't.  I see JOY!  The pure joy that can be the only explanation of a smile that cuts to your core and says "good servants are at work here."  I see beauty!  In a land where just surviving is a challenge and living is a daily and fantastically hard chore, and where there are few amenities, I see a woman that is strikingly beautiful.  I believe my wife will forgive me, as I am quite sure she too will see the natural beauty of this woman, that is enhanced by the quality of her smile that is fueled by the pure joy of being on the receiving end of something she has rarely, if ever, known: true unsolicited COMPASSION!

And, the Masterpiece of God's work on this one, as always with the Lord, is: the child.  Look closely, what do you see?  I see only two things.  One, the comfort that all children should know: the comfort of being held in their mother's arms nestled in the warmth of her bosom.  Two, the unbridled curiosity of "who are these Gentle Giants who bring my mother joy?"  At her tender age, the question beckons with no answer, for the mind is not yet developed.  But the question will continue to beckon.  And, in God's masterpiece, and through the work of his hands, the question will stir in the young girls mind for many years to come.  Particularly in her formative years, the question will beckon, and she will judge manhood against the answer.  And I believe that on this day, and in this way, God has planted not only the question that will beckon through the years, but the answer that will echo through the winds, with a hush that comforts the weary and oppressed.  Yes, when the question beckons, who are the Gentle Giants, the winds will echo in the memory and whisper into the mind..."Marines, Marines, Marines."  This will not square with the diatribe of hate, and the cycle will be broken.

Yes, God is a Master, life his masterpiece, and your Marines some of his finest work.

WE ARE WINNING!  Stay safe and strong until you are reunited with your loved one.

LtCol Mark A. Smith
Mark A. Smith, LtCol USMCR
TF 2/24 Commanding Officer, 24 MEU
Mahmudiyah, Iraq
"Mayhem from the Heartland"
or as the terrorists call us
"The Mad Ghosts"

The 1st Marine Division's motto is "No better friend, no worse enemy."  It seems that LtCol Smith's 2/24 is just that...

Posted by Blackfive on December 07, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack

Why Americans Fight

I believe that a lot of MilBloggers were hit with an email from a Sophomore in High School requesting some information - basically his teacher is getting the students to compare All Quiet on the Western Front to today's Iraq War.  I answered the email and, apparently, so did American Soldier.  While our responses were similar, I also questioned the vast educational, political, and economic differences between 1918 Germany and America today. 

The email is in the Extended Section.  How would you answer it?

My name is Misha and I currently attend Shorewood High School in my sophomore year. In our English class, we have recently been looking at many blogs on the Internet about the Iraq war, because we are currently reading "All Quiet On The Western Front" and comparing the epic war book about WWI from the German point of view with the Iraq war today.

First of all, would you have happened to read All Quiet On The Western Front because if not, It is a very interesting book to read and it makes your mind really think. It is a war novel talking about the trench fighting of the newly recruited teens in the war on the German side, and I really liked how this was the first book about war which I have read about another sides point of view other than the United States.

I have accumulated many questions over the time of reading this book and discussing it in class, but I would highly appreciate it if you would take the time and answer these few questions comparing your everyday war experiences with the story from All Quiet On The Western Front.

In All Quiet On The Western Front, I have recently read about how the main character kills a French man, and all the guilt he feels. He even wants to keep the family of the soldiers' address, so that he can send money to them anonymously. In the Iraq war, what do soldiers on the U.S. side do when they kill a man with force or at close distance and see what they have really done?

In the book, there are rankings for every soldier just like in any other war, but a higher ranking soldier in this book, Himmelstoss, is a huge jerk to the privates and other soldiers ranked lower than him, even though many other troops have higher rankings than Himmelstoss. In the Iraq war, do higher ranked officials treat other soldiers like this? And if they do, what do the soldiers do to stop these actions?

In the book, the main character starts to feel a little crazy and is sent on a "vacation" to visit back home and to take more training courses; in the Iraq war, do troops still get sent back to training even after they have arrived in Iraq and started fighting? Also, are the short breaks from war to visit families even possible in this war?

My final question is: what inspired you and some of your friends to enlist in the army and go off to war? In the book, the young soldiers talk about how their old teacher persuaded and inspired them into joining the army, but out of knowing all the risks of joining the army at times like this, what encouraged you to do this?

Thank you for your time and a reply would be very kind,

Misha

Posted by Blackfive on December 07, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBack

December 03, 2004

Does Enlisted Time Make An Officer A Better Leader?

Based on a few threads generated from some posts here, there has been discussion and many, many emails to me about the topic of the difference between Officers who have been prior Enlisted and those who have not.

I was a Sergeant before becoming an officer - more commonly known in the Army as a Mustang.  Many of the men that I served with would like to believe that I was a good leader based on my previous experience as an enlisted man.

I believe that this is not true.  Sure, my experiences in the Special Operations side of the house gave me a lot of responsibility at a very young age and helped me to see how things SHOULD be done.  Most Officers that I've met who were previously SF, have been incredible leaders.  But they are the exception rather than the rule.

Officers spend approximately 30% or more of their careers in training and education.  They have the tools to lead and to do great work.  Some just don't have the capacity to execute leadership and mission accomplishment, though.

I've known Mustangs who were the worst officers in the service.  Some just became officers in order to stop painting rocks or pull KP.  I've known West Pointers who were absolutely terrible, too. 

There is no formula other than caring about your troops and doing the best job that you can - whether you are the Mess Hall Officer or a Ranger Commander.  Being a leader is like defending a hill top - there is never a finish line, never a time when you can sit there and look around and say "This defensive position is good enough".  Constant improvement and attention to the details of your unit's mission never stop.  Take care of your troops and they will take care of you.  Taking care of the troops also means kicking them in the ass when needed, but also patting them on the back when they deserve it, too.

Any job is what you make of it (military or civilian).  You can make it more than what it is if you want to...it's all up to you.  Some people, whether they had enlisted experience or not, just don't want to be the best that they can be.  They might care about their careers but they just don't care about their troops.  You all know someone like that.

No amount of Enlisted experience would ever change that.

Posted by Blackfive on December 03, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (60) | TrackBack

December 01, 2004

Sergeant Hook is Home!!!

Sergeant Hook says goodbye to his troops in Afghanistan after eight months and heads home to find his new billet somewhere as a Sergeant Major.

Finally!  Instead of hearing it from Hook about a Soldier, we now get to say to him, "I'm proud of you, Soldier!"

Posted by Blackfive on December 01, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

I'm An Abberation...

And so are a lot of you. 

Good point.

Posted by Blackfive on December 01, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The Blog Challenge

The Donovan has another interesting post about the SOA Blog Challenge and the Fighting Fusileers.  And here is the roster of the team:

Posted by Blackfive on December 01, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 30, 2004

Tie Stick a Yellow Ribbon (Magnet)

First, let me say that I have been (pleasantly) surprised by the amount of cars with the yellow ribbon magnets on them.  Usually, they have the words "Support Our Troops" on them.  It's a welcome sight as I recently moved from downtown Chicago  (which means there's no support your troops magnets) to the suburbs (where about every other car has at least one ribbon magnet) - they've got them for POW/MIA and God Bless the USA, too.

I want to thank all of those people that spent $5 at Walgreens to buy a magnet that displays their patriotism and support for our troops.  Just one thing though (and it's going to make some of you angry at me)...

How about spending $5 (or $50 or $500) really supporting the troops?

I don't mean to pick on Walgreens.  I was filling up my truck with gas the other day and the guy next to me noticed my veteran license plates.  And he told me about the magnets. 

I have a few friends who work for Walgreens.  It's a great company - one of the very best.  But I haven't heard that the profits from those magnets are going to help the troops.  And Walgreens is certainly not the only place where you can buy them...my point is that displaying your support and actually supporting the troops are two very important but very different actions.

So think about it and ask those nice people (with the best intentions) who display their support to spend their hard earned money on organizations that truly support the troops.  You might say, "Hey, that's great that you support the troops!  Have you heard of Soldier's Angels or Spirit of America?"

Soldiers' Angels and Spirit of America, while two of my favorites, are not the only organizations out there that help our military (and most are non-profits so your donations are tax deductible).

Look into donating money to these two foundations:

A. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation

The SOWF provides scholarships for the children of Special Operations soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who have lost their lives (in training or combat). A few dollars would go a long way in providing for the children of those who have died defending America. 

B. United Warrior Survivor Foundation

UWSF offers scholarship grants to surviving spouses, along with educational counseling, financial guidance, investment planning, and other programs.

Or think about donating your unused frequent flyer miles for a soldier to visit his or her family. Check out Operation Hero Miles.

Operation Gratitude - another site where you can help send care packages to troops in Iraq.

Books For Soldiers - it's one more way to show troops that you care.

Operation AC - Commenter Retread reminds me to include this charity which sends 110v single phase air conditioners to our troops in Iraq. They also send medical supplies to the Combat Support Hospitals for both injured American Soldiers and for the staff, as well as care packages to our troops overseas.

AnySoldier - a great organization that provides soldier contacts where you can read through the names and select the ones you wish to support. They list what they need and want, we even have a search capability so you can easily identify what units need.

Keystone Soldiers also takes care of soldiers by adoption, matching pen pals, or sending care packages.

Adopt-A-Platoon - another source for adopting soldiers who don't have someone on the homefront.

And, for the more martial people out there, you can even Adopt-A-Sniper.

The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society is a nonprofit, charitable organization that provides financial, educational, and other assistance to members of the Naval Services of the United States, and their eligible family members and survivors, when in need. To do this, counseling, loans, grants, various services, and referral to other community resources are available. There are no fees for such help. The Society, operating in partnership with the Navy and Marine Corps, administers nearly 250 offices ashore and afloat at Navy and Marine Corps bases around the world.

Whatever steps that you take to take care of our troops - no matter how large or small - will resonate beyond just one American soldier.

Someone that was referred by this site to Soldiers Angels also was responsible for donating their extra frequent flyer miles to bring a family to see their wounded soldier at Walter Reed. Just some simple actions made all the difference in the world.

Displaying your support is wonderful, but, please, think about how you can actually support our troops. The men and women fighting around the world can't see the magnet stuck to your car.  Pick one of the organizations above to support the troops - show that you care about their lives while they defend yours.

Thank you.

Posted by Blackfive on November 30, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBack

November 29, 2004

Negotiate with OBL?!

The only negotiating should be our size 12 shoe right up his...

But if you want to know who really thinks that we should negotiate with bin Laden, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross lays it out for you...

Posted by Blackfive on November 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack

Apache Rescues Kiowa Crew

Stuart sends this one from Ft. Hood:

On the wing of an Apache
1st Cav. pilots make daring rescue
By Cpl. Benjamin Cossel - 122nd MPAD

CAMP TAJI, Iraq –For two Apache Longbow pilots, the night of Oct. 16 was just a regular night flying a reconnaissance mission around southern Baghdad. A distorted cry for help came across the emergency radio shattering the chatter of all other communications. They recognized the call sign, they recognized the area and a few minutes later, they were in route to perform what would become a heroic rescue.

“I really couldn’t make out at first what was going on. The transmission over the radio was broken up and weak, but I could make out that it was a distress call,” said Lodi, Ca native Chief Warrant Officer Justin Taylor, an Apache pilot, with Company C, 1st Battalion 227th Aviation Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team.

At first, the transmission seemed as though it might be coming from U.S. Marine Corps aircraft. The call sign speaking to the downed aircraft was of Marine Corps designation Taylor said. He radioed to Marine Corps headquarters asking if any aircraft of theirs was down in the area, to which the response came back negative. Then a call sign familiar to Taylor and Capt Ryan Welch, the air mission commander, came across the guard, or emergency channel.

“We’re in zone 43….” came the weak transmission

“I recognized the area and immediately made the decision that we were going to break from our sector and go over to the area,” said Lebanon, N.H. native Welch. “Those were our guys on the ground and we had to help. My first thought was we would provide aerial security.”

As the team changed flight paths they notified the USMC aircraft of their intention as well as calling back to 4th BCT headquarters to alert them to their movement. When they arrived on station they began trying to contact the pilots on the ground.

“As soon as we told the Marines what we were doing, a call came up on the guard channel, it was the same call sign but a different numerical designation,” Welch explained.

The wounded pilot explained that the previous pilot was unable to respond, that two pilots were killed in action and that he and the other survivor were trying to make their way to a defendable position but having difficulty as one of the wounded was unable to walk.

“When we flew over the sector, we immediately picked up the heat signature of a burning fire,” said Welch.

“But at first we weren’t sure what it was, it kind of looked like one of the many trash fires you see all over Baghdad,” Taylor added.

Flying over the fire to try and get a better look at the ground an excited call came up.

“You just flew over our position,” the transmission informed.

Standard operating procedure has helicopters flying in pairs, one main and one wingman. Welch’s wingman noticed the emergency strobe on the ground and notified Welch of the positive identification.

“Once we had identified the crew on the ground, I made the call that we were going to land and get those pilots out of there,” Welch commented. “I had no idea of the situation on the ground or what the landing zone looked like, so I informed my wingman to fly a tight defensive circle around our position to provide cover if needed. As we landed and I got all the cords off of me, I looked back at JT (Taylor) and told him, if he started taking fire, get this bird out of here, leave me and we’ll collect all of us later.”

Welch had landed his Apache approximately 100 meters from the crash site, armed with his 9mm and an M4 Carbine rifle he set out to collect the downed pilots.

Welch contacted the pilots and asked if they were ready for self-extraction and again it came over the radio that one of the pilots couldn’t walk, they would need help getting out of their location.

“I basically had to stumble my way through an open field, it was treacherous with pot holes and low brush, I stumbled a couple times,” recalled Welch, “but I finally came up on the crash site about ten minutes later.”

When Welch arrived on the scene he saw one pilot standing and one sitting, the two had been able to get a fair distance away from the aircraft.

“As I came up on them, I noticed they looked pretty bad, multiple cuts on their face and both looked like the early stages of shock had set in. I called out to Beck (Chief Warrant Officer Chad Beck, 1st Battalion of the 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Infantry Division attached to the 4th BCT) who was standing, to get him to help me with Mr. Crow (Chief Warrant Officer Greg Crow, also of 1-25 Aviation). It took a few seconds to get Mr. Beck’s attention as he was visibly shaken and dazed.”

As the two got Crow up and between them to begin the long trek back, the mess of tangled cords attached to all their equipment nearly tripped them up.

“We stumbled initially with all those wire just everywhere… I pulled out my knife and just cut them all away and we took off.”

Carrying two wounded back over the treacherous 100 meters to his waiting Apache, Welch said the time seemed to slow down to an absolute crawl as they inched their way back, working carefully not to further injure Mr. Crow.

“We had to move kind of slow,” he explained. “I swear it probably took us like ten minutes to get back but it seemed like we were out there for hours, I was never so relieved to see JT and my bird sitting there.”

Four personnel, two seats in the Apache. Self-extraction was a maneuver the pilots had been told about in flight school. A maneuver considered dangerous enough that no practical application was given, just the verbal “Here’s how you do it”

Hanging from a pilots flight vest is a nylon strap attached to a carabineer. On each side of the Apache, hand holds are bolted on, primarily to assist maintenance crews as they work on the birds. They also have another purpose, to be used in the event of a self extraction. The general idea being a pilot attaches to the side of the helicopter with the nylon strap wrapped through the hand holds connecting the nylon strap with the carabineer, and then flies off to a safe location.

“I knew getting back to my bird,” explained Welch, “that Mr. Crow was in no position for self extraction that I would have to put him in the front seat. I radioed to JT and told him what I intended to do, Crow in the front seat, Beck and I strapped to the outside.”

At first Taylor just looked at Welch, a little surprised at the plan.

“It kind of surprised me at first and then I just thought, ‘Cool, that’s what we’re going to do,’” said Taylor.

Beck and Welch worked to get Crow into the front seat as Welch explained what was next to Beck.

“At first Beck really didn’t want to leave, his commander had just been killed and he still wasn’t thinking 100% clear”

“I can’t go, I just can’t go,” pleaded Beck but soon enough he understood the situation and then another problem surfaced.

“The mechanism Kiowa pilots use for self extraction is different then the set up Apache pilots use,” explained Welch. “But we finally got it worked out, got Beck hooked up and then secured myself to the aircraft.”

Secured and assuming a defensive posture with his rifle, Welch gave Taylor the thumbs up sign and the Apache lifted off.

“I was a little bit freaked out,” explained Taylor, “you just don’t fly an Apache by yourself, it’s definitely a two man aircraft”

At 90 miles per hour the two helicopters flew 20 kilometers to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Falcon, the closet FOB with a Combat Support Hospital (CSH).

“I only had my night visor on,” said Welch. “I thought my eyes were going to rip out my sockets and that my nose would tear from my face, the wind was so strong.”

Landing on the emergency pad, Welch and Taylor jumped out and helped medical personal take Beck and Crow inside for treatment.

“One of the medics asked me if I was a medical flight pilot,” chuckled Welch. “You should have seen the look on his face when I told him, Nope, I’m an Apache pilot.”

The patients safely delivered to the CSH, the two exhausted pilots looked at each other with the same thought.

“We both climbed back into our bird,” Welch said, “and almost simultaneously said to each other, ‘Lets go home.’”

Posted by Blackfive on November 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack

I've Re-Enlisted...

...for a new blogwar for Spirit of America (Okay, so SOA likes to call it a "Blog Challenge", not a war).  Once again, the Donovan is gathering the Fighting Fusileers to raise $$$ for the very worthy Spirit of America.  We helped to raise over $50,000 in the last challenge.

Here is the information on the challenge:

Leading bloggers are competing to raise funds to benefit the people of Iraq. 100% of all donations go to needs selected by these bloggers. Many of our projects support requests made by Americans serving in Iraq (Marines, Army, SeaBees) for goods that help the Iraqi people. Other projects directly support Iraqis who are on the front lines of building a better future for Iraq.

We are joining the Blog Challenge late and are far, far behind in donations.  So, go here and donate to the Spirit of America.  Your donations are tax deductible.

Posted by Blackfive on November 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

When Rivalries Return...

While I have been accused of even-handedness when posting about the different branches of the military, there comes a time when the rivalry returns, when I have to take a shot at the Navy...and that time will be at the kickoff of the Army-Navy Game this Saturday.

I'm a mustang and didn't go to West Point, but I remember a few years that I was overseas where everyone - Enlisted or Officer gathered round to watch the game.  I've been to a few of the games in Philly, too. 

Now, there is no doubt that the Army team is on the way back from the worst record in College Football history.  But if they defeat Navy? 

Well, then, Sailors will be crying the world over, crushed and defeated by one of the worst teams in football.  And that, my friends, is a worthy endevour.

[Hey, Smash, notice how it's not called the Navy-Army Game?]

Posted by Blackfive on November 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBack

Sergeant Bozik - Update 4

Just got an email from Sergeant Bozik's mother, Gail.

Joey was in a lot of pain after this surgery yesterday because the dr. had to cut his bone.  His fever is still running high, 101.9.  They gave him two more pts. of blood during last night.  This means they take vitals every 15 minutes during the 4-5 hour procedure.  We didn't get any sleep but today we are resting better.  Tomorrow, Monday, they take him down to unwrap his leg to check on infections.  The skin graft didn't take and they still have a wound vac on it.  However, Dr. Hampston did close the leg and said he hoped it healed and didn't have to be re-opened.  So pray for this problem.

And here is the latest news story about Sergeant Bozik:

Wounded soldier: I'm going to be OK

Editor’s note: This story is part of an occasional series chronicling the recovery of Army Sgt. Joseph Bozik, who was severely wounded while serving in Iraq.

By GREG OKUHARA
Eagle Staff Writer

The day began like any other for Army Sgt. Joseph Bozik.

He was patrolling an area south of Baghdad, Iraq, when his life turned upside-down in the time it took a roadside bomb to explode.

But despite losing parts of his legs and right arm, Bozik said his future won’t fundamentally be much different than the life he envisioned before the explosion. He’ll still have his fiancee, Jayme Peters, his supportive family, a career and even his beloved game of golf.

“I didn’t realize how bad things really were,” Bozik said, describing his wounds during a telephone interview Monday from his hospital room. “I didn’t know what to expect. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to walk again. It was hard at first. But having my family and Jayme here has really made a huge difference.

“I’m going to be OK. I’m thankful to be alive.”

Bozik was severely wounded Oct. 29 when the Humvee he was riding in struck a roadside bomb. He lost his left leg about midway down the shin. All that remains of his right leg is his thigh. Bozik’s right arm is gone from the middle of the forearm, and several bones were fractured in his left arm and hand.

He said he still doesn’t remember anything about his ordeal immediately following the explosion, which nearly killed him. Fellow soldiers rushing him to the hospital, the numerous surgeries to stabilize his condition and the quiet times with his fiancee as she lovingly recounted her happy memories with him — none of those events made it into his memory bank.

When Bozik finally woke up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he still was heavily medicated and didn’t realize the extent of his injuries. He thought he had only been shot.

Bozik, who is from North Carolina, is one of about 5,000 U.S. military personnel who have been wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom and did not return to duty, according to the Department of Defense Web site. But he acknowledged he’s more fortunate than the 1,230 service men and women who have died and won’t have the opportunity to celebrate the holidays at all.

The makeshift Thanksgiving celebration planned at his hospital room is much better than the alternative, he said.

Peters, a Texas A&M University senior, has been at Bozik’s side since he returned to the United States and said she’ll remain there until he is able to leave the hospital. The recovery process will depend on how long it takes Bozik’s body to heal, a timeline doctors can’t predict, she said.

Not slowing down

Even though his body is not 100 percent of what it used to be, Bozik said he intends on living life to the fullest.

He said he is anxious to begin rehabilitation and already has been told about the different types of prosthetic limbs available. With today’s medical technology, Bozik said, doctors believe he will be able to do 80 percent of the things he did before the explosion.

“As long as I can play golf again,” he said in response to the news that he’d still be able to lead an active lifestyle. “I’m not the kind of person who wants to sit around all day. It’s one of the hardest things to do — lay around in bed and heal.”

His mother, Gail, said she understands the road ahead of them will be tough. There will be painful rehabilitation exercises and a learning curve to get used to the prosthetic limbs.

But she said her son is the kind of person who will take an optimistic approach to the life ahead of him — because she raised him that way.

“As long as he’s got that brain and that wonderful smile, I know he’ll be OK,” she said. “I’m just thankful he’s alive.”

She said watching her son in his wounded condition is “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.”

“I need to be strong for him because he’s being so strong for me,” she said, breaking up in tears.

Peters said, just like she predicted, Bozik is taking his injuries in stride and with a positive outlook.

“I think he sounds great,” she said. “His attitude is amazing.”

She said he has a full understanding of how his life has been changed and is ready to meet those challenges head-on.

In the meantime, Peters said, she’s eager to celebrate the holiday season with Bozik, something that probably wouldn’t have been possible had he not been wounded. He was scheduled to remain in Iraq until February or March.

“We’re very happy he’s here for the holidays and alive,” she said.

His other family

Although he is spending the holidays with his loved ones, Bozik said he hasn’t forgotten about his close friends in Iraq who won’t have the same joy of eating a Thanksgiving meal with their families.

The stress of combat situations, Bozik said, allows soldiers to forge strong relationships with the others in their company.

“You become very close to the people you work with,” he said. “It becomes more like a brotherhood than just guys who work for you.”

Bozik’s job was to guard the Main Supply Route, the road military vehicles use to carry supplies from the ports in Kuwait to places all over Iraq. He was stationed at a small camp south of Baghdad and helped keep the road clear of Iraqi insurgents’ roadside bombs and ambush sites.

“Every firefight is intense,” he said. “Anytime you have to pull the trigger and fire at someone, it’s not a fun thing to do.”

Bozik said he forged strong friendships as a result of the violent situations he and other soldiers encountered. They became like family to each other. At 26, Bozik was older than many other soldiers with whom he was stationed, so he found himself playing big brother.

“I could give them advice if they were having problems with their girlfriends or whatever,” he said.

Since being wounded, he’s had a chance to speak with some of his friends who still are serving in Iraq. He said they were glad to hear he’s doing well and offered their best wishes. They said they couldn’t wait to visit him when they got back to American soil.

“They saw what I looked like and had to go to combat stress [counseling],” he said. “They were so happy to hear my voice.”

New path

Bozik has lived an extraordinary life in the past few months, but he now he faces an altered version of the future he once saw for himself.

“I do envision myself in the future, what life is going to be like,” he said. “I know things will be different than they would have been [before being wounded], but for some reason, God chose me. I know things will be OK.”

Once he is able to go back to school, Bozik wants to earn a degree in criminology. Initially he wanted to work for the U.S. Marshals, but now he’ll concentrate on getting a job with the Department of Defense or as a consultant, he said. He also would like to work with other amputees and help them return to as much of a normal life as possible.

Bozik said that without the love and support he’s received — from his family, friends and complete strangers — he doesn’t think he would have been able to make such a strong and quick recovery.

“I want to thank Jayme,” he said. “I want to thank her and my mother for staying by my side. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

He’s received about 100 cards from across the country, which Peters said adorn the walls of his hospital room. Not a square inch hasn’t been decorated, and there’s still a couple of dozen cards left.

The support also has come from caring Brazos Valley residents. Peters said Bozik particularly enjoyed a set of support cards he received from a second-grade class at St. Joseph Catholic School.

“The cards made him smile because kids have a tendency to say some funny things,” she said.

Bozik also said he is astounded at the amount of support he has received from complete strangers.

“I wish I could meet every single one of them, shake their hands and thank them for their support,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much it helps me and my recovery.

“It makes me proud to be an American. That’s why I joined the military, to support my country so those supporting me wouldn’t have to.”

Gail Bozik said the presence of Peters has helped her tremendously, as well

“I couldn’t do it without her,” she said. “She’s wonderful. I love her so much. I love her like one of my own.”

Love story

When Bozik talks about the future, he doesn’t stop at the things he’ll be able to do once he is fitted with prosthetic limbs.

In addition to his unfinished schooling, he has unfinished business when it comes to his life with Peters. Bozik said he looks forward to spending the rest of his life with her and starting a family.

One of the things he’s thankful for this season is the opportunity to look at her “beautiful face” once again.

The two plan to get married Dec. 31. It will be a new beginning of their lives together at the beginning of a new year.

Peters said the ceremony will be a small, quiet affair. They will have a larger wedding later when Bozik is able walk down the aisle, something he wants badly to be able to do.

“Our love is there,” she said. “He knows now that I’m here for the long run. I don’t see a guy who doesn’t have two feet or his right hand. I still see the same old Joey. He still has that smile that I love — that dimple in his cheek. I see the whole person, and there’s no way he’s going to get rid of me.”

[Previous Sergeant Bozik Posts: Original, First Update (with pictures of Sergeant Bozik), Second Update, and Third.]

Posted by Blackfive on November 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

November 27, 2004

And You Thought Your Turkey Was Important?

Angel M. sends this USAToday/Army Times story about soldiers that drove through a car bomb and possible ambush to get turkey to their fellow soldiers.  It has a lot of comments from the troops, too.

Posted by Blackfive on November 27, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Letter From Fallujah

2Slick posted a must-read letter from an Army Officer who was part of the assualt on Fallujah.

...The enemy tried to fight us in "the city of mosques" as dirty as they could. They fired from the steeples of the mosques and the mosques themselves. They faked being hurt and then threw grenades at soldiers when they approached to give medical treatment. They waived surrender flags, only to shoot at our forces 20 seconds later when they approached to accept their surrender...

And there's plenty more - what they found, the intelligence gathered, etc.  Go check it out.  It's worth your time to read.

Posted by Blackfive on November 27, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 25, 2004

Proud Thanks by Russ Vaughn

Proud Thanks

Across the world, in far off lands,

On heaving seas, on desert sands,

You serve our flag, you guard, you fight,

Make despots quake and fear our might.

You show the world a fearsome face,

But do it with a noble grace.

The same steel fists that man the guns,

Unfold in kindness to little ones.

How can you warriors fight through the night,

Then hand out food when comes the light?

Unlike other armies, you American G.I.’s

Are not viewed with fear by civilian eyes.

Other nations see this and are amazed

Not us, we know it’s how you’re raised.

Wherever you serve, the world can see,

You’re the fine result of our democracy.

On this day of grace we send our prayer,

And give proud thanks to you everywhere.

Russ Vaughn

2d Bn, 327^th Parachute Infantry Regiment

101^st Airborne Division

Vietnam 65-66

That’s The Way They Were Raised

While surfing through websites for information on my old unit, the 101st Airborne Division, I ran across a quote by a reporter, who was embedded with the 101st in Iraq during the invasion. In his tribute to the young troopers he served beside, he marveled at how they could fight Iraqi forces so ferociously through the night, then spend their days handing out food and medicine to Iraqi civilians. The reporter observed that Stephen Ambrose, historian and author of “Band of Brothers,” another tribute to the Screaming Eagles, but those of an earlier war, had this to say about American troops,

“"When soldiers from any other army, even our allies, entered a town, the people hid in the cellars. When Americans came in, even into German towns, it meant smiles, chocolate bars and C-rations.”

The reporter followed that quote with two sentences of his own which I find truly moving and profoundly insightful,

“Ours has always been an army like no other, because our soldiers reflect a society unlike any other. They are pitiless when confronted by armed enemy fighters and yet full of compassion for civilians and even defeated enemies.”

Those words should be chiseled into granite on a prominently displayed memorial somewhere, because they speak a great truth, not just about our fighting men and women, but also of the nation and society that molded them.

As a former combat infantryman, I will wager that for every single occurrence of violence and mayhem reported from Iraq, there are hundreds of acts of kindness and generosity by American forces, which go unreported. And that’s fine because that’s as it should be. Their compassion shouldn’t be remarkable. They do it, quite simply, because that’s the way they were raised, and they don’t change just because they put on battledress uniforms and become proficient with deadly weapons.

I am so proud of those young Screaming Eagles serving in Iraq, and proud to be a part of that fine unit’s legacy. I’m proud, as well, of all the other young servicemen and women who are contributing to the effort to create peace and build a democracy in Iraq.  But, Folks, I am most proud of being just one of you, a nation and a way of life, that creates such valiant yet kindhearted warriors. We should all be proud of what we’ve produced.

Russ Vaughn

2d Bn, 327^th Parachute Infantry Regiment

101^st Airborne Division

Vietnam 65-66

Posted by Blackfive on November 25, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

November 24, 2004

Fallujah Reality Check

John Donovan has photos from a presentation about Fallujah.  It demonstrates that War Crimes actually happened in Fallujah.  Some of the photos are not for the more gentler folk.

Posted by Blackfive on November 24, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Thanksgiving in Fallujah - Emails Home

Via Seamus and Gunny Gregory come a few emails sent home from Marines in Fallujah.  The Marines only have about a minute to fire off emails home.  These were sent at 5am CST today.

The first is from Marine Corporal Joel Yeager who happens to be General Chuck Yeager's grandson.

How's everyone doing, well i I cant complain  much here cause i'm out of the city right now. Im pretty sure im going back in tomorrow for about two weeks but the marine corps loves to change their mind all the time so that will probably change. We did some pretty crazy stuff and about pissed my pants a few times. Ill have some good storys for all of you when i get back. The first few days were pretty ruff cause we really didnt sleep and we didnt have any food. By the time i got my first mre it was the greatest meal i had ever had. well at least i thought it was. Pretty much we just stormed through the city and searched every house one by one. We found tons of weapons and ied making materials. I got to blow a alot of it up. Also we ended up in the building were they have been doing those executions over the internet, it was weird that we ended up in that same building. I'm attached to 3/5 Lima Co. 3rd plt. So if you here anything about 3rd plt or lima co. im probalby right there. our path was threw what was supposed to be the hardest area but i dont think it was that bad. I was the only engineer with my squad. i had alot of weight on my shoulders but when all was said and done they were very happy wih all i did. Except one of the first things i blew up was a safe. I was just supposed to blow the door off the safe so they could see what was in it. Well i got a little into the moment and used 4 times the amount of c4 i should of used and ended up blowing the whole house up. They gave me a hard time about it but luckily they laughed it off. There was alot of things i did that i could of been hurt really bad but thanks to everyones prayers back home i made it out ok. i need to go but ill try to write again when i can.

Joel Yeager      

If for some reason you didn't visit the Greenside to read LtCol Bellon's description of Fallujah (linked to it a few days ago), LtCol Bellon mentions the heroics of Corporal Yeager:

...I will end with a couple of stories of individual heroism that you may not have heard yet.  I was told about both of these incidents shortly after they occurred.  No doubt some of the facts will change slightly but I am confident that the meat is correct.

The first is a Marine from 3/5.  His name is Corporal Yeager (Chuck Yeager's grandson).  As the Marines cleared and apartment building, they got to the top floor and the point man kicked in the door.  As he did so, an enemy grenade and a burst of gunfire came out.  The explosion and enemy fire took off the point man's leg.  He was then immediately shot in the arm as he lay in the doorway.  Corporal Yeager tossed a grenade in the room and ran into the doorway and into the enemy fire in order to pull his buddy back to cover.  As he was dragging the wounded Marine to cover, his own grenade came back through the doorway.  Without pausing, he reached down and threw the grenade back through the door while he heaved his buddy to safety.  The grenade went off inside the room and Cpl Yeager threw another in.  He immediately entered the room following the second explosion.  He gunned down three enemy all within three feet of where he stood and then let fly a third grenade as he backed out of the room to complete the evacuation of the wounded Marine.  You have to understand that a grenade goes off within 5 seconds of having the pin pulled.  Marines usually let them "cook off" for a second or two before tossing them in.   Therefore, this entire episode took place in less than 30 seconds...

Of course, Corporal Yeager doesn't mention that except that he has lots of stories to share once he gets home. He also requested candles that smell like the holidays (ie Thanksgiving) to remind him of home.  Don't worry about sending him candles, his family is already handling that request. 

The next email is from Marine Sergeant Jason Talmadge:

Family and friends, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm alive and doing well. The past 2 weeks has been very challenging and nerve racking as we attacked the city of Fallujah. I am back at the base right now for a couple days of R and R. I don't know how long I will be back out there for so that's why I am writing one big letter. I want to thank everyone for their prayers as God truly seemed to be with us out there. Out of my platoon we only had one Marine go down with multiple gun shot wounds. He is doing well and already back in the states. He took one shot to the arm and one to the leg while being ambushed by six insurgents. I say that because there is no way he should be alive and to only get hit twice and where they landed was a true blessing. He was a part of my team so we were down to only 3 men. My men rose to the occassion and picked up the load and performed beautifully in combat. Again, God is good and he takes care of his own. I know it's not over and we have a long way to go until March, but it was a great step for americans as the total number we killed was around 1800 insurgents and muslim radicals. Thank you for your continued support and prayers for myself and the rest of the Marines and soldiers, fighting on little rest and food, to make America a safer place. For the people who don't think we should be here, I would rather fight and destroy them and their cities here than allow them to penetrate American soil and do it on our homeland. Take care everyone I Iove you all - Jason Talmadge/ Sgt USMC

So there you have two emails from extraordinary Americans who just survived one of the toughest battles anyone will ever face.  I won't draw conclusions for you about them - if you read the emails, you can do that for yourself.  Be thankful for Marines like Yeager and Talmadge.

Posted by Blackfive on November 24, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBack

November 23, 2004

Mosque Shooting - Defense Fund for Marine

I have received many, MANY emails with requests for me to set up a fund for the defense of the Marine involved in the shooting.

Right now, as I understand it, the Marine has NOT BEEN CHARGED with any crime.  The Mosque Shooting is under INVESTIGATION.  The investigation will determine whether the Marine will be prosecuted or not.

If charges are filed, the name of the Marine should be released, and then we can talk about helping him.  And help him, we will!

I appreciate everyone's concern.  Right now, that Marine needs prayers and support.  The two things that you could do right now is pray and write a letter to your editor (of your local paper).

Posted by Blackfive on November 23, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

November 22, 2004

Another Way to Help

Brian, a Naval Officer, sends this first hand report. If you do buy some service member dinner, try to do it anonymously as you might embarrass them otherwise.

Matt, I live in suburban Washington, DC. I’ve been in the Navy 29 years; 12 enlisted (hospital corpsman), 17 commissioned (Medical Service Corps). Got a few more to go…

But anyway, I’m up at the National Naval Medical Center (Bethesda) yesterday for a post-op check on some back surgery I had on Monday. My sister, who’s a State Farm agent in the Midwest, has sent me a few hundred phone cards to pass out to the Marines and sailors in the hospital, so I’m making rounds on all the wards, giving them to the nurses to pass around. There’s some great work getting done there (and at every other military hospital), but that’s for another story.

<...> As we’re having dinner at a nice little eatery up the street, I spot a young Marine I’d seen at the hospital a little earlier. He’s an inpatient, just back from the shit; still sporting the wristband and wearing his hospital pajamas under a windbreaker. He’s lost an eye, a good-sized patch of his cheek and who knows what else. My guess was that the couple he’s eating dinner with are his folks, but I’m wrong.

I pop over to check on him, thank him for his service and subsequently find out the following. They aren’t his parents. His parents live in California and wouldn’t be getting in until tonight. These folks had driven down from Philadelphia for a week, on their vacation time, to visit the troops in Walter Reed and Bethesda. Every night, they’re taking a troop out for dinner, someone who’s able to ambulate and who doesn’t have family in the area. You could tell this meant everything in the world to the Marine, and, to them.

They have 7 of their own children, 2 still at home. The two at home are staying with friends. I got it immediately (I have a flair for the obvious)—they had taken vacation time from their jobs, farmed the kids out with friends, just to drive 300 miles on their own dime, to visit wounded American troops.

Jeez, I could hardly make it back to my table without spilling tears.

It gets better. I decide a good idea would be to pick up their check, so I call over the waitress. “Too late,” she says, “somebody else already has, but you’re the fourth person who’s offered.”

That, my friend, sounded pretty good to me. In fact, I hadn’t heard anything like it in 29 years in the Navy.

Listen, since you’re in a position to do so, how about encouraging your readers in the Metro DC area to call Walter Reed and Bethesda to see what they can do to help out this holiday season? I’m opening my home to any family member who needs a place to stay while in town. The Navy Lodge and the Fisher House are full up through the New Year, so this might be well-received.

Thanks for all you do.

V/R
Brian

Brian makes an excellent point. My wife and I recently bought four Marines lunch at PJ Clarke's (after a parade here in Chicago) and talked them into a beer - they were in uniform and drinking "adult beverages" while in uniform is a BIG no-no; however, one of them was Irish and had parachutist wings (like another paratrooper that I happen to know very well...) - I knew I could wear that guy down. We tried to buy their lunch anonymously, but they were insistent on knowing who we were.  It actually embarrassed the waitress as she went back and forth between our tables making it obvious to the Marines who their friend was...I finally just got up and went over to their table.

If any family member of someone at a military hospital in the DC area would like to take Brian up on his offer, please email me.

Posted by Blackfive on November 22, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack

SF Chronicle Readers Respond to Marlboro Marine

Banagor rounds up the whacky reactions to the famous photo of the Marine with the cigarette dangling in his mouth.

Really, people, preaching to a combatant about the dangers of smoking just might be lost on them while they are assaulting Fallujah...

Posted by Blackfive on November 22, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Local Ways to Help

Of course, anyone can help these folks, but as a reader pointed out, maybe some of you in the area would feel more connected by donating to a local cause/Soldier or Marine. 

Here are just a few ways to help people in your area.  If you have more stories with ways to help, please place them in the comments section.  URL's become links automatically in the Comments so there is no need to use HTML to make a link active.

Omaha - Rachelle sends this article about a Marine who was killed just hours before his son was born.  You can donate to a trust fund for his son at any Wells Fargo branch.

Minnesota - Kelly, the Patriette, has details on how you can help a Marine who was grievously injured while saving another Marine.  She has information on how you can help.

Florence, SC - Pam sends this story about a Marine who is in critical condition in Germany.  His church has set up a fund to help the family stay with him in Germany until he can make the trip home.

Posted by Blackfive on November 22, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

November 21, 2004

The Daily Kos Bridge in Fallujah

Why would I call it that?

Background is here.

Grim has the answer (scroll down to the post - "A Postscript Explained") and deserves the credit for the bridge's new moniker.

P.S.  I think the Marine's message was for Kos, too.

Posted by Blackfive on November 21, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

November 20, 2004

The Green Side

Marine LtCol Dave Bellon emails his father about Fallujah.  He discusses tactics as well as some acts of heroism that you won't hear about in the Main Stream Media.  It's a MUST READ.

Posted by Blackfive on November 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

If I Could Talk To The President Tomorrow...

...I'd tell him that Fallujah's reconstruction needs to be perfect - THE example - and that we need to get it right.

We've got an opportunity to hire a ton of Iraqis and spend the $90,000,000 set aside for reconstruction on job creation as well (and not just construction jobs, either).  This needs to be the focus - not spending it on contractors to rebuild a city that we'll have to destroy all over again because the populace is angry about the "occupation".

Posted by Blackfive on November 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Mosque Shooting - More Comments

Here's a few important points made by LtCol (ret.) Ollie North:

War Crimes?

...For American broadcasts, the actual shot is "blacked out." But when the tape airs on Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Lebanon TV and other Arab media outlets, nothing is left to the imagination. Unfortunately, neither version is accurate -- though both are very troubling. Like so much of what's on television today, only the goriest, most sensational portion of the tape has aired. As a consequence, "the rest of the story" -- as my friend Paul Harvey puts it -- has been lost in the clamor created by 15 seconds of videotape.

Only a few have seen the footage shot the day before -- providing irrefutable evidence that the mosque was a well-defended arms depot. And fewer still have viewed the very next sequence after "the shooting," which shows two Marines pointing their weapons at another combatant lying motionless. Suddenly, one of the Marines jumps back as the terrorist stretches out his hand, motioning that he is alive. Neither Marine opens fire.

According to the Marines, a Navy medical corpsman was then summoned to treat the two wounded prisoners. In his original written report, Sites, the correspondent who videotaped the shooting, doesn't mention the medical treatment provided to the injured enemy combatants, but he does note that four of the combatants were some of those who had been left behind from the firefight on Friday. If the NBC reporter knew that from being there the day before, why didn't he tell this new group of Marines before they rushed into the room?

None of that is included in the tape, which is now being used to raise Islamic ire at the "American invader." Why? And why did it take more than a day to learn that the Marine seen shooting on the videotape had been wounded in the face the day before if the correspondent knew that when he filed the videotape? Why didn't the original story include the fact that a Marine in the same unit had been killed 24 hours earlier while searching the booby-trapped dead body of a terrorist?

As I wrote before, Sites had a choice to make, and he chose headlines over our Marines.

Posted by Blackfive on November 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (33) | TrackBack

What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Words "Marine Rifle Platoon"?

This is what Michael S. thinks:

[Original Source Photo - National Geographic]

Posted by Blackfive on November 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack

Petition for Marine Investigated for Mosque Shooting

RE: Marine Investigation into Mosque Shooting

If for some reason has not signed the petition to Congress asking to send the Marine back to his unit or to give him an honorable discharge, please consider signing it.  Here is the link to the petition.

Posted by Blackfive on November 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Veterans/ETSing Military - Helmets to Hardhats

Just a reminder for you to pass along to vets and military that Helmets to Hardhats is funded by the DoD to help transitioning military AND veterans find careers in the building and construction trades.

Posted by Blackfive on November 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 19, 2004

Sergeant Bozik - Update 3

Geoffrey reminded me to update you all on Sergeant Bozik.  Here is the latest story from Texas A&M University:

Fiancee says Bozik still improving

By GREG OKUHARA
Eagle Staff Writer

Army Sgt. Joseph Bozik, who lost three limbs to an explosion while serving in Iraq, is out of intensive care and continues to improve, his fiancee said last week.

Jayme Peters, a senior at Texas A&M University, said she and Bozik even got to watch an Aggie football game recently, when the team narrowly lost to Oklahoma.

Although the outcome was disappointing for the couple, Peters said she was happy she was able to give him a kiss each time the Aggies scored. Having that contact with him after he nearly lost his life meant much more than a football game.

“He’s really lucky he made it,” she said from Washington, D.C., where Bozik is hospitalized. “We’re glad he’s doing OK.”

The soldier lost both legs and his right arm when the vehicle he was riding in near Baghdad struck a roadside bomb Oct. 27. He was flown back to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington on Nov. 1 and has undergone extensive treatment to get him on the path to recovery.

Peters said Bozik is able to talk and spends much of the day communicating with her and his family.

He told Peters he didn’t remember anything about the explosion. She said he remains optimistic about his condition and isn’t going to let his physical limitations place any constraints on how he’ll live his life.

“He’s not acting like this is the end of the world,” she said.

Bozik was taken out of the intensive care unit last week, but doctors were not able to control his pain levels, Peters said. He was placed back in ICU for a short time, but now is being cared for in the hospital’s intermediate care facility.

While Bozik receives his rehabilitation care, Peters and her mother have been looking for apartments in the Washington area so they can help take care of Bozik. His mother, Gail, also plans to move there from North Carolina while Bozik is under the hospital’s care.

The family plans to stay as long as it takes for Bozik to recover.

Additionally, Peters, a kinesiology major, is trying to find an employer for the internship she needs to graduate. She said Texas A&M is working with her to locate one.

The presence of family, Peters said, is helping Bozik as he begins his recuperation process.

“He said he’s at peace now that I’m here,” she said.

I have also heard that he is surgery again and has that Iraqi Bacteria Infection.

[Previous Sergeant Bozik Posts: Original, First Update (with pictures of Sergeant Bozik), and Second Update.]

Posted by Blackfive on November 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack

Showdown - The Battle of Fallujah - Part 14 - "We're Not Going To Die!"

Pat P. sends this Time article about one of the most dangerous ops in Fallujah.  It also includes a paragraph about Captain Sean Sims.  Seriously, the first few paragraphs are awesome...oh, and SSG Bellavia is badder than John freakin' Wayne.

Into the Hot Zone:

After weeks of preparation, the U.S. launches a full-scale assault to take back Fallujah. TIME follows one platoon as it carries out the most dangerous operation since the beginning of the war

By Michael Ware

“We’re not going to die!” yells U.S. Staff Sergeant David Bellavia as his rattled platoon of soldiers takes cover from machine-gun fire in the streets of Fallujah. The platoon has been ordered to hunt down and kill a group of insurgents hiding somewhere in a block of 12 darkened houses. It is 1:45 a.m., and the soldiers have been running from fire fight to fire fight for 48 hours straight with no sleep, fueled only by the modest pickings from their ration packs. As they searched through nine of the houses on the block, the soldiers turned up nothing. When they trudged into the 10th house, though, a trap was sprung: the insurgents had lured them in and then opened fire, forcing Bellavia’s men to scramble out of the house as shards of glass peppered them and bullets ricocheted off the gates of the courtyard. Bellavia yelled for a Bradley armored fighting vehicle to get “up here now!” The Bradley drew along the gate and poured 25-mm-cannon and M-240 machine-gun fire into the house, blasting a shower of concrete chips and luminescent sparks.

Bellavia, a wiry 29-year-old who resembles Sean Penn, is pacing the street, preparing to go back in. Bellavia’s bluster on the battlefield contrasts with his refinement off it. During lulls in the fighting, he could discuss the Renaissance and East European politics. “Get on me now,” he says, ordering his squad to close in. There is little movement. He asks who has more ammunition. Two soldiers stand up and join him in the street. “Here we go, Charlie’s Angels,” Bellavia says. “You don’t move from my goddam wing. You stay on my right shoulder. You stay on my left shoulder. Hooah?” The men nod. “I wanna go in there and go after ’em.”

Reaching the barred window near the front door, Bellavia tells two soldiers to perch by the house corner and watch for insurgents trying to leap out the side window. He looks at Staff Sergeant Scott Lawson and says, “You’re f______ coming. Give suppressive fire at 45 degrees.” Bellavia and Lawson step nervously into the house. From the living room, Bellavia rounds the corner into the hallway. The insurgents are still alive. Their AK-47s fire. Bellavia fires back, killing them both. “Two f_____s down,” he says.

Lawson stays downstairs while Bellavia scours the first floor for more insurgents. A string of rapid-fire single shots ring out. Then silence. Then a low, pained moaning. The two soldiers waiting in the courtyard call out to Bellavia, “Hey, Sergeant Bell,” but get no response. “Sergeant Bell is not answering,” a message is shouted back to the platoon members across the street. “We need more guys.” The platoon’s other staff sergeant, Colin Fitts, 26, steps up. “Let’s go,” he says.

Fitts takes a small team over the road. “Terminators coming in,” he bellows as he goes inside, using the unit’s name in a code to warn that friendly forces are entering. Inside they find Bellavia alive and on on the hunt. Upstairs he scans the bedrooms. An insurgent jumps out of the cupboard. Bellavia falls down and fires, spraying the man with bullets. At some point another insurgent drops out of the ceiling. Yet another runs to a window and makes for the garden. Bellavia hits him in the legs and lower back as he flees. When it’s over, four insurgents are dead; another has escaped badly wounded. To Bellavia, Fitts says, “That’s a good job, dude. You’re a better man than me.” Bellavia shakes his head. “No, no, no,” he mutters.

When it kicked off last week, the battle of Fallujah was billed as a climactic clash between roughly 10,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines and about 2,000 newly minted Iraqi fighting men against the 1,500 to 3,000 armed militants who have turned the city into Iraq’s biggest insurgent haven. But the battle has not involved any single Armageddon-style showdown with massed insurgent forces. Instead, for men like the soldiers of Alpha Company’s 3rd Platoon, part of Task Force 2-2, the fight was far more intense, chaotic and harrowing. The Americans battled armed insurgents not just street to street or even house to house, but also up close and personal with their enemy, fighting him room to room at point-blank range. Measured by the military’s strategic objectives, the assault’s first few days produced success. U.S. forces, led by the members of Task Force 2-2, swept down from the north and punched deep into the city, seizing one of Fallujah’s most important assets, Highway 10. The Army’s assault opened the way for more forces to pour into the center of Fallujah and advance toward the south of the city, with the intent of delivering a blow to an insurgency that has overrun parts of Iraq. Ripping out the heart of the resistance in Fallujah is a necessary step to prevent the insurgents from tearing the country apart.

The U.S. offensive has left much of Fallujah in ruins, as air strikes, artillery barrages and ground fighting destroyed homes and damaged many of the city’s mosques. It’s impossible to count the number of enemy slain across Fallujah, but the attrition of insurgent forces in the city was decisive. In the long run, however, the rebels haven’t been beaten. From the nature of the fight and interviews with insurgents before the attack, it seems clear the nationalist and jihadist leadership had by and large already left the city along with much of their ranks, leaving behind, in classic guerrilla style, a rearguard detail to harass and interdict U.S. forces. The Americans in Fallujah got a taste of what they may confront across Iraq’s restive Sunni triangle as the military command attempts to root out the insurgents from their sanctuaries. They are a tenacious enemy who fight as any guerrilla force might—never head on, always from behind or the sides at moments when it’s least expected, initiating combat at weak points and then pulling back to strongholds, ducking and weaving all the while.

The U.S. invasion of Fallujah exacted a price. Of roughly 400 men and women from Task Force 2-2, four were killed in action. All told, the battle’s first days left at least 24 service members dead and more than 200 wounded. It was a stunning success militarily, but in human terms each loss was deeply felt, etched into the face and being of every soldier. For those who were there, the manner in which this battle was fought and victory claimed will never be forgotten. These are a few of their stories.

Shortly after 7 p.m. on monday night, Alpha Company paved the road into Fallujah. Engineers used a minesweeper to shoot forward 91-m lines of C-4 explosive to destroy or trigger any booby traps in its path. Battle tanks followed a channel marked in chemical lights, taking positions on the railway berm to cover 3rd Platoon’s advance to Objective Lion, a hunk of two- and three-story buildings known to be insurgent strong points. It would be the foothold for the entire Task Force’s advance.

Within the Bradley’s cramped and musty hold, the shock of the minesweeper’s explosion was felt by the infantrymen huddled inside. Among them is Fitts, a lithe, expressive Mississippian and father of three who joined the military eight years ago. He warns his team to “get ready to get out of this big metal bitch.” With the bulk of the Marine-led assault force poised on the northern side of the railway, 3rd Platoon plowed forward, bringing its Bradleys to a halt beneath Fallujah’s first houses. The platoon radio net crackled, “Drop ramp. All 3rd Platoon elements drop ramp, drop ramp.” And with that, the ground battle began.

Despite all the intel showing heavy movement within the buildings, Object Lion was not defended. But in the street behind it, a mammoth propane tank lay on its side; wire ran from it to a nearby house. A squad was detailed, and went in only to come scurrying straight back out. The presence of gas cans and a car battery suggested that the propane tank and probably the house were rigged to blow.

The long-awaited assault on Fallujah was officially dubbed Operation Dawn, to signify the promise of a new beginning. But the name the U.S. military had originally given the operation—Phantom Fury—seems more appropriate for the kind of war U.S. forces are fighting. At times the soldiers and Marines trawling Fallujah’s alleyways feel as though they are chasing ghosts. Insurgents vanish as the armored columns rumble into town, only to reappear somewhere else, firing from minarets and hiding in houses booby-trapped to blow up. U.S. and Iraqi officials say that their forces have killed as many as 1,000 enemy fighters and that most of the ravaged city is under U.S. control. If the goal, as a senior U.S. official says, is to “break up the scorpion’s nest’’ that Fallujah has become, the military is willing to inflict as much punishment as needed to achieve it.

But after a week that witnessed the most brutal up-close combat conducted by the U.S. military since Somalia, victory over the insurgency in Iraq isn’t necessarily any closer. Many fighters and the majority of the rebel leadership—including Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist in Iraq—apparently slipped out of the city in the weeks leading up to the assault. A Pentagon official says that at most, 10% of the enemy in Iraq has been killed or captured in Fallujah. As the U.S. fights there, violence is rippling across the center and north of Iraq, engulfing the increasingly restive city of Mosul, the third largest in the country. The violence has raised the prospect that the siege of Fallujah could be a prelude to a series of nasty urban street fights—precisely the sort of war the U.S. military had desperately hoped to avoid when the invasion started in the spring of 2003.

U.S. commanders acknowledge that Fallujah is only the beginning. But they hope that the show of force there is the first step toward gradually eroding the insurgents’ ability to coordinate activities around the country. Senior U.S. officials say the coming months will be like playing a deadly game of “whack a mole” across the country: attacking insurgents wherever they rise up and trying to take back enough rebel-held areas to hold credible elections in January. The U.S. does not have enough soldiers in Iraq to crush a growing insurgency in multiple locations at the same time. But officials believe they won’t actually face that challenge. As messy as the Sunni triangle and Mosul now appear, so long as the insurgency doesn’t ignite a nationwide conflagration, the Pentagon believes it can contain the threat. “What we’re trying to do in the short term, through the elections, is make sure that there are no no-go zones,” says a senior Western diplomat in Baghdad. “To the extent possible, we [will] attrit their capability to launch violent attacks.”

Critical to that plan is making sure Fallujah stays secure once the insurgents are routed. Toward that end, the Pentagon says money will start to flow into the city as soon as the military operation is over. The Pentagon says it has some $100 million ready to pour into a variety of civil works in Fallujah, including improvements in water, sewage and electrical systems as well as the construction of schools and health clinics. Army Lieut. General Thomas Metz, U.S. ground-forces commander in Iraq, says it will take “weeks, maybe months, to get the city to a normal operating level.”

Once Fallujah is pacified, the U.S. plans to rely on the newly trained Iraqi police and national guard forces to perform the bulk of security tasks required to begin the delivery of reconstruction aid. That transition won’t be easy. Among ordinary citizens, there is almost no confidence that the Iraqis will be up to the task, and they are almost certain to face fresh attacks. “Let the Americans think they are winning,” a fighter in Fallujah told Time. “We are not going anywhere.”

The whack-a-mole strategy may already be getting its first test in Mosul. The city is home to a heterogenous population of 1 million—Sunni, Kurd and Turkoman—and for months after the invasion was viewed as one of the occupation’s few success stories. But locals warn that the city is slipping out of control. Foreign terrorists streaming across the border from Syria have joined forces with a Baathist resistance stocked with unemployed ex-soldiers. Insurgent attacks have grown significantly in number and lethality in recent months, and at least two or three assassination victims arrive each day at al-Salaam Hospital, the city’s largest, doctors say. After insurgents staged attacks against six police stations in the city last week, a unit involved in the U.S. assault on Fallujah had to peel off and head to Mosul to help put down the unrest there. Local political leaders fear that the violence may make it impossible to organize elections in Mosul by January.

The risk for the U.S. is that, rather than make the Sunni triangle secure for democracy, the assault on Fallujah may instead inflame Sunnis and scatter insurgents across a wider area, which could scuttle hopes of broad Sunni participation in the voting. The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni political party in Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s interim government withdrew last week, saying it could not abide the attack on Fallujah. Meanwhile, the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni group, has called for a total boycott of the elections. The association’s leader, Harith al-Dhari, told Time he was “very close to calling for jihad” against the Americans and the Allawi government.

Yet even after the violence and inflammatory rhetoric of the past week, not all Iraqis are convinced the Sunnis will sit out the vote. Sunni leaders are acutely aware that the majority Shi‘ites—who make up 60% of Iraq’s population—seem united in their desire for elections. Optimistic U.S. and Iraqi officials believe that as elections draw near, at least some Sunni leaders will recognize their interest in having a say in Iraq’s first elected government. As Sarmad Mohammad, a Sunni fruit vendor in Baghdad, says, “If there are no Sunni leaders in the new government, all the jobs in the government, police and army will go to Shi‘as and Kurds.”

However tumultuous the January elections prove to be, it’s clear that the ultimate outcome in Iraq—whether it moves toward a semblance of stability or civil war—comes down to a test of wills. The U.S. command believes that the supply of suicidal Baathists, Islamic holy warriors and Iraqi nationalists will eventually exhaust itself. Robert Scales, a retired Army major general, says history teaches that violent attacks on insurgencies such as the campaign mounted by the U.S. in Fallujah can work. “You don’t just keep growing insurgents,” Scales says. “By effectively eliminating the hard-core terrorists, the fellow travelers see the handwriting on the wall. While the insurgency doesn’t disappear, it tends to collapse to something down around noise level.” But if Fallujah is a sign of things to come, the volume is likely to get cranked up first.

—By Bill Powell.Reported by Andrew Lee Butters/Mosul, Aparisim Ghosh and Phil Zabriskie/Baghdad, and Mark Thompson/Washington

It was a sign of things to come. Two days later, the platoon took up a position in a three-story house, overlooking the platoon’s new domain. In the side street below, twin bombs erupted. A detonator cord led to the adjoining home, and someone thought he saw movement. The platoon lit up the house with volleys of automatic fire, tripping a battery of hidden devices. The house blew forward, and a young sergeant on a balcony took shrapnel in his groin. At every stop in its advance, the Wolf Pack, as 3rd Platoon is dubbed, found countless bombs, plus doors booby trapped and walls set with explosives. The enemy tactic accounted for the soldiers’ unforgiving approach to entering buildings, traversing streets and tackling even lone snipers: if it looks suspicious or shoots at you, blow it up with a grenade, a cannon or the main gun of a tank. The U.S. didn’t plan on taking any chances.

By dawn the next day, the Wolf Pack had reached Objective Cougar, the Imam al-Shafi Mosque that insurgent leaders used as a meeting point and command center. It sat midway down 3rd Platoon’s southward advance through Fallujah’s Askari district, home to many former Iraqi military officers. It had been long evacuated and been heavily fortified in anticipation of a U.S. invasion, but commanders had received reports that as many as 150 foreign fighters were ensconced in the area; the battle figured to be tough. Footage taken by an aerial drone earlier in the week showed that the area was strewn with buried explosives. When a U.S. warplane dropped a 225-kg bomb on a weapons cache, it set off a daisy chain of roadside bombs for 90 m along either side of the block. Hoping to stymie any U.S. advance and herd troops into canalized killing zones, insurgents positioned dirt-filled barriers and concrete blast walls throughout the streets. The raw materials they were using had been supplied by the U.S.-led coalition to the Iraqi police and Iraqi National Guard in Fallujah, many of whose ranks have since joined the insurgency.

To breach the mosque and allow Iraqi Intervention Forces to search it, the U.S. employed a Bradley to smash the compound’s walls after 25-mm cannon rounds failed to dent its iron gates. The Wolf Pack searched and secured a three-story building, taking a high spot overlooking the mosque and its minaret. At night it almost felt safe inside, but daylight brought the snipers and insurgent cells out into the streets. The attack started in the east but was soon joined by shooting from the north. From three edges of the roof, the soldiers fired at the insurgents, who wore tracksuit pants and the uniforms of the Iraqi National Guard as they dashed back and forth across roads or popped up in windows. The fight lasted nearly two hours. The young grunts defended themselves with all manner of fire, including AT4 antitank rockets, M-203 40-mm grenade launchers and tow missiles from the Bradleys supporting them. A young sergeant went down, shrapnel or a bullet fragment lodging in his cheek. After checking himself, he went back to returning fire.

The heaviest fighting was still to come. The next day the 3rd Platoon and the rest of Task Force 2-2 reached Phase Line Fran, Fallujah’s central bisecting road. From there they could stare into the city’s notorious industrial area, a hot spot particularly for foreign fighters and the scene of innumerable past battles with the Marines. Sporadic gunfire from the decaying warehouses, cement plants and junkyards provoked U.S. tanks to unleash high-explosive rounds at insurgent positions. The Wolf Pack’s fire-support officer called in mortar fire on buildings and locations where movement was seen. Even in lulls in the gunplay, the Fallujah sound track was alive with detonations and the whomps of tank rounds.

The insurgents had studied the Americans’ methods well. To negate the U.S.’s preference to fight in the dark using night-vision equipment, the insurgents focused their attacks in the dim light of dawn and dusk. As the sun set, a decrepit warehouse suddenly sparkled with at least a dozen muzzle flashes. Bullets flew thick over the unit’s commandeered building. “Look at the industrial complex,” Bellavia yelled at his men. “I want you to shoot, shoot.” The Wolf Pack lashed back with chattering automatic-weapons fire. A sister platoon, bunkered down a few hundred meters to the west, joined in, bringing a deadly cross fire to bear on the insurgents. Streams of red tracers scorched into the building as a soft golden sun emblazoned a graying sky.

“The enemy picture is so murky we just don’t know anything for sure except for what you see with your own eyes,” Alpha Company’s commander, Captain Sean Sims, told his officers. The soldiers pushed south into the industrial zone along the eastern corridor, moving into the thick of the cement plants and metal-strewn yards. The soldiers geared up to drive into the teeth of the resistance—the kind of fight the military had been spoiling for. Jdams rocked the earth and artillery carved a path forward as the sounds of fire fights resonated in all directions.

Winding their armor through the desolate buildings bound for their first target—Objective Bud, identified as a congregating point for foreign fighters—the Wolf Pack started taking fire immediately. A Bradley vehicle piloted by Sergeant First Class James Cantrell shuddered and filled with dust as it ran over a roadside bomb. The blast was so powerful it was at first mistaken for a bomb dropped by one of the many warplanes screeching overhead. “Goddam,” said Fitts, locked down inside the mechanical beast, his shotgun nestled under his chin.

Within minutes, a thumping clunk beat the vehicle’s left side. “Damn, an rpg,” shouted a soldier. When they reached Objective Bud, a figure was seen scurrying through a window. The 3rd Platoon spilled into the compound, cutting off any escape. Cantrell maneuvered his Bradley to face the building. The high-explosive rounds set the bottom floor ablaze. First Lieutenant Joaquin Meno called up for the first story to be torched as well. “Let the f_____ burn,” said a squad leader. When a group of insurgents brandishing RPGS was spotted 365 m south, Meno called in mortar fire from the rear and Abrams tank fire from the front. The insurgents had no chance. “Hey, LT, good call. That’s perfect,” said Bellavia. As if to punctuate the score, a direct hit on the building where the insurgents had taken cover set off repeated secondary explosions.

Late that night, while waiting for the Marines to match the pace of 2-2’s advance, the platoon occupied a tall house on the northern outskirts of an area code-named Queens. It gave the exhausted grunts a rare respite—an hour’s sleep. At 4 a.m. they moved out and took up positions in another building. Within hours they encountered one of their most vicious confrontations yet, as insurgents riddled the rooftop with RPGS and sniper fire. The insurgents weren’t intimidated even by the fury of the tanks, daring to step from behind corners to vainly hit them with RPGS. A soldier’s ankle was shattered when an rpg sent concrete flying. Linking up with 1st Platoon to consolidate its position, the Wolf Pack fended off the attack.

On Saturday the final assault got under way as the Wolf Pack drove farther south, positioned to swing west to complete the sweep of the city. Alpha Company took more casualties, one a key member that was particularly bitter, as the battle’s end was so close. As the soldiers evacuated their wounded, military sources said Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was readying to announce the end of combat in the recaptured city. As the fighting in Fallujah dies down, the Wolf Pack and the rest of Task Force 2-2 are due to return to their usual area of operations in Diyala province north of Baghdad. But with the insurgents showing little sign of giving up, the Americans face more battles ahead. The men of 3rd Platoon just shrug their shoulders at the thought. It’s as though they were bred to fight. Says Fitts: “I don’t know how to do anything else.”

[Showdown (The Battle for Fallujah) Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen]

Posted by Blackfive on November 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

German Soldiers Angels Update From Landstuhl

A few weeks ago, you might have met Willie Aufmkolk as Someone You Should Know.  Willie is a wonderful German lady who wanted to help our wounded troops coming to Germany for medical treatment.  Wounded from Iraq are sent first to Landstuhl (Germany) before coming back to the states to Walter Reed, Bethesda, or Balboa (among other facilites).

I am very grateful to all of you who have sent donations and supplies to our wounded troops.  I am also very thankful for amazing people like Willie who take care of our troops overseas.

If you have donated to Soldiers Angels, The Wounded Project or Wounded Warriors and wondered if you are making a difference, well, just read on:

A snap-shot from our trip to Landstuhl during the fightings in Fallujah

Every time I come to the US Hospital in Landstuhl and to the Fisher House and meet our wounded heroes I am impressed by the courage and bravery of men and women who fight the war against the terrorism and for other people freedom.

On the 12^th November 2004 Rudi, Patties sister Nita and I we brought the wounded 53 backpacks from the Soldiers Angels to LRMC and make a bedside visit together with Kathy from the Fisher House. There are over 90 % from the patients are current veterans of OEF and OIF, soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines! They all are there. Today I read the wounded from the invasion in Fallujah hits to 412! There you have a steady stream of wounded US Soldiers from the Fallujah offensive in Iraqi. So we must see the 53 backpacks were only a trop in the ocean! In the last days the news told us that about 70 US soldiers and more injured daily in Fallujah. This city is 40 miles from Baghdad and the most of them are flown from Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, to the biggest US military hospital here in overseas.

A lot of Angels have donated their time and money to bring the wounded a backpack. Paul and Berta, CA; Cheryl, CA; Karman, MA; Janette, SC; Stephanie, NC; Georgia, Co; Mandy, NC; Dee, CA; Jennifer and Christopfer, GA; Carol, TX, Paul, Susan and Sarah, FL, Megan OH; Patti, CA; SGT Lee B. and a lot of other Angels.

There was no empty bed!  We all could see that the bed capacity at the hospital has been increased since our last visit to handle now the 30 until 50 wounded who are coming in daily. We all went from room to room in five wards of the hospital to visit soldiers being treated for injuries. They are ranging from broken bones and minor injuries to missing legs and severe skull injuries. A lot from the wounded were sitting in wheelchairs or they were in their beds. Often you could see they were full of pain but their spirit was high.

They were happy to receive backpacks from the Soldiers Angels. They have nothing if they arrived from the battle to Landstuhl. Our backpacks was filled with handmade blankets, T-shirt, underpants, socks, items for   personal hygiene,  get well cards, candies and more.

We have seen one young man he was carry with his bed over the ward he has lost both eyes! I have never seen before so much nurses carry wounded with their beds over the floors from the operating room to the sick rooms on the wards.

Not any bed is empty – it is only empty if anyone is on surgery or the nurses change the linen. Nita and I we both had candies and chocolate with us for the staffs. The nurses looked so over worked!  They all work so hard, they were so busy and were coping well with the heavy workload.

Kathy Gregory from the Fisher House had a box of homemade candies with her donate from our Angels Laurie from Berlin. The candies we put in the TV-room on the wards or given out to wounded lying in bed. So that every wounded can take on. For the TV- room we had with us special bags with paper, envelopes, pencils, everything to give the wounded the opportunity to write a letter to their love ones home.  The few toy`s we received by the donation we have given the Fisher House for the kids from their guest families.

One wounded female soldier was sitting on her bad and was full of pain and the Chaplain talk to her, she was not doing fine. One older wounded could only take a breath by himself he needs a machine for doing this. We are always glad if we can bring backpacks directly to the wounded and if we have the opportunity to go for a friend to visit his comrade we are proud to do this.

So a Lt. USMC asked me to go for him to a comrade he was in Fallujah, “one of my Marine just got hit and he will be there in Germany soon, his name is Cpl. O. and there is also a marine there from …..with a lot of shrapnel wounds, I don`t have his name, can you look for him, too.“  Sometimes we have the luck that they are still there. Sometimes they are off for medical treatment to the States to other hospitals, such how are here!

Our Angel Kara, sent me an e-mail, “… a good friend of ours has been injured as is in Germany.  He is with my husband’s unit, his name is Capt. ..  At the moment he is on ward …...  Would you mind visiting him for us?”

We have found him and he is a wonderful guy I must say, he has a wife and three kids are waiting for him! His wife and Kara our Angels has not the opportunity to come to Germany to visit him. So we have given him from both “a big hug” and told him that his wife and the kids are being well taken care of. He was very surprised that someone has visited him. He was in a very good mood and was looking for more medical treatment in a naval hospital in the States...

...A large Naval Hospital is in Camp Pendleton it is a 123 bed facility, overlooking Lake O'Neill and is located approximately 10 miles from the main gate from Camp Pendleton. The Base is located in Southern California approximately 35 miles north of San Diego and 100 miles south of Los Angeles.

Kara wrote later “....have another one for you.  K. D. he is a Marine with the …...  Don’t know too much about his injuries, his wife hasn’t heard much yet, just that he is there. Can you visit him for us?”.

We can imagine us how it is that you know that your love one is injured in the war against the terrorism in Fallujah and you hear nothing about him. So we were glad that we could let a backpack for him in the Fisher House and for bringing it later to the Kleber Kaserne in Kaiserslautern. Here, 30 minutes from Landstuhl, is where soldiers not requiring hospital beds but evacuated to Landstuhl stay there during appointments and medical treatment which they have in LRMC. Here the wounded Soldiers can relax and recharge their batteries as they wait for their wounds to heal. The barracks at the moment are full too, 356 until 410 wounded or injured Soldiers could be accommodated there.

My good friend Kathy X  call me to look for “..just got word that a friends son was hurt today and may be going to Germany. He graduated with my son T. He is a Marine. His name is S. B. You can see if he is there…”. He was hit in the leg. ! One bullet brazed his knee. The other was going behind his femur. He was in Fallujah, too. But we could not find him in the hospital, because we heard later he was still in a field hospital in Baghdad. A good buddy from him was with him lost his toes and was going for heeling to Germany later.

We read in the ABC Action News on the 11/10/04 „Local soldier spends birthday in hospital after attack in Iraq”, so we say us we have to look for here and bring her a special birthday gift. A female Army Spc. D. a High School graduate has spend her 21st birthday here in Germany in the hospital, recovering from burns she suffered in an attack in Iraq.

Spc. D. was seriously injured when the Humvee in which she was riding was struck by a roadside bomb outside Fallujah.. The 20-year-old M.P. was driving a Humvee from back to base camp in Baghdad when the bomb went off. Her left side is badly burned, but she is alive and expected to recover fast. She joined the Army straight out of high school to earn money for college. She is going further to Texas to another military hospital for more special treatment.

Chaplain Pace from the Chaplains Office in Landstuhl went with me for looking for our wounded SPC D.. We found her on a public phone, to make a phone call at home. We both have wished her a great “Happy Birthday” and have given her a backpack with a handmade “blanket of hope” and a birthday gift “Nürnberger Lebkuchen and 3 roses”. She was very surprised and without words!

We have given out how much backpacks we had, together with the Fisher house we brought the wounded about 80 backpacks – but it was not enough: We have heard thirty-four wounded were flown in this Friday, 102 were brought in on two planes on Thursday and 68 were admitted on Wednesday. So we will look for more backpacks to bring it our Heores. How much we can do!

And it is always the same terrible story.

A 29-year-old soldier in Iraq was shot in the chest and has been transported to Germany for treatment. [He] was shot in the chest by a sniper.

A First Lieutenant National Guard Soldier injured near Baghdad over the weekend during combat near Baghdad.

A Lance Corporal was shot on the battlefield in Fallujah. He is going further for more medical treatment to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in the Washington, D.C. area.

A Navy Corpsman has been wounded in Iraq. He graduated from High School in 2002. Our wounded hero, 31, lost his left foot in the explosion Wednesday and suffered extensive injuries to his left thigh and right ankle.

It was good to see that the Marines wear all a Marine sweater. This we have not seen before by other soldiers! We have seen again we need backpacks for female wounded. This time had 3 with us but this was not enough.

So we will go back on the 20^th November with 40 new backpacks.

Wilhelmine Aufmkolk, Germany

Donations to Soldiers' Angels (Pay Pal Link) are Tax Deductible as it is a non-profit organization run by volunteers.  Also, here is a link from Nick S. where you can send donations to the chaplains at Landstuhl.

Posted by Blackfive on November 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

The Ghost Battalion - Part 2

Here's some pictures of the Ghost Battalion (2-7th Cavalry) in action.

Photo Number One :  Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, carry a wounded soldier from Apache Troop to a medevac helicopter during operations in Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 12, 2004. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Johancharles Van Boers)

Photo Number Two :  Staff Sgt. Scott Smith, 26, of the 2nd Battalion 7th Calvary Regiment is awarded the Purple Heart by Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the 1st Cavalry Division Commander, for wounds received at the battle of Najaf. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Rebekah-mae Bruns, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs)

Photo Number Three :  Spc. Michael Haggerty, Comanche Co., 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cav. Div., peers out of the rear periscopes of a Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle while his squad was preparing to go on a "gun run" to assess enemy positions in his company's sector of Fallujah, Nov. 11. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Erik LeDrew)

Posted by Blackfive on November 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 18, 2004

Smash's Rules of Engagement

"Crystal Clear, Sir!"

Posted by Blackfive on November 18, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Showdown Part 13 - The Battle of Fallujah - BBC Reports On Marines

James O. (a former Marine Sergeant) sends this article from a BBC embedded reporter in Fallujah (November 15th).

Eyewitness:  Falluja Battle Scars

American forces say they are still fighting small pockets of insurgents in the city of Falluja.

Our correspondent, Paul Wood, is with American marines in the city. He gave the following interview to BBC Radio 4's Today programme:

<...>

Q: But as you travel with the American soldiers, do you come across civilians?

We saw literally a glimpse of civilians.

We were on the roof of a building - this was the first day of the battle in fact on Wednesday - and saw people waving white flags running away. And the marines stood up to say "Keep going, it's dangerous, don't come in this direction" and as soon as they did that, a volley of gunfire came in, because they'd revealed their position. And that was the only view of civilians that we have had.

One female civilian came to be treated at the medical post here and left before I had a chance to speak to her.

But I've questioned ordinary marines, officers and they say quite truthfully, we literally don't see civilians and that is the position of, I think, most of the US forces here - they do not see civilians...

James points out that it sounded like the Marines were exposing themselves to fire in order to protect civilians. With respect to Marines killing innocent civilians, this story shows that there really weren't any civilians.  There's more in the article so check out the link.

[Showdown (Battle for Fallujah) Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve]

Posted by Blackfive on November 18, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

MilBlogger In Iraq Describes Urban Combat

Must read alert.  If on the off-chance that you have missed this:

MilBlogger American Soldier has two posts about combat in Iraq.  Granted, it's an Army perspective rather than Marine, but our two combat forces basically use the same procedures for clearing buildings/rooms/mosques...

Dream/Reality/Story Part 1

Dream/Reality/Story Part 2

And his opinion of the media (strong language alert).

Posted by Blackfive on November 18, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Last Letters Home

I just wrote an email to someone asking about the price of freedom and mentioned an email from a friend that I received a week before he had been killed in a firefight in Afghanistan.

Perhaps one reason that I strongly support following through on freeing Iraq is so that these men and women did not lose their lives for nothing.  The majority believed in what they were doing.  They were there.  I am not.  I'll take their word for it over the Main Stream Media any day of the week.

Retired Marine First Sergeant "Gus" sends this link to an HBO special about the last letters home sent by our troops before losing their lives (thanks, Gus).  It's worth your time.

This one is particularly stirring (tissue alert in effect)...

From the New York Times:

Excerpt of a letter from Army Pfc. Jesse A. Givens, 34, of Springfield, Mo. Private Givens was killed May 1 when his tank fell into the Euphrates River after the bank on which he was parked gave way. This letter was written to be delivered to his family if he died. Melissa is his wife, Dakota his 6-year-old stepson and Bean the name he used for his son, Carson, who was born May 29.

My family,

I never thought that I would be writing a letter like this. I really don't know where to start. I've been getting bad feelings, though and, well, if you are reading this. . . .

The happiest moments in my life all deal with my little family. I will always have with me the small moments we all shared. The moments when you quit taking life so serious and smiled. The sounds of a beautiful boy's laughter or the simple nudge of a baby unborn. You will never know how complete you have made me. You saved me from loneliness and taught me how to think beyond myself. You taught me how to live and to love. You opened my eyes to a world I never dreamed existed.

Dakota . . . you taught me how to care until it hurts, you taught me how to smile again. You taught me that life isn't so serious and sometimes you just have to play. You have a big, beautiful heart. Through life you need to keep it open and follow it. Never be afraid to be yourself. I will always be there in our park when you dream so we can play. I love you, and hope someday you will understand why I didn't come home. Please be proud of me.

Bean, I never got to see you but I know in my heart you are beautiful. I know you will be strong and big-hearted like your mom and brother. I will always have with me the feel of the soft nudges on your mom's belly, and the joy I felt when I found out you were on your way. I love you, Bean.

Melissa, I have never been as blessed as the day I met you. You are my angel, soulmate, wife, lover and best friend. I am sorry. I did not want to have to write this letter. There is so much more I need to say, so much more I need to share. A lifetime's worth. I married you for a million lifetimes. That's how long I will be with you. Please keep my babies safe. Please find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving you alone. . . . Teach our babies to live life to the fullest, tell yourself to do the same.

I will always be there with you, Melissa. I will always want you, need you and love you, in my heart, my mind and my soul. Do me a favor, after you tuck the children in. Give them hugs and kisses from me. Go outside and look at the stars and count them. Don't forget to smile.

Love Always,
Your husband,
Jess

Posted by Blackfive on November 18, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

November 17, 2004

The Ghost Battalion

Our hearts so stout have brought us fame

For soon ‘tis known from whence we came

Where e’er we go they dread the name

of Garryowen and glory.

- the last verse of Garry Owen

Every unit in the US Army has a history worth remembering.  Most continue their traditions.  Many go through phases of effectiveness - reputations made or lost based on personnel (commanders) and other factors.

Then, you have the units which ALWAYS have maintained their reputation.  One such unit is 2-7 Cavalry (of the 1st Cavalry Division).  The 7th Cavalry is know as Garry Owen.

During the Korean War, the 2-7 Cavalry was one of the first units to fight the North Koreans.  Against impossible odds and huge losses, they continued to fight throughout the war.  The North Koreans, who couldn't understand how a unit could continue with so few personnel, dubbed them "The Ghost Battalion" out of respect and fear.

The Ghost Battalion has been busy in Iraq - from the battle for Najaf against Sadr's murdering muj to Fallujah.

Here's the latest about the Ghost Battalion as they worked with the Marines to take Fallujah:

Ghost Battalion Leads Fight in Fallujah

By Spc. Erik LeDrew, 122nd MPAD

FALLUJAH, Iraq— The Ghost Battalion’s mission: pave the way into Fallujah and secure the last insurgent stronghold in Iraq. On the night of Nov. 8, Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division descended in droves and pushed their way into Fallujah securing the city, and spearheading the mission for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

“Our mission was to penetrate the enemy defenses in Fallujah to allow for two Marine [regimental combat teams] to enter the city,” said Maj. Scott Jackson, executive officer, 2-7 Cav.

The famous Ghost Battalion cemented its place in the history of the war in Iraq, and has been central to success in Baghdad and Najaf prior to becoming the main effort in Fallujah. Based on its prior track record, it is apparent the Ghost Battalion was the Marine’s battalion of choice.

“The 1st Marine Division specifically asked for us because of our reputation,” said 1st Sgt. Larry Hudnall, first sergeant for Company C, 2-7 Cav. “And Marines never specifically ask for a unit’s help.”

As the Air Force was busy bombarding the city and weakening the insurgent defenses, 2-7 Cav. started staging their Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicles, Abrams tanks and armored personnel carriers ready to take the fight to the streets.

The Ghost Battalion began their assault on Fallujah just after 7 p.m.

Under the cover of darkness, three companies from 2-7 Cav. breached insurgent defenses by plowing through a railway station on the outskirts of Fallujah’s Joulwan district.

The Soldiers secured the railway station and pushed into the city, continuing their fight while artillery, mortars and air assets continued pounding other parts of the city.

According to Jackson, after the Ghost troopers completed their initial mission by successfully securing a major thoroughfare into Fallujah, the 2-7 Cav. Soldiers continued to push further into the city, conducting operations to destroy the insurgents.

“We’ve been doing screening missions along [a main thoroughfare], patrolling it in order to allow the battalion access to its objectives in the city,” Hudnall, a Killeen, Texas native, said. “We’ve also been doing mounted combat patrols in our sector, or what we call ‘gun runs,’ which allow us to get assessments of enemy positions in our sector.”

In addition to the damage that was done by the battalion’s Bradleys and tanks, the 2-7 infantry troops had to dismount to search and clear buildings and houses, as well as to engage the enemy on foot.

“Our guys are doing a great job in the fight,” Jackson said. “They’ve certainly handed-out more than they were given.”

By Nov. 12, insurgents were surrendering in droves, waving improvised white flags. Elements of the new Iraqi military were escorted into the city to clear all of the houses and buildings and were also tasked to apprehend the countless insurgent detainees.

“It’s a good thing that we’re getting all of these [insurgents] out of here,” said Spc. Michael Haggerty, Comanche Co., 2-7 Cav., and a Cape May, N.J. native. “This is the last insurgent stronghold in Iraq, so the country will be much better off after this city is secured.”

By the end of the first week of the fight, the majority of the city had been overtaken by either 2-7 Cav. or the Marine regiments that entered Fallujah in the Ghost Battalion’s wake.

Hudnall said it is still too early to determine if the overall operation was a complete success.

"This is the last great battle in Iraq," Hudnall said. “I really think our level of success here in Fallujah will be determined in the future, when they hold their own elections.”

Posted by Blackfive on November 17, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Wounded Marines Need Help!

Received this message minutes ago:

Not only is BalboaNaval Hospital receiving our injured heroes but the medical facilities at Camp Pendleton are also at near No Vacancy populations. In the latter case it's not money that is needed for our wounded Marines at Pendleton but stuff.

Here's why and what they need: At the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, some of the spouses of the deployed Marines put together hundreds of recovery baskets in anticipation of wounded Marines arriving at our military hospitals. The purpose behind these baskets was to provide the wounded with personal items to be used during their hospital stay and to help fill up their days while being confined in the hospitals. However, due to the higher than anticipated numbers of wounded, they are all but out of the supplies to outfit these baskets.

They are in need of the following items: nonperishable food (snacks and candy), DVDs, all sizes of batteries, phone cards, Game Boy games, books and magazines, Domino's Pizza gift certificates (they deliver on base), towels and wash cloths, and hygiene gear (razors and shaving cream).

These items can be sent to MSgt William Bonney, Office of the Division Inspector, 1st Marine Division Rein FMF, Bldg 1413 Room 200, Box 555380, Camp Pendleton, CA 92055-5380.

So send what you can.

Thank you!

Posted by Blackfive on November 17, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack

Blackfive's Exit Strategy For Iraq and Afghanistan

US News and World Report has the on-line version of their magazine for next week.  Here is a link to a report of the nefarious objectives of Iran - among which Iranian agents are offering a $500 for every killed American Soldier or Marine. (Thanks to Chris M. for sending it.)

[Source: Original Map - courtesy of my old pals at the CIA World Fact Book.]

Posted by Blackfive on November 17, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack

Godspeed Lance Corporal Larson

Jeff Brokaw sent me this information about the visitation and funeral service for Marine Lance Corporal Nick Larson from Wheaton, Illinois.  Nick was killed in Fallujah.

Visitation for Larson will be 3 to 9æp.m. Wednesday at Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Road (one block east of Naperville Road), Wheaton.

The visitation and services are open to the public.

Funeral services will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home, and continue with a 10 a.m Mass at. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, on Church Street in Winfield.

Interment will be in St.æMichael Cemetery, 1209 S. Warrenville Road in Wheaton.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the troops in Iraq through www.marinemoms.us.

Jeff has more about Nick Larson here.

Posted by Blackfive on November 17, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Mosque Shooting - Part 2

In reference to alleviate any confusion about the incident, Banagor spells it out clearly.  You might need the graphic that he provides to explain the situation to certain people.

Posted by Blackfive on November 17, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack

November 16, 2004

More Chicago Boys in Iraq

This is a follow up to this post - Chicago Boys in Iraq - that featured the good reporting of Sun Times reporter Annie Sweeney and photographer John Sall.

Now, one of the Chicagoans in Iraq sent me the link to a photo site for their work in Iraq - Desert Photo Sergeant.

It's really cool, with great music to go along with the viewing experience.  Check it out.  There are many good photos - but this one may be my favorite - Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley, has a long reach.

Or this one of Chicagoan  Vince Vaughn in Iraq.

Posted by Blackfive on November 16, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The Last Battle of Vietnam by Russ Vaughn

The Last Battle of Vietnam

It never occurred to me, ever before,
That our Navy would win the Vietnam War.
When they took to their boats in this year of elections,
With the mission of making some major corrections
I shared their belief, John should not be elected,
And their view overdue, truth should be resurrected.
Yet I questioned the course they'd set themselves for,
Knowing how John was loved by the media whore.

Ignored and dismissed by the media queens
Being shrewd, savvy sailors they still found the means
To reach out to the people, to open their eyes
To a phony John Kerry and his war story lies.
With their very first ad, they torpedoed his boat,
A Cambodian Christmas would no longer float.
His heroics unraveled, his stories fell flat,
Especially that one 'bout his magical hat.

John called on his lawyers and media whores,
And threatened the Swiftees with vile legal wars.
But these warriors kept charging back into the fire,
And made the folks wonder, ''Is Kerry a liar?''
Till the question of whether he's telling the truth
Was still in their minds in the election day booth.
So the brave Swiftees gave us what we'd not had before,
They gave us our victory in the Vietnam War.

Those brave, stalwart sailors, falsely labeled as liars,
Stood firm and stood tall, kept directing their fires,
Steadfast, unrelenting, they served once again,
And defeated John Kerry, these honorable men.
All vets can take pride, yes all, not just some,
That we won the last battle of Vietnam.
It took far too long to bring an end to our war
But we did, November Second, Two Thousand Four.

To our Brothers, forever on that long black Wall,
You've been vindicated now, one and all.

Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66

Posted by Blackfive on November 16, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Mosque Shooting

At least, that's the headline most editors decided to go with today.  By now you probably have heard about the Marine that shot an (apparently) unarmed terrorist in a Mosque.

I've received a few emails from some folks who want me to explain why a Marine would do such a thing.  These are from left-wingers, against the war, who don't like my pro-military blog.  Tough.

Okay, whackos, here's my response.

First, Kevin Sites, the embed reporter from NBC (who's video footage of the shooting has been broadcast around the world) is an blatant opportunist who had a responsibility to turn over the video footage to Marine Authorities, but, instead chose to broadcast it, give the entire tape to Al Jazeera, etc.  It should not have been used for publicity, for television ratings, etc.  Sites should have turned it over with the expectation that he would get it back.  The video was broadcast (in full) on Al Jazeera - including the identities of the Marines. 

So now, you have the world aghast at this shooting (especially, the Arab world - although in undeserved moral outrage), you have Marines identified before trial, and you have a reporter continuing to follow a story.  Kevin Sites continues to report and continues to be embedded with the same Marines.

Why?

If I were one of those Marines, I wouldn't want that guy around.  Actually, if I were his producer, I'd get him out of there for his own safety.

Now, here's what I believe:

That Marine who shot the wounded terrorist had been in combat for eight days.  He's tired, hungry, frustrated, angry, and, had been wounded the day before.

That Marine who shot the wounded terrorist had lost his best friend to a booby-trapped (wounded or dead - it's not clear, yet) terrorist.

That Marine who shot the wounded terrorist decided to shoot that one and not the others (who didn't make any moves).

The Marines had cared for the wounded terrorists the day before when they took that Mosque the first time.  The next day, those terrorists opened fire on Marines from the same Mosque. 

Here is what should happen:

This case should be investigated fully, along with the other charges by Kevin Sites that three other "prisoners" were killed. 

This case should be followed by the media. 

What happened is a nasty, dirty part of war.  For anyone to suggest that these kind of incidents haven't been done by US forces in every war is sadly mistaken.  We follow the Geneva Convention.  So we will always investigate charges of violations of the Convention.  We should.  And those guilty of violations should be punished.

Every war that we have fought in the last 60 years has been against a foe that does not subscribe to the Geneva Convention.  There is no doubt that a Marine's treatment at the hands of the terrorists would be worse.  Much worse.  This makes it difficult to follow the Convention because of the tactics used by the enemy.  Tactics like faking wounds to draw US forces closer in order to kill them.

I am not suggesting that we brush these incidents aside as "this is what happens in combat".  But I think that, in the end, you will have a Marine that was justified in using deadly force.

Update:  You can go to MSNBC to the Today Show's footage.  The introduction by Matt Lauer is one sided (guess which?).  The report given by Jim Miklaszewski is balanced.  There is a Marine statement about the investigation, followed by an explanation and camera appearance by Kevin Sites.

Update 2:  After checking out more of Kevin Sites' work, I may have been a bit harsh on him.  A lot of people may agree with that statement. And if you watch the video that I linked above, you can see that Sites gives, at least, an indication that things were confusing.  Fog of War, et. al.

However, this is a big story and I believe that he should have not turned over the tape (no matter what legal rights he obtained and followed) to the media.  It's a huge scoop, a coup for him, and I think that came before the Marines fighting in Fallujah.

I can understand why some of you give Sites credit for reporting the story.  And you should understand that I think that he did not act with any kind of implied journalistic moral authority (which some claim exists) to broadcast it. 

I think it was a self-serving act to not to give the tape to the Marines first to investigate the shooting.  I understand that Sites is not obligated to the military.  That's what makes his act fair in some of your minds.  He had a choice to make.

Sites chose headlines over our Marines. 

Update 3:  MilBlogger American Soldier writes about his recent urban combat experience in Iraq.  Must Read.

Posted by Blackfive on November 16, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (54) | TrackBack

November 15, 2004

Marine Messages In Fallujah

First, at Sondra K.'s Knowledge Is Power blog, you can see some actual grafitti left by Marines on the bridge in Fallujah where four Blackwater contractors were murdered.  The grafitti message contains some rough language...so if you are of a more gentle persuasion, forgive those who wrote it - Rough Men et. al.

Next, I have a report from Seamus and Colonel Don Myers that the Marine Hymn is being played in order to have the terrorists come out of hiding in Fallujah.  Apparently, something about it causes them to come out of their holes to die.  This is from a radio report about the Marines:

'I must tell you that just when the Marines have cleared an area...,  a short time later there may be a fierce fire fight with insurgents that were in hiding.  But an interesting report from a Marine Colonel..., just a few days ago the Marines celebrated another birthday and the Colonel played the Marine Corps Hymn on a loud speaker.  This prompted a fierce gun battle from hiding insurgents.  The Colonel was very pleased that those insurgents were promptly dispatched..., and the Colonel plans on playing the Marine Corps Hymn everyday... and frequently...!'

As for the Main Stream Media, I've also seen a lot of headlines focusing on the killed count for us - highlighting the cost, rather than the benefit of the assault on Fallujah.  The USA Today paper had a headline that was something like "36 dead this week".   I also noticed several AP reports that claimed that we were successful because we learned from our "failed" assault last April.  While I'm sure we did learn from that experience (the military always conducts After Action Reviews in order to draw new lessons learned), the failure was the Civilian Authority's in nature.  The Iraqi and US governments were concerned about civilians getting caught in the crossfire.  Or at least, the APPEARANCE of civilian deaths...

It is true that we have lost Soldiers and Marines in this fight for Fallujah.  Of course, it's difficult to find praise (except on Fox, CSM, and a few other places) for the immense success in terms of (1) enormous amount of ground taken in the harshest environment that benefits the terrorists, (2) the thousands of terrorists that were killed as a result, (3) the thousands of rounds of ammunition, artillery shells, grenades, and IED devices that have been confiscated and (4) the denial of terrorists to use their "torture and execution houses" and claim a base of operations.  There is something to be said for denying their ability to use a geographical reference for their cause.

Posted by Blackfive on November 15, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack

Home Depot...

...hired 10,000 veterans last year.  Read about their efforts to support veterans (and their spouses), plus the other Top 25 Most Military Friendly Companies, at Phil Carter's Intel Dump.

Posted by Blackfive on November 15, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Arkansas Guardsmen Making A Difference

Rachelle J. sends this article about an Arkansas Guard unit on patrol in Iraq.  It's a great story and I am going to post the whole article in case it disappears into the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's archives.

In 13-hour mission, 39 th unit takes gunfire, seizes weapons

BY AMY SCHLESING ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

    RASHIDYAH, Iraq — The humvee was a chaos of noise — popping gravel under the tires, a rumbling gun turret and the voices coming over three different radios competing to be heard.

    One of those radio voices overpowered the rest — it was reciting Psalm 23: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."

    As the passage ended, a string of voices came over the airwaves to say "Amen."

    Sgt. 1 st Class Curtis Rohrscheib of West Helena picked up the microphone in his truck and said "Amen" as his humvee rounded a bend to exit Camp Taji. He and his platoon with E Troop in the 151 st Cavalry of Arkansas’ 39 th Infantry Brigade were heading to an area where they knew trouble lurked.     It has found trouble there before.

    It was the beginning of Operation Unforgiven, a massive search of Rashidyah, in the volatile Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad, where E Troop has been ambushed and attacked with roadside bombs more than eight times since arriving in Iraq in April.

    "All right. Keep your head down and your eyes open," Rohrscheib said to Sgt. John Woods of Beebe, the gunner in the humvee turret.

    The line of humvees left Camp Taji and headed east, then north in the cool, dark hours of early Tuesday. As they headed to Patrol Base Thunder, district headquarters for the Iraqi national guard, the radio warned that insurgents were fleeing Fallujah toward Baghdad and were blocking an expressway into the city. A day earlier an expressway north of the city had been blocked with palm-tree trunks and burning tires.

    The battle in Fallujah and the final week of the Muslim holy month Ramadan combined this week, some believe, to increase insurgent activity in the 39 th’s area.

    Roadside bombings, car bombs, ambushes and mortar attacks have increased dramatically in the past two days.

    "It’s a good thing that our soldiers have gained experience in dealing with a wide variety of attacks because in recent days they’ve been able to show their expertise," Lt. Col. John Edwards, staff judge advocate with the 39 th Brigade, said Thursday. "This has been one of the busiest times I have seen since I’ve been here."     That proved to be true again Thursday when the Brigade’s 3 rd Battalion rolled into Rashidyah the day after Sunni clerics preached for a holy war against U.S. forces. The area has been a known bed of insurgents, with fighters periodically attacking E Troop and using schools to hide weapons.

    One week ago an elementary school boy lost his arm to a land mine he found at a school. The mine had been rigged for use as a roadside bomb and had a blinking red light. The boy threw rocks at it trying to knock out the light, and it exploded.

    "We’ve got differing stories about it," said Capt. Derald Neugebauer of Conway, E Troop commander. "That’s because they don’t want us to know they’re storing weapons in the schools."

    The plan Thursday was to sweep through Rashidyah, searching homes, schools and palm-tree groves for weapons. In the hunt, they found weapons, ammunition and explosives.

    They also found a fight.

    As the battalion organized at Patrol Base Thunder and integrated Iraqi national guard soldiers into the plan, one of the Iraqi soldiers told battalion officials "there are terrorists in the road with rocket-propelled grenades. Every day they’ve waited for you to return."

    With the sun, a morning mist rose from the fields as the soldiers rolled out of Patrol Base Thunder.

    Alpha and Bravo companies swept through town as E Troop trudged through the palm-tree groves.

    While members of E Troop walked, Lt. David Dixon of North Carolina, the 1 st Cavalry officer who heads the troop’s 3 rd Platoon, said, "You’d have to be pretty ballsy to hide a cache in this palm grove because you wouldn’t be hiding it. It would be out in the open."

    They walked across canals, through orchards of trees growing lemons, pomegranates and oranges, and found little. A farmer pointed them to a couple of old artillery rounds believed to have been left at a former training site for the Iraqi army, but the soldiers found nothing else.

    The soldiers began gathering on the road near a former ambush site and preparing to head back to Camp Taji. Soldiers joked and laughed with the Iraqi national guardsmen, sharing a relaxed moment.

    Nearby, soldiers questioned a suspect who had tried to scale a wall to get away while his house was searched. He was deemed to be mentally ill and was freed.

    Suddenly, a rocket-propelled grenade whistled by and sent soldiers running to humvees for cover. Iraqi national guardsmen hid in a nearby ditch.

    Gunfire came from the line of trees, and soldiers returned fire with rifles and humveemounted machine guns.

    "Get that 240 up and lay fire on that tree line," Sgt. Nathan Baker of Charlie Company yelled at his new gunner, whose 240B machine gun had jammed.

    Around the corner, where another part of Charlie Company had a roadblock, three 82 mm mortar rounds fell around the U.S. soldiers.

    As the battle died down, an Iraqi interpreter jumped from a humvee and opened fire at the trees with his AK-47 rifle.

   

"We spent too much time there for nothing, for nothing but a crazy man," the interpreter said of the time spent questioning the mentally ill man.

    When the shooting ended, Alpha and Bravo companies searched the palm-tree grove for insurgents while Charlie Company and E Troop held their positions.

    As they waited, Spc. Jay Malone of Madison tossed shell casings from the hood of his humvee. One had fused to a windshield wiper, where the hot brass of the round melted the rubber like glue. Soldiers had shot back with a vengeance, firing more than 1,000 rounds from 240B machine guns, about 900 rounds from M16 and M4 rifles, and 100 rounds each from the .50-caliber machine gun and the M-249 machine gun.

    Two Iraqi men who had jumped into the canal separating the road from the palm-tree grove when the shooting started were fished out, questioned and tested for explosives residue. One man was determined to be the shooter of the rocket-propelled grenade that started the fight.

    The battalion soldiers searched homes in the heart of town in hopes of finding the men who attacked them.

    As the humvees moved along the road, word came over the radio that Camp Taji was taking mortar fire. Explosions could be heard in the distance.

    The soldiers flooded the town, searching every house. Others searched people going in and out of the town.

    "There’s a lot of [Iraqi national guardsmen] here, much more than the three platoons we started with," said Lt. Marcel Robicheaux of Hot Springs, platoon leader for Charlie Company’s 2 nd Platoon.

    "They’re buzzing like bees through the houses."

    On the road, Staff Sgt. Wallace Rand and Spc. Robert Hoyt, both of Connecticut, found a blasting cap attached to a spool of wire tucked under the dashboard of a station wagon trying to enter town.

    "Look, a [roadside bomb] maker, Mac," Rand said to his gunner, holding up the cap and wire.

    It had been hidden above the gas and brake pedals in the vehicle.

    "It was hidden where nobody was supposed to find it," Rand said. "That’s what does the job, that’s what sets off a [roadside bomb]."

    "I swear on Allah," the man said. "I don’t know how it got in my car."

    He later confessed to buying the cap and wire.

    The seizure was just the beginning of what the battalion found in the village.

    More than 13 hours after it began, Operation Unforgiven ended with six detainees who were found either in possession of weapons caches or were suspected of being involved in the firefight. Also found was a grocery list of weapons.

    "Most of it came from the little town," said Capt. Shawn Gavan, battalion intelligence officer.

    In all, soldiers confiscated 19 AK-47 rifles, 14 82 mm mortars, 25 grenade fuses, 15 mortar fuses, five grenades, various other rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

    Back at Patrol Base Thunder, soldiers crowded around the piles of weapons, taking pictures.     "See what we did?" said Lt. Kevin Irvin, platoon leader for 3 rd Platoon, Bravo Company.

    Neugebauer looked at the weapons and ammunition and said he felt that the mission was a success.

    "Anything’s better than nothing."

Rachelle also sends a note that the author has a blog of her experiences with the 39th in Iraq. Check it out.  She has posts going back 8 months with lots of good stories and photos.

Posted by Blackfive on November 15, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

November 14, 2004

Help A Family Reunite

Bill Faith of Small Town Veteran (and guest blogger at The Mudville Gazette) needs some help finding the family of an Army Sergeant who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam (1965 - Ia Drang Valley):  Is Sgt Jack Gell's Family Looking For You?

Here's a part from Bill's post:

...when SGT Gell left for Viet Nam he left a number of younger brothers and sisters in foster homes. I understand he promised his mother that when he returned he'd bring them all together. As a result of his death, some of his brothers and sisters lost contact with each other.

As a result of a post that Bill made, some of the family has been reunited.  There's a lot more to the story.  So go check out Bill's post and the rest of his Sgt Gell index to see if you can help.

Posted by Blackfive on November 14, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

A Blog Worth Your Time

2Slick, an Army Helicopter Pilot in Kuwait, writes about the Enemy Within...it's worth your time.  It's a blogspot blog so permalinks don't work so scroll to November 13 for that post.

*I wonder what Licorice thinks about it?*

Thanks to Rachelle for the link.

Posted by Blackfive on November 14, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

November 13, 2004

The Case For A British Soldier - Murder or Self-Defense?

John P. sends this article from the Spectator (UK).  It's subscription only so I'll post the whole story.

It's about a British Soldier - Trooper Kevin Williams - who is facing a trial for what seems to be an act of self-defence in Iraq.

The silence of the generals             

Bruce Anderson on the scandalous case of Trooper Williams, who has been charged with murder in Iraq

13 November, 2004

It sometimes seems as if we no longer know how to think about our soldiers, or how to treat them. Last week, three men of the Black Watch fell in battle in Iraq.

A sad event certainly, but it was hardly a reason for national mourning. Yet much of the media became hysterical. Some of the men’s relatives, who could hardly be expected to reason clearly in such circumstances, were interviewed as if their grief had turned them into experts on military deployment and the Middle East. At the same time, a brave soldier was being gravely maltreated, and no one seemed to notice.

Last week, Trooper Kevin Williams of the Royal Tank Regiment stood in the dock at the Old Bailey, accused of murder. On 2 August last year, Trooper Williams was helping to man a checkpoint near Basra. It was a dangerous moment. For some days, there had been a number of ‘contacts’, the Army’s euphemism for exchanges of gunfire. The previous night, the local police station had come under fire.

According to Trooper Williams, he and a comrade stopped a man pushing a handcart, with the intention of searching it. The man ran off. They chased him; in most other armies, he would have been pursued not by soldiers, but by bullets. The British soldiers fired a warning shot. The man ignored it and ran into a house. The soldiers followed, even though he could have been leading them to an ambush. They caught up with him in the house’s courtyard. He tried to grab Trooper Williams’s comrade’s rifle. Trooper Williams shot him.

No one in the British Army is suggesting that soldiers should be allowed to fire their weapons recklessly. Trooper Williams’s actions were thoroughly investigated by two commanding officers, who took advice from the Army’s legal services. Although parts of Trooper Williams’s account were disputed by the dead man’s family, the commanding officers decided that the trooper had no case to answer. It seems to me that this is the only possible judgment.

But the COs’ verdict was not allowed to stand. The Crown Prosecution Service has intervened, to charge the trooper with murder. By all accounts, he is a good soldier. His treatment is a disgrace. What is even more disgraceful is the failure of any senior serving officer to agitate on his behalf.

Compare and contrast the case of Harry Stanley, the man who was shot dead while carrying a table leg. That case ought to arouse disquiet. The streets of London are not a war zone. Local police stations do not come under fire. Men should not be shot for carrying table legs. Unlike Trooper Williams, the police officers involved in the shooting of Mr Stanley were not in life-threatening peril.

Without in any way seeking to victimise the police officers concerned, anyone who cares about law and order in London should want a full investigation and a tightening of procedure. Yet when it was proposed to re-open the inquest on Mr Stanley, a large number of officers licensed to carry firearms virtually threatened to go on strike. Their action was tacitly defended by the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair. The Home Secretary has also weighed in on the policemen’s behalf. The men of the British Army will have noted all this.

Today, Tommy Atkins is a thinking soldier and a reading one, especially on subject matters that touch his own safety. He is prepared to take risks; he is aware that when he joined the colours, he signed up to unlimited liability. But he does expect fair treatment from those in authority over him. No one could claim that Trooper Kevin Williams is receiving fair treatment.

Young officers are still taught that their priority must be kit, men and only then self. When coming off exercise, they must first satisfy themselves that all the men’s kit is in perfect condition, so that it could be re-used at a moment’s notice, as it might have to be in a real battle. The officers must then ensure that the men are in good condition; fed and watered, with any blisters or minor ailments attended to. However exhausted the officer may be, it is only then that he can relax.

That is as it should be. But it will be of no avail if very senior officers’ priorities are seen to be promotion, political correctness and pensions. Some of the old and bold are rallying round Trooper Williams. General Sir Antony Walker, a former colonel commandant of the Tank Regiment, is leading a vigorous campaign on his behalf. When Trooper Williams once asked him dolefully what prison would be like, Tony Walker’s reply was: ‘Don’t even think about going to prison. If you did, I would be in the next cell.’

But where are the generals who are still in post? There are persistent rumours that gagging mechanisms are being employed throughout the MoD, with serving officers forbidden to say anything which might contradict Geoff Hoon’s line. As no one can ever decide what Geoff Hoon’s line is, that edict creates difficulties. Until recently, the head of the Army’s public relations was always a rising brigadier; over the years, the post has been held by many distinguished soldiers. Recently, it has been downgraded, in a deliberate attempt by politicians to prevent the Army from making its case to the press. But why have the current generals acquiesced in all this? No one I have spoken to believes that Bramall, Bagnall, Inge or Guthrie would have allowed themselves to be gagged.

No army can function without loyalty. The British Army teaches its officers that they should never take loyalty for granted. It always has to be earned and re-earned. It will only be there if the men trust their officers, so that even if they do not understand the reason for a particular order, they take it for granted that the officer does. They also take it for granted that within the exigencies of military duty, their officers will be 100 per cent committed to their welfare. All this helps to explain why we have the best army in the world.

That will not change overnight because of Trooper Kevin Williams. But a case like that gnaws away at the bond of loyalty. It sows mistrust among our soldiers. It may even make it harder for them to do their duty. No one wants irresponsibility on the battlefield, but nor do we want soldiers who are afraid that if they protect their comrades they might end up on a murder charge.

The death of three soldiers in the Black Watch was not a national tragedy. The case of Kevin Williams is a national scandal.

Posted by Blackfive on November 13, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack

Two Ways to Help The Wounded

I have gotten quite a few emails about this subject in the last week (Thanks to Laurie-Anne for the SFIMF link).

While wounded Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen are cared for, their rehabilitation causes hardships for them and their families.  The Army and Navy/Marines have Relief Agencies to help with some of these challenges.  Hardships come in many forms - financial, physical, and emotional.  One way to assist in the recovery of these heroes is to ensure that they have family members close by to tend to them.  Imagine having a son at Walter Reed for a year.  Imagine what it would take to care for him and your family - travel, stay, eat, and still take care of your family, house, debts, job, etc.

Here are two projects (of many out there) to help our wounded from the War on Terror - one project for the Marines and one for the Army.  You should consider helping each of them.  Another suggestion is to put them on a calendar and donate to each of them at different times throughout the year (and they are both non-profits and donations are tax deductible).  The War on Terror will continue.  Our brave men and women will fight on.  And they will need our help.

For the Marines - Semper Fi Injured Marine Fund was started by Karen & Rene. Former commandant Gen Al Gray and LtGen Newbold (USMC ret) are now on the Board of Directors.  A very low key, no red tape, 100% volunteer group.  Check out the link.  There's already a few stories of those who have been helped.

For the Army - The Wounded Warrior Project (affiliated with Soldiers' Angels)- The Project seeks to assist those men and women of our armed forces who have been severely injured during the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot spots around the world. Many of the injuries are traumatic amputations, gunshot wounds, burns and blast injuries that will retire these brave warriors from military service.

Note: You may wonder why there are two organizations - one for each service.  The Wounded Warrior Project doesn't really make an affiliation with the Army but with all military.  Typically, Soldiers go to Army hospitals and Marines are sent to Navy hospitals.  Of course, sometimes, Marines are sent to Army hospitals (and Soldiers to Navy facilities) for special treatment or depending on location.

Posted by Blackfive on November 13, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

November 12, 2004

MilBlogs Anniversary

Actually, yesterday, appropriately enough, was anniversary of the start of MilBlogs. After receiving an email from Greyhawk, I signed on immediately. I was probably the third or fourth member. Things have really happened for this blog since that day. You can click here for a list of links with descriptions to over 100 MilBlogs.

Posted by Blackfive on November 12, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

November 11, 2004

Veterans Day - Part 6 - Picture of the Week

Veterans Day Ceremony in Iraq

Photo taken by Spc. Joe Alger

Soldiers from different battalions of the 1st Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, stand in formation during a Veterans Day ceremony at Forward Operating Base Dagger, Tikrit, Iraq on Thursday.

Posted by Blackfive on November 11, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Veterans Day - Part 5 - Those Left Behind

As many of you who visit here know, I've had to say goodbye to a lot of friends heading to Iraq and Afghanistan.  The link below could have been written by my wife. 

Instead, Venomous Kate says Godspeed to a friend. 

Go read it.  Read it, now.

(Thanks, John, for the link)

Update 1:  Here's another from GX magazine (one of my sponsors) written by Trudy Marshall-Bowler - a Army National Guardsman's wife.

“The easiest thing in the world is knowing what is right; the hard part is doing what is right.”

Here's the link to the entire article that is well worth your time today.

Posted by Blackfive on November 11, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Veterans Day - Part 4

Below is a link to Val's Babalu Blog.  Val writes about an unsung, fallen hero that will hopefully get his day in court:

...On April 19th, 1961 an American pilot disregarded the dire reports from the field, boarded his B-26 bomber on an air base in Nicaragua and drew course for a little unpopulated stretch of beach known as the Bay of Pigs. The eyewitness reports from the incoming pilots, among them Cuban members of the assault Brigade 2506 who had been trained by this pilot, did not deter him. There were no fighter planes to escort the B-26 bombers whose tailguns had been removed so that extra fuel tanks could be added for the long trip.

<...>

Still, this pilot, this American Airman knew that he had to do what he felt was right. And he did. He took on what was essentially a suicide mission and proceeded to bomb the communist troops and weapons installations...

So, check out Val's Post - Justice for A Brave American Veteran -  and be sure to read the links about the Mission and Wings of Valor at the end of his post.

Posted by Blackfive on November 11, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 10, 2004

Liberal Veterans Day

...well, sort of...Armed Liberal (at Winds of Change) has a great post about his journey from anti to pro military and how one can be progressive and supportive.

Posted by Blackfive on November 10, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Happy Birthday, Marines!

I want to extend (from this Doggie) a cheerful and thankful "Congratulations!" upon the 229th anniversary of the birth of the United States Marine Corps. Here's the message sent by the Commanding General (and the his wife, Bonnie) of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. [Note the wartime context]

MSGID/GENADMIN/CG II MEF/NOV04//

SUBJ//CG II MEF MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY MESSAGE//RMKS/1.
MARINES AND SAILORS OF II MEF, THE 229TH BIRTHDAY OF OUR BELOVED CORPS IS UPON US. OUR HERITAGE IS WARFIGHTING; WE SHALL NOT BACK AWAY FROM THAT! OVER THE PAST 229 YEARS WE'VE EARNED OUR NATION'S RESPECT AS WE HAVE PAID THE FULL PRICE OF FREEDOM WITH THE CURRENCY OF OUR CORPS' VERY BEST. THAT SACRIFICE CONTINUES THIS DAY. AS YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR CEREMONIES, I ASK YOU TO REMEMBER OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE FORWARD DEPLOYED. THEY WILL BE CELEBRATING IN A DIFFERENT MANNER ALTOGETHER. IN THE TIME IT TAKES YOU TO READ THESE WORDS, MANY OF OUR FELLOW MARINES WILL HAVE BEEN ENGAGED IN HIGH INTENSITY COMBAT...SOME MAY WELL HAVE FALLEN. THINK ON THIS AS YOU CELEBRATE THIS YEAR...REMEMBER THEM AND TOAST THEM. TO MY MARINES AND SAILORS ON THE FRONT LINES...KNOW THAT YOU ARE OUR NATION'S TRUE HEROS. YOU ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF OUR COUNTRY AND SERVE AS ITS FINAL BASTION OF DEFENSE. WERE YOU NOT TO DEFEND HER, THEN WHO WOULD? THESE ARE TOUGH TIMES, BUT YOU ARE REMARKABLE AND MORE THAN A MATCH TO THE CHALLENGE. I PRAY THAT YOUR NOVEMBER 10TH IS MEMORABLE WHEREVER YOU ARE, AND I THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT SACRIFICE AND FIDELITY. GOD BLESS YOU AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEVIL DOGS.
LTGEN JIM AMOS, CG II MEF SENDS.

Damn straight, General. Happy Birthday, Marines!

Go get 'em, Devil Dogs!!!

Update:  Jay B. sends this NYPost article about a Marine Corps Mom.  It's a must read.

Update 2:  Curt M sends this little item.

News anchor Dan Rather, The Reverend Jesse Jackson, NPR reporter Cokie Roberts, and an American Marine were hiking through the jungle one day when they were captured by cannibals.

They were tied up, led to the village and brought before the chief. The chief said, "I am familiar with your Western custom of granting the condemned a last wish. Before we kill and eat you, do you have any last requests?"

Dan Rather said, "Well, I'm a Texan; so I'd like one last bowlful of hot, spicy chili." The chief nodded to an underling, who left and returned with the chili. Rather ate it all and said, "Now I can die content."

Jesse Jackson said, "You know, the thing in this life I am proudest of is my work on behalf of the poor and oppressed. So before I go, I want to sing "We Shall Overcome" one last time." The chief said, "Go right ahead, we're listening." Jackson sang the song, and then said, "Now I can die in peace."

Cokie Roberts said, "I'm a reporter to the end. I want to take out my tape recorder and describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe someday someone will hear it and know that I was on the job til the end." The chief directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder, and Roberts dictated some comments. She then said, "Now I can die happy."

The chief turned and said, "And now, Mr. Marine, what is your final wish?"

"Kick me in the ass," said the Marine.

"What?" said the chief. "Will you mock us in your last hour?"

"No, I'm not kidding. I want you to kick me in the ass," insisted the
Marine.

So the chief shoved him into the open, and kicked him in the ass. The Marine went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9mm pistol from his waistband, and shot the chief dead. In the resulting confusion, he leapt to his knapsack, pulled out his M4 carbine, and sprayed the cannibals with gunfire. In a flash, the cannibals were dead or fleeing for their lives.

As the Marine was untying the others, they asked him, "Why didn't you just shoot them? Why did you ask them to kick you in the ass?"

"What!?" said the Marine, "And have you jerks call ME the aggressor?!"

Posted by Blackfive on November 10, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack

November 09, 2004

Showdown Part 10 - Soldiers And Marines Take The Fight To The Terrorists

"Dude, give me the sniper rifle. I can take them out - I'm from Alabama." -  Sergeant Anyett to Captain Kirk Mayfield

Fallujah is getting pinched.  The river to the west is blocked and the Army and Marines are moving in, pushing the terrorists into the center of the city.  Time is on our side.  So is the "will to win".  BTW, how did you folks in 'bama like that quote?  Well, there's many more gems in the article below.

Tanker Schreiber sends this article (he always finds the great ones) that captures the military flavor of what's happening in Fallujah. Some call it payback or revenge, others think that it's an important job to do.

I got my kills...I just love my job

Toby Harnden in Fallujah observes American soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division taskforce avenging their fallen comrades as battle begins

After seven months in Iraq's Sunni triangle, for many American soldiers the opportunity to avenge dead friends by taking a life was a moment of sheer exhilaration.

As they approached their "holding position", from where hours later they would advance into the city, they picked off insurgents on the rooftops and in windows.

"I got myself a real juicy target," shouted Sgt James Anyett, peering through the thermal sight of a Long Range Acquisition System (LRAS) mounted on one of Phantom's Humvees.

"Prepare to copy that 89089226. Direction 202 degrees. Range 950 metres. I got five motherf****** in a building with weapons."

Capt Kirk Mayfield, commander of the Phantoms, called for fire from his task force's mortar team. But Sgt Anyett didn't want to wait. "Dude, give me the sniper rifle. I can take them out - I'm from Alabama."

Two minutes tick by. "They're moving deep," shouted Sgt Anyett with disappointment. A dozen loud booms rattle the sky and smoke rose as mortars rained down on the co-ordinates the sergeant had given.

"Yeah," he yelled. "Battle Damage Assessment - nothing. Building's gone. I got my kills, I'm coming down. I just love my job."

Phantom Troop had rolled out of Camp Fallujah, the main US military base, shortly before 4am. All morning they took fire from the Al-Askari district in Fallujah's north-east, their target for the invasion proper.

The insurgents, not understanding the capabilities of the LRAS, crept along rooftops and poked their heads out of windows. Even when they were more than a mile away, the soldiers of Phantom Troop had their eyes on them.

Lt Jack Farley, a US Marines officer, sauntered over to compare notes with the Phantoms. "You guys get to do all the fun stuff," he said. "It's like a video game. We've taken small arms fire here all day. It just sounds like popcorn going off."

Another marine stepped forward and began to fire an M4 rifle at the city. "He's a reservist for the San Diego police. He wants a piece of the action, too".

A Phantom Abrams tank moved up the road running along the high ground. Its barrel, stencilled with the words "Ali Baba under 3 Thieves" swivelled towards the city and then fired a 120mm round at a house where two men with AK-47s had been pinpointed. "Ain't nobody moving now," shouted a soldier as the dust cleared. "He rocked that guy's world."

One of Phantom's sniper teams laid down fire into the city with a Barrett .50 calibre rifle and a Remington 700. A suspected truck bomb was riddled with bullets, the crack of the Barrett echoing through the mainly deserted section of the city. The insurgents fired 60mm mortars back, one of them wounding a soldier.

There were 25mm rounds from Phantom's Bradley fighting vehicles, barrages from Paladin howitzers back at Camp Fallujah and bursts of fire from .50 calibre machineguns. One by one, the howitzers used by the insurgents were destroyed.

"Everybody's curious," grinned Sgt Anyett as he waited for a sniper with a Russian-made Dragonov to show his face one last, fatal time. A bullet zinged by.

Dusk fell and 7pm, "A hour", the appointed hour to move into the city, approached. The soldiers of Phantom all reflected.

"Given the choice, I would never have wanted to fire a gun," said Cpl Chris Merrell, 21, manning a machinegun mounted on a Humvee. "But it didn't work out that way. I'd like a thousand boring missions rather than one interesting one."

On his wrist was a black bracelet bearing the name of a sergeant from Phantom Troop. "This is a buddy of mine that died," he said. "Pretty much everyone in the unit has one."

One fear playing on the mind of the task force was that of "friendly fire", also known as "blue on blue".

"Any urban fight is confusing," Lt Col Newell, the force's commander, told his troops before the battle. "The biggest threat out there is not them, but us."

His officers said that the plan to invade Fallujah involved months of detailed planning and elaborate "feints" designed to draw the insurgents out into the open and fool them into thinking the offensive would come from another side of the city.

"They're probably thinking that we'll come in from the east," said Capt Natalie Friel, an intelligence officer with task force, before the battle. But the actual plan involves penetrating the city from the north and sweeping south.

"I don't think they know what's coming. They have no idea of the magnitude," she said. "But their defences are pretty circular. They're prepared for any kind of direction. They've got strong points on all four corners of the city."

The aim was to push the insurgents south, killing as many as possible, before swinging west. They would then be driven into the Euphrates.

Showdown (Battle for Fallujah) Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Nine

Posted by Blackfive on November 09, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack

What Are the Marines Singing In Fallujah?

This is from actual Army b-roll archives. 

On October 21st, there were two Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary  Force, just inside Fallujah, singing...well...just hit the link and watch/listen (or you can "right click" -> "save as" to download.  It's 7.75 MB).

I don't think that I've heard a more beautiful sound.  If this isn't worksafe for you, then you must work in France.

The Marines are Corporal Mark Sixbey (from Metlakatla, AK) and Sergeant Robert Jones Jr. (from Oceanside, CA).

Posted by Blackfive on November 09, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (28) | TrackBack

University Recognizes Employee's Military Service

This is cool.  A university - normally the bastion of anti-military sentiments - actually recognized the service of one it's employees who is also a Texas National Guardsman.  Bob J. emailed this nice article about the University of Texas-Pan American supporting one of their own, and he points out  that, while most of the faculty and staff are Democrats, they still understand that we are at war.  They get it.

UTPA Employee Honored For Military Service

More than 100 people gathered Sept. 9 to honor Jesus Galvan, an employee at The University of Texas-Pan American for his current military service in Iraq.

UT Pan American President Dr. Blandina Cárdenas attended Galvan’s celebration at the UTPA Visitors Center and led the crowd in singing “Las Mañanitas” for his birthday.

“There are times in the life of a community that are really special that touch, not just our minds, but touch our hearts,” Cárdenas said. “This is one of those occasions.”

He asked the crowd to think about those who have passed away, particularly his friend U.S. Army National Guardsman Spc. Tomas Garces, a Weslaco native who was recently killed in Iraq.

“I consider myself lucky,” Galvan said. “While I’m here my unit is being attacked.”

Galvan, a member of the National Guard 1836 Transportation Company out of Weslaco, was deployed in December 2003 to Iraq to transport equipment throughout the combat zone.

Director of Human Resources Frank Wagner attended the ceremony representing Vice President for Business Affairs James Langabeer who could not attend. “People like Jesse are essential to the nation,” said Wagner, a retired army officer. “I have not met any soldier who has come back from deployment, who does not stand taller and who is not proud of what they’ve done.”

Galvan received UTPA T-shirts, key chains, a $225 cashiers check, hats and gift baskets from various University departments. His co-workers and supervisor from custodial services also gave him a birthday present. One co-worker presented Galvan with letters students in her Continuing Christian Development (CCD) classes wrote for him to take back to the soldiers.

Lt. Col. Melvin Fechner, a military science professor at UTPA, presented Galvan and his wife with a commander’s coin as a token of appreciation.

“This University is pulling its weight to help the country fight for freedom and doing something that it is known for, which is providing opportunities,” Fechner said. “There are opportunities in Afghanistan and Iraq to be made for education, career and civil rights because of people like Jesse and former graduates who are doing their part to protect the country and sustain opportunities for other people.”

Custodial Service Manager Martha Jauregui, Galvan’s supervisor, kept in contact with him over the last several months. When she heard of his homecoming, she initiated the celebration for him. Jauregui fought back tears as she told him to be safe, be careful and return to his family and the University.

“I want to thank Jessie for defending our country,” Jauregui said. “You’re not only defending your family, but you’re defending a lot of families in the United States, including mine.”  

Galvan said it was good to be home to see his family and friends. When asked what he missed most about UTPA, Galvan replied “the people.”

Again, it had to be Texas.

Posted by Blackfive on November 09, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 08, 2004

Sergeant Joseph Bozik - Update 2

The latest news that I have heard was that Sergeant Bozik went through an 11 hour surgery.  I don't know how well it went.  The doctors were trying to begin fixing his left arm (the bones were shattered).

I don't think that he's conscious, yet, and, therefore, doesn't know what's happened to him.

The doctors at Walter Reed are telling his family and fiance that he will be there at least a year so your donations will go a long way towards helping keep his family close by.

If I get any more news, I'll post it immediately.

Here is more information on Sergeant Bozik's story and how you can help by writing a letter, sending a card or making a donation.

Update 11-09-04:  Bobby Sr. sends this article that has more information about Sergeant Bozik.

Posted by Blackfive on November 08, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 06, 2004

Developing - Search For Speicher, DNA Testing New Remains

Jim W. sends this article about new found human remains in Iraq being DNA tested to see if it's Scott Speicher.

By Charlene Shirk
First Coast News

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- First Coast News has learned a body has been found in Iraq and DNA testing is underway.

Multiple sources tell First Coast News Captain Scott Speicher's family has been notified.

They will not disclose the details of why they believe these are his remains only to say they have reason to feel confident these are his remains.

Test results are expected within weeks...

While it is tragic, hopefully, this discovery will give the Speicher family closure.

Posted by Blackfive on November 06, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

November 02, 2004

The Sudan Crisis Gets Worse

subtitle: Thanks, U.N.!!!

The Sudanese Army has surrounded two refugee camps and is not allowing humanitarian support...

It doesn't matter who gets elected as this problem can get taken care of by the Bush Administration now.

Posted by Blackfive on November 02, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Sergeant Joe Bozik - Someone That You Are Supporting

A few pictures of Sergeant Joseph (Joey) Bozik from his mother. He is now at Walter Reed. According to his brother, he is strong. I don't know if he's conscious yet.

Here is what the American Fighting Man that you are supporting looks like (click on the thumbnails):

Remember, he doesn't know what has happened to him. Your donations are helping to have him surrounded with family and loved ones. And I, for one, am grateful to you for that.

Update 1 11-02-04: Just found out the following.

Sergeant Bozik is going to survive. He's on a ventilator at the moment and unconscious. The limbs that he has left are held together with pins and bandages.

His family is with him, thanks to you.

Right now, prayers and donations would be helpful. When he's conscious, it would be good for him to hear from you. For those wanting to send notes but not knowing what to say, you should just say what you feel - you can include that there are thousands of us behind him.

He's had our back for years as soldier. Now it's our turn.

Cards, Letters, or any thing else someone would like to be sent to Joey, can be sent to the following address until November 26th:

Sgt. Joseph Bozik
3708 East 29th Street, PMB # 124
Bryan, TX 77802-3901

And of course, you can still use the Soldiers' Angels Joseph Bozik PayPal donation form.

Or send a check/money order to:

First American Bank
Fund for Sgt. Joseph Bozik
c/o Sandy Manning
1111 Briarcrest Dr.
Bryan, TX 77802

You should be able to make a donation to this account from any First American Bank branch.

Airborne!

Posted by Blackfive on November 02, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack

November 01, 2004

Congrats!!!

Every once in awhile (meaning RARELY), the Army gets something right.
This is a very big deal.

Go here and congratulate our own Sgt Hook on his selection for promotion to Sergeant Major!

This is such a big deal that I'm not even going say a single smart-ass remark about it. But one of my old buddies is an instructor at the Sergeant Major's Academy at Ft. Bliss (the Sergeant's equivalent of the War College)...I'll tell him you'll be dropping by in the Spring.

Congrats, Jim! I hope this means the Army can keep you around for awhile longer...

Posted by Blackfive on November 01, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack

October 30, 2004

You Can Help

[Please read the entire post as more options are developing to help Sergeant Bozik]

Sergeant Joseph Bozik, an Airborne Soldier with the 118th MP Company (Airborne) from Ft. Bragg, was recently wounded. He has lost both legs and an arm from a landmine, is not not conscious and has many medical complications. On Monday, Sergeant Bozik will be flown into Walter Reed from Landstuhl (Germany).

Unfortunately, the family doesn't have enough money to maintain themselves in a hotel (let alone buy food) for an extended period. The Army paid for airfare for 2 family members and Soldiers' Angels paid for airfare for 2 two more. The Angels can cover hotel expenses for only three days. Fisher House is full so they have to stay at a hotel.

We need your help. You can donate directly to a fund set up to assist the family with caring for Joe. You can send donations to the address or call the phone number below.

SGT Bozik Fund
c/o Centura Bank
ATTN Aiko Raynor
14615 US HWY 17 PO BOX 74
HAMPSTEAD NC 28443

910 772 8930

---

Update 10-31-04: Kelly the Patriette is connected to this story and has an article link about Sergeant Bozik. Be sure to read the link.

“He felt like he was doing the right thing,” she said. “If that meant risking his life to save millions more, he was going to do it.”

Thanks to bloggers Kelly, Fred and Michelle for linking to this call for help. Also, thanks to Sergeant Stryker (Timmer), Rick Brady, Frank J., and SlagleRock.

---

Update 2 10-31-04: I've had a lot of requests to donate via Paypal. Until I can find out more (whether the bank will take a credit card donation), I am a little hesitant to put up a Donation Button. If on Monday, Centura Bank will take a credit card/debit card donation, I might put up a Paypal link.

In order to provide transparency, I am thinking of copying Soldiers' Angels on the transactions so there would be a third party involved (donor-me-SA then the bank). Ideas?

---

Update 3 10-31-04: Patti of Soldiers' Angels set up a link to a paypal donation page - and, since SA is a non-profit, it's tax deductible!

DONATE!

I just sent a donation via the PayPal link. It took about 45 seconds. Please, continue to spread the word about this chance to help a wounded soldier.

---

Update 4 10-31-04: Wow, just wow! I want to thank the following people that were the FIRST INTO THE BREACH! The first to use the Soldiers' Angels Paypal link. Thank you so much from me and the Angels.

Paul
Gregory
Julia
Kelli
Gay and Dave
Donna
Mary

You all have made a difference!

---

Update 11-01-04: Here's an update from Sgt. Bozik's future Brother-In-Law, Brian Peters who includes an address to send cards and letters:

First, thank you all for your concern and getting the word out about Joey. He is a great guy – a soldier and a gentleman. My sister, Jayme, first “met” Joey when a mutual friend suggested that she write Joey while he was serving in Afghanistan. The two of them exchanged many letters, emails, and calls before they ever met. When I first met Joey, I knew they would be great together, and that I would be honored to have him as a brother-in-law should they get married. However, it was not long before duty called again, and Joey was deployed to Iraq.

I last saw Joey a few weeks ago, in September when he was home for a brief period of leave in September. Joe served as an MP and one of his many duties was patrolling the roads to find the home-made explosive devices that insurgents placed in or alongside the roads, and finding the responsible parties, who were frequently waiting nearby to detonate it. He had pictures of some of the devices, buried in or alongside the road. Had he not pointed them out in the picture I never would have seen them. They have a difficult and dangerous job there, and I have nothing but respect for him and the men and women who are still serving there.

I spoke with Jayme this evening. She is in DC with Joe’s family, where they are all currently “living” in a hotel waiting to see Joe. He should be returning to the US on Monday. Soldier’s Angels has been there, helping Jayme and the Bozik family, thanks to the support of your readers. She was unaware of the account at Centura Bank, but understandably there has been a lot going on, so she may not have gotten word yet. She did pass on the following information that I would like to share with your readers.

Cards, Letters, or any thing else someone would like to be sent to Joey, can be sent to the following address until November 26th:

Sgt. Joseph Bozik
3708 East 29th Street, PMB # 124
Bryan, TX 77802-3901

In addition, a fund has been set up at the First American Bank to help with the expenses for Joey Bozik.

Anyone wishing to make a monetary donation can send it to:

First American Bank
Fund for Sgt. Joseph Bozik
c/o Sandy Manning
1111 Briarcrest Dr.
Bryan, TX 77802

From what I understand you should be able to make a donation to this account from any First American Bank branch. We are also looking into setting up Paypal to one of the above accounts. For the moment, Paypal donations through Soldier’s Angels are providing the most immediate assistance to Joe’s family. However, the months ahead will be difficult for all involved as lives and jobs are put on hold, to care for and support a great guy who has given so much for us. On behalf of Joe’s family and Jayme, I thank you again for your prayers, thoughts, and support!

Bryan Peters

I believe the first fund was set up by the Army/Family Readiness Group in support of Sgt. Bozik's mother.

I'll try to get more information soon.

---

Update 11-02-04: Pictures and updates information are here.

Posted by Blackfive on October 30, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (50) | TrackBack

bNice Going, Houston!

Seamus sends this great story about The Veterans Museum in Texas, along with corporate and civilian support, are sending a BBQ to the Marines in Iraq for the Marine Corps Birthday on the 10th. Very, very cool!

October 27, 2004
As a show of support for the tremendous job our troops are doing in Iraq, The Veterans Museum in Texas and the locally famous Grill Instructors Barbeque Team will prepare a barbeque feast of beef brisquet, chicken, and sausage for the 1200 Houston-based Marines of the H&S Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment currently serving in Alasad, Iraq.

The barbeque will be prepared and cooked at the Marine Corps Reserve Center on Old Spanish Trail, Houston, Texas on November 7th, and taken the next day to Hobby Airport, where it will be loaded on a plane supplied by Federal Express for transport to Iraq in time for the MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY on November 10th, 2004.

The generous sponsors for this project are:

(1) Hibernia Bank-Mr. Bob New, 3500 lbs. of brisquet (Bob worked to get the help of Marvin Zindler - Houston's local celebrity from ABC affiliate Channel 13, FedEx, Halliburton and others to contribute)
(2) Buddys Natural Chickens, Gonzales, Texas-Mr. Tom Dowdy, 250 chickens
(3) V&V Smoked Sausage, Cistern, Texas-Mr. Robert Vinklarek, 150 lbs. of sausage
(4) Blue Bell Ice Cream, Brenham, Texas-90 Gallons of Ice Cream
(5) Halliburton Corporation-50/150qrt. Coolers for packing
(6) Federal Express-Transportation from Hobby Airport to Kuwait City
(7) United States Marine Corps Airlift Command for transportation of meat from Kuwait City to Alasad, Iraq.

A special thank you to Mr. Marvin Zindler for coordinating and sponsoring the donations from Hibernia Bank and Halliburton.

This project was coordinated by The Veterans Museum in Texas, Mr. Malcolm Browne, Chairman, Mr. Michael Hamby, chief cook of The Grill Instuctors cooking team and Mr. David Dunn, Corporal Scrounge.

For some reason, it doesn't surprise me that Texans are doing this. I know I've said it before, but I keep thinking that I have to get out of Chicago...

Posted by Blackfive on October 30, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBack

October 29, 2004

GQ Magazine Wants Your Photos

Tanker Schreiber sends this article that you OIF and OEF veterans may be interested in:

Men’s magazine to sponsor military photo contest
By Chuck Vinch

To mark the second anniversary of the Iraq war, GQ magazine will publish a photo essay in March made up entirely of pictures taken by U.S. service members.
“We want to show America what the war looks like to the men and women who have fought it, the people who live it,” said Greg Pond, a GQ photo editor.

The magazine is looking for “any and every picture” troops may have relating to the war. “We want pictures of you, your buddies, battles, what you do to entertain yourself when you’re bored, even pictures your families have sent you from home,” Pond said.

GQ prefers troops to not edit their photos. “What may not seem interesting to you could be important for the essay,” Pond said. “This project will reflect the war the way it really is, and we are not averse to blood, dirt or anything else, as long as it really happened.”

The deadline for submissions is Dec. 1. Electronic images should be e-mailed. Prints and discs should be mailed to: Bradley Young/Greg Pond, GQ Magazine Photo Department, 4 Times Square 9th Floor, New York, NY 10006. Prints and/or discs will be returned in a timely fashion.

On either email or regular mail, indicate “Iraq Photo Contest” and include your name, rank, age, e-mail, phone number and when you were in Iraq. “We can’t publish your pictures if we can’t reach you,” Pond said.

GQ will contact those whose pictures are chosen and will pay $200 to $1,000 for each one published, depending on the size they are used in the magazine.

“We will also credit you in the magazine, unless you prefer to be anonymous,” Pond said.

So forward this to the vets you know. They may get published and receive some cash, too.

Posted by Blackfive on October 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sniper Stuff

First, Alexander of Hamilton's Pamphlets has a Marine Corp story about snipers getting to shout "Tango Down!" in Hit, Iraq.

And there are two ways to help our snipers (Marines, Army, and Navy) have the best equipment and maintain high morale:

1. www.adoptasniper.org was created by local, state, and federal law enforcement snipers to help their brothers on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Take the time to read a few of the letters from snipers.

2. Kim du Toit has a program where his readers are contributing to buy special scopes and other equipment and Kim shares the results in the form of letters and pictures from his two Army sniper friends Walter and Adam.

Posted by Blackfive on October 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 28, 2004

Red Sox Nation in Iraq

This one's for Chief Steve (Red Sox fanatic)...Click on the thumbnails for larger images. These are from Baghdad.

Col. Mark A. Milley, a Winchester, Ma. native and 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Divison commander, watched game two of the World Series from a conference room in Iraq. Soldiers gather as early as 3 a.m. to root their team on. Photo by Pfc. Matthew McLaughlin Capt. Ryan Leonard, Maj. Rick Smudin and Col. Mark A. Milley, all New England residents, watch game two of the World Series from a conference room in Iraq. Red Sox fans gather as early as 3 a.m. to watch the games and finish sometimes minutes before daily briefings. Photographer: by Pfc. Matthew McLaughlin

Posted by Blackfive on October 28, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Missing (Parts) In Action Team (Some Assembly Required) Takes on the Army Ten-Miler

photo by Sgt. Lorie Jewell

True grit keeps amputees on the run in Army Ten-Miler
By Sgt. Lorie Jewell

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 26, 2004) – They didn’t take home any top awards in the Army Ten-Miler, but the performances of service members who lost limbs in Afghanistan and Iraq was, to many, nothing short of heroic.

Army Capt. David Rozelle, who lost part of his right leg below the knee in a June 2003 land mine explosion in Hit, Iraq, spearheaded the effort to put together a team of amputees from Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the Oct. 24 race, a kickoff to the annual Association of the United States Army meeting.

Dubbed the “Missing (Parts) In Action team – Some Assembly Required” – the group included Staff Sgt. Andrew McCaffrey, Sgt. Ethan Payton, Marine Cpl. Dan Lasko, Navy Corpsman Jose Ramos and Airman 1st Class Anthony Pizzifred. Also running on the team was Lt. Col. Barbara Springer, chief of physical therapy; Capt. Matt Sherer, a physical therapist; and Spc. Harvey Naranjo, a certified occupational therapist assistant.

“It’s important for people to see amputees recovered and back in action,’’ Rozelle said prior to the race start, adding he had no doubts that each would make it across the finish line. The same steely mettle that helped steer them off the battlefield after suffering horrific injuries will carry them through the 10-mile route, Rozelle said.

“It’s guts, nothing but guts. Some may walk, but that’s okay. What matters is that they will finish,” he said.

Rozelle, who served as team captain, has been relentless in not letting his injury prevent him from being the best Soldier he can be. He commanded a cavalry troop from Fort Carson in Iraq; after a medical board cleared him to remain on active duty earlier this year, he took command of a 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment headquarters troop. He’s been alerted that he’ll be deployed again to Iraq next year.

An expert skier, Rozelle hit the slopes again in December for a Disabled Sports USA ski clinic. In April, he participated in the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, put on by the Veterans Administration and Disabled American Veterans. With his prosthetic running leg, he completed a June Hope & Possibility 5-Miler in Central Park with several other Soldiers and service members from Walter Reed. And just a couple weeks ago, he finished a marathon – a one-mile swim, 25 miles on a bike and a six-mile run. He plans on running in the New York City marathon next month.

More than 13,000 runners trekked across the Army Ten-Miler finish line in wet, cold weather. Rozelle predicted a 10-minute mile pace and came in just under that, at one hour, 38 minutes – not far behind McCaffrey and Payton, both of whom ran without their prosthetic arms. McCaffrey finished in 1:34; Payton, 1:35. Ramos, who also left his prosthetic arm behind, came in with a time of 2:04.

“I finished, that’s all I wanted to do,” said Ramos, who lost his left hand to a rocket-propelled grenade while patrolling with Marines near Fallujah a couple of months ago.

The race was even tougher for Lasko and Pizzifred, who picked up their running prosthetics two days before the race. With no time to try them out and get any needed adjustments, they ran cold turkey.

Sherer ran with a backpack carrying the pair’s prosthetic walking legs, backups in case the running legs caused too much pain. He buddied up with Pizzifred, while Naranjo ran with Lasko.

Naranjo came across the finish line carrying Lasko’s prosthetic, yelling encouragement for the last 100 yards or so to Lasko, who pushed himself into a sprint for a 2:18 finish.

Despite some pre-race worries about getting traction on the wet pavement, Lasko said he didn’t experience any major problem along the course.

“I was a little sore,” he admitted, smiling. The longest distance he had run on a prosthetic before the Ten-Miler was five miles, he added. Like Rozelle, Lasko participated in the Hope & Possibility run in Central Park several months ago.

Naranjo had nothing but praise for his run buddy. The new prosthetic rubbed Lasko in the wrong ways quite a bit through the run, Naranjo said.

“Here’s a guy who some months ago was laying in a hospital bed, wondering if he’d ever be able to walk again,” Naranjo said. “And look at what he just did. He’s my hero. These guys are what make me get up in the morning and do what I have to do. I see people everyday overcoming much greater challenges that I have.”

Sherer was equally complimentary about Pizzifred, who started feeling pain from the new prosthetic almost from the start. The pair finished with a time of 2:44.

“It was really impressive to watch them run through the pain,” said Sherer. “I’ll tell you, it’s an honor to be associated with these guys. They’ve given, and they continue to give.”

Sherer and others hope to see the MPIA team continue to revisit the Ten-Miler in the years to come. He just hopes future teams will be filled with alumni and short on newly- injured Soldiers.

Posted by Blackfive on October 28, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Veterans' Day 2004 - Part One

Here's a news alert for Active Duty and Reserves/Guardsmen about a great offer being made (again) this year from Golden Corral Restaurants. It occurs the day BEFORE Veterans' Day:

Golden Corral's Fourth Annual Military Appreciation Monday

NEWS RELEASE

(10/27/2004) — Free dinner to our nation's military, past and present. To show our thanks, Monday night, November 15, 2004 from 5-9PM. Veterans' Day honors our military personnel, past and present, for their willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. All 400+ Golden Corral restaurants spanning 39 states join together once again to offer these patriots a Free "Thank-you" Dinner Buffet on Monday Night November 15th from 5-9PM.

Reserves and National Guard are included in this special recognition offer.

Once again the Disabled American Veterans Organization with 2.3 million disabled veterans, their families and survivors, will have members in the restaurants to distribute literature, sign up new members and volunteers, and accept donations in support of the DAV.

An estimated 252,000 veterans attended last year helping this event raise over $241,000 for the DAV.

Also, from what I remember, Smith & Wolensky did a similar Veteran's Day dinner last year.

A big THANK YOU to Golden Corral!

Posted by Blackfive on October 28, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Photo of the Week - Freedom

We all know that women have suffered under the heel of the Taliban. We know that executions of women in soccer stadiums have stopped with the Taliban gone. We know that girls are being educated for the first time in years.

All because of the United States of America. Click on the image to take a closer look at hope:

Girls of a local orphanage gather to express their appreciation for the supplies and support provided by U.S. soldiers in Laghman, Afghanistan on Oct. 14, 2004. Soldiers of the 360th Civil Affairs Brigade conducted humanitarian assistance missions in the area, with support from paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. J. Antonio Francis

Posted by Blackfive on October 28, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Soldier's Mom Worries About A Kerry Presidency

Deb A. has a son who is a medic in the 101st (Air Assault) Division. He served in Iraq and will probably be back in Iraq, again, soon.

I have a lot of questions about John Kerry right to become President of this country, when his past proves that he will turn his back on his country for what ever gain he may get from that action. This frightens me.

Kerry now speaks with some of the same/similar terms that he used during his speech to Congress (ie)"wrong place, wrong war, wrong time". My son is a medic with the 101st. John Kerrys words are most discouraging to him. My son feels that what he did in Iraq, was for the good. He is proud of what he has done. If you listen to John Kerry, a person would be lead to believe that he is ashamed of our troops and thinks they are lacking intelligents. He is not the kind of Commander and Chief that my son deserves.

I have a hundred of these kinds of messages. Many of them are from mothers of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines. Maybe the media is on to something when they discuss the "security moms"...

Veterans, we need to step up to the plate and come out swinging in order to stop Kerry from demoralizing our current generation of warriors. Swift Boat Vets and SF Vets are just the beginning.

Posted by Blackfive on October 28, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

October 27, 2004

Save the Scottish Regiments!

Jennifer Martinez has information on how YOU can help save the Scottish Regiments. Even if you aren't of Scottish descent or interested in Scottish history, you should help to save these units that have an amazing history of courage.

I wonder what David Terron is doing about all of this...

Posted by Blackfive on October 27, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack

I Never Thought That It Would Come To This

It's a sad, sad day to see what is happening here in America. You have seen the reports.

The Democrats are using our troops to paint failure. Right now in Pennsylvania, Democrats are printing flyers of a burning vehicle with soldiers looking on - the headline is "Wrong Choices...Less Secure." And returning heroes have been spit upon.

I receive email after email after email from troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can read some of their blogs. They work hard to win the peace with efforts like Chief Wiggles' Operation Give and Sergeant Hook's Operation Shoe Fly. I have many friends fighting overseas. I have lost friends, good friends, too - they all believed in what they were doing. They knew the stakes. The Armed Forces there now know the stakes.

You have read letters that I have posted here from Combat Commanders writing about (1) the media's anti-war and anti-Bush agenda and (2) how a few words from a certain presidential candidate is spurring the enemy to fight on.

In turn, the terrorist bombings fuel the far left's anti-war and anti-Bush fervor. Yesterday, John Kerry said it's a "bigger mess by the day."

I've said it before, "You can't be anti-war and support the troops at the same time." It just doesn't work. The terrorists are encouraged by anti-war rhetoric. And they will keep striking harder as our resolve appears to weaken.

And our courageous men and women just might come home to the same reception that our Vietnam veterans received. I know that almost every single one of you reading this op-ed will do everything that you can in order to prevent that from happening. But it may not be enough...

The cause of this mindset is not the perceived lack of international support. The cause is not the lack of soldiers during the invasion. The cause is not the cowardice and avarice of France and Russia. These might be problems, but they are not going to be the root cause of another downward turn in our nation's morale, our military's effectiveness, and our own security.

The cause, once again, will be John Forbes Kerry.

It's the Mean Season alright, but one candidate is painting failure where success has been found in order to win. Don't get me wrong here. No military campaign is a 100% success and we have had problems. Ask yourself "What has John Kerry done as a Senator in order to ensure victory?"

John Kerry fought in Vietnam for four months, then came home and lied about the courage and valor of our military in order to get elected. And he's doing it all over again in order to win the presidency.

Sure Kerry was in Vietnam. Well, Bennedict Arnold wasn't a coward either.

They both turned against their brothers.

So, renew your committment to supporting our military. Renew your committment to winning the War on Terror. Put one more yellow ribbon on a tree. Find out when and where your local reservists and guardsmen are returning from deployment and be there waving a flag and saying "THANK YOU!". Volunteer at the USO (a wonderful organization that has lifted my spirits more than once). Or donate to causes that support our military men and women AND their families.

While all of those activities are vital to morale, the single most important factor is to ensure that a grateful nation is here when they return.

My Blackfive tagline is "the Paratrooper of Love". Love just might be the only thing that can combat this madness.

Posted by Blackfive on October 27, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBack

October 26, 2004

We'll Be Out of Iraq in Four Months

...if ol' Cut-N-Run wins the election next week.

Kerry Vows Zealous U.S. Terror Hunt, Recalls Vietnam By Patricia Wilson

PUEBLO, Colo. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee and Vietnam War veteran John Kerry tried to burnish his national security credentials on Saturday by vowing to hunt down terrorists with the same energy he used to pursue the Viet Cong...

He spent four months "pursuing" Viet Cong. Of course, based on his own lying testimony, we'll also violate the Geneva Convention by using interdicting fires, blah, blah, blah.

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry salutes a fellow Vietnam veteran at a rally in Pueblo, Colorado on October 23, 2004. Kerry tried to burnish his national security credentials by vowing to hunt down terrorists with the same energy he used to pursue the Viet Cong. And the Massachusetts senator kept up his attack on President Bush, accusing his Republican rival of allowing Osama bin Laden, to 'walk out of the back door.' (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

And, hey Kerry people, could one of you teach ol' Cut-N-Run how to salute?! Look at that! My three and half year old son can salute better than that...hell, Gomer Pyle saluted better than that.

Update 10-27-04 7am: Commenter Ozwitch makes a point about the salute being improper. Here's what the guide for US Army Basic Trainees says:

...The way you salute says a lot about you as a soldier. A proud, smart salute shows pride in yourself and your unit and that you are confident in your abilities as a soldier. A sloppy salute might mean that you’re ashamed of your unit, lack confidence, or at the very least, that you haven’t learned how to salute correctly.

...Your fingers are together, straight, and your thumb snug along the hand in line with the fingers. Your hand, wrist, and forearm are straight, forming a straight line from your elbow to your fingertips. Your upper arm (elbow to shoulder) is horizontal to the ground...

Posted by Blackfive on October 26, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

More Truth about Iraq from the Commander of the 7th Marines

"The enemy, as we expected, is surging as we approach the U.S. and Iraqi election period..." - US Marine Colonel Craig A. Tucker

Amy K. sends the latest update from Colonel Tucker, Commander of the Marine Regimental Combat Team - 7. Previous letters from Colonel Tucker are here (a memorial service with photos) and here (about the media).

Dated 19 October 2004

Hello again, after a long hiatus. Last 6 weeks or so have been busy as we worked to establish the new battalions in their areas of operations and worked to get the "old' battalions home. 3/7, 2/7, and 1st LAR are all safely home and on their block leave period. 1/7, 1/23, and 3d LAR have assumed their battlespace and continue to perform superbly.

The enemy, as we expected, is surging as we approach the U.S. and Iraqi election period and enter Ramadan. Enemy activity in this AO has picked up, to the enemy's detriment. They are not very smart, and when they decide to come out and fight are easily killed. His patterns remain the same as we saw in April: move 50-150 terrorists into a city or community, use terror and intimidation to assume control, kill and maim local citizens, get his picture taken with is RPG and AK-47, then wait to see himself on the evening news. Interesting side note to ask how often you see pictures of these guys posturing and how often you see pictures of them fighting. Then compare that to how often you see pictures of U.S. servicemen fighting and how often you see pictures of them posturing. Provides a good metric for who is winning this thing: the enemy postures when the cameraman is present, but when it comes to fighting he is the most base of cowards. You don't see many images of these guys fighting because they're too busy hiding or running once the fighting starts. They're much more comfortable beheading innocents. Side note also demonstrates how, with the best of intentions and within the rightful bounds of our constitution, the press becomes unwitting collaborators in the enemy's information operations campaign. This is a fight for the will of the American and the Iraqi people. He targets the Iraqis through murder and intimidation; he targets you through the images.

Anyway...we have fought him well in a number of engagements over the past week or so. TF 1/23, 1/8 and 2d Force Recon Co performed magnificently in an operation in the city of Hit that killed 30 or so terrorists without harming an innocent Iraqi and restored both security and governance to a city taken over by the bastards for a 72 hour period last week. Of greater significance, the 503d Iraqi National Guard Bn fought as the RCT-7 main effort, were the first ones into the city, and remain there today providing security for the community. The enemy chased out of Hit moved into the city of Rawah about 50 miles west, TF 1/8 and an Iraqi Army Unit hunted them down there, killed 10-15 more and restored that community to its citizens.

In other parts of the AO, Iraqi police and National Guard and Border Police have fought off numerous attacks on their own…in my mind the most striking example of the progress we continue to make across the AO. The enemy cannot maintain this surge for long: the Iraqi people are rapidly tiring of him, the Iraqi Security Forces are fighting back, and we are killing them with stunning regularity. He surges in order to influence the American and Iraqi elections; when both proceed as planned, his efforts will begin to crumble.

We now have 2 police academies, 2 ING training academies, and 2 Iraqi Border Police Training academies operational. We continue to see the fruits of these efforts in the increasing professionalism, confidence, and competence of the Iraqi Security Forces. Firefights are dramatic and make the news; but where we are going to win this is through the establishment of viable Iraqi Security Forces. It is a challenging road, fraught with friction, but every day we see progress. Training ISF remains our main effort and will continue to be both our main effort and our ultimate ticket home with victory.

The civil effort continues apace also. Our most significant current effort is the construction of the hospital in Ar Rutbah..a $1M effort that will provide medical services to a community currently 4 hours away from the closest medical care.

Your Marines and Sailors continue to perform with courage and intellect in this most complex and ambiguous of conflicts. We are anxiously awaiting election day in the hopes that the media picture and national dialogue will transition from the subjectivity of politics to the objectivity of national interest. Building a democracy is a dirty business-has been throughout the history of democracy from ancient Greece through the present day. Regard our national effort here through the prism of that reality.

RCT-7 remembers the sacrifices of LCpls A. R. Boyles and R. Mateo, KIA 24 Sep 2004 vic Fallujah; Cpl. I.T. Zook, KIA 12 Oct 2004 vic Husaybah; Cpl W.I. Salazar KIA 15 Oct 2004 vic Husaybah; Sgt Owen, U.S. Army, KIA 15 Oct 2004 vic Husaybah; SPC J. Santos, U.S. Army, KIA 15 Oct 2004 vic Husaybah.

Please remember their families in your prayers.

Share your Courage. And standfast.

C.A. Tucker
Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps
CO, RCT-7

Posted by Blackfive on October 26, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Support Hook's Troops at the Hook-A-Thon

The Hook-A-thon is dedicated to supporting the men and women of Bravo Company, 214th Aviation Regiment - also known as the Hillclimbers - and their families. The Hillclimbers are deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Hook-a-Thon hopes to raise funds for the regiment’s Family Readiness Group (FRG) through auctions of donated materials and donations. All funds received will go toward hosting costs of this site and to the FRG.

You can bid on American flags that flew from Chinook helicopters on combat missions on September 11th, 2004. And you'll receive a certificate from Sgt Hook - the First Sergeant of Bravo Company.

There are only four left!

Posted by Blackfive on October 26, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I Want My GI Son To Serve Under Bush

Jamie W. sends this great NY Post Op-Ed by Steve Dunleavy who's son is deploying to Iraq. Here's a bit from it.

...Capt. Peter J. Dunleavy is not one ounce more special than the guys and gals he will go to Iraq with — no more special than the thousands of the brave boys and girls who have gone before him, and those who will certainly go after him.

He is, of course, special to his wife, Debbie, his mother, Gloria, his brother, Sean, Sean's girlfriend, Laura — and his friends in the sports bars who cheer for the Giants.

He is special to me, as are all the thousands of boys and girls who serve this country, because he looks at fear as a headache and duty as the ultimate.

And yet, John Kerry makes it look like those guys and gals are just victims — wrong war, wrong time, wrong place.

How dare he say that to our brave boys and girls? How dare he whisper it — let alone shout it to the whole world?

Now I am somewhere in Oklahoma to see off Capt. Pete, 37, my eldest boy. I ask him what he makes of Kerry's talk...

It's great insight into the bigger issue of character and trust. Read the whole commentary here.

Posted by Blackfive on October 26, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Why the Military Doesn't Trust Politicians

Subtitle: That's not good enough, Dick!

Background on HR 4323 is here at a previous post. If you are unfamiliar with the Rapid Acquisition Authority Bill that has been stuck in the Senate Armed Services Committee, please read that first.

Next, in response to my request (on July 1st) for his support on HR 4323, Illinois (D) Senator Dick Durbin finally sent me a reply:

October 26, 2004

Mr. Matthew Currier
1060 W. Addison
Chicago, IL 60613

Dear Mr. Currier:

Thank you for your message about providing the U.S. Department of Defense with "Rapid Acquisition Authority" to expedite the supply of needed equipment to the battlefield in response to combat emergencies.

The experiences of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the inadequacy of current acquisition procedures in providing necessary equipment to units in the field in a timely manner. The Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Authorization Act, which was recently approved by Congress, contains a provision to remedy this problem. It authorizes the Defense Department to waive normal acquisition requirements in situations where combat fatalities have occurred and the combatant commander has issued an urgent request for equipment. In addition, in situations where the needed equipment cannot be provided without a substantial delay, an interim solution is to be implemented using streamlined procedures until the appropriate hardware can be delivered to the battlefield.

I will continue to do all I can to ensure our men and women in uniform possess the resources and hardware necessary to accomplish their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me, and please feel free to stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

I'll requote the sentence that drew my anger.

It authorizes the Defense Department to waive normal acquisition requirements in situations where combat fatalities have occurred and the combatant commander has issued an urgent request for equipment.

So we now have to wait for Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen to get killed before we can waive the requirements.

I don't believe that our Senators are doing enough to protect our military.

I know some of you will think that I'm being a bit too critical. Read the language and tell me that you actually expect this to work as planned. HR 4323 gave the Commanders the ability to get items quickly. And it would account for expenditures more accurately (according to the Congressional Budget Office).

HR 4200 - the Defense Authorization Act of 2005 - does not. It streamlines processes already in existence.

Where have you ever seen the Federal Government actually improve a process rapidly?

Posted by Blackfive on October 26, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

October 25, 2004

Sexton 47 Down!

"Be polite. Be professional. But always have a plan to kill everyone in the room." - Grim of Grim's Hall reciting an unofficial Marine motto.

Via Seamus and Col King: This is an absolute must read. LtCol Roy "Ozzie" Osborn, Commander of HMM-263, sends these harrowing accounts of a CH-46 in big trouble after getting hit by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG). The CH-46 is a twin rotor medium helicopter that is a workhorse of the Marine Corps. LtCol Osborn was a medevac pilot during the invasion in 2003. This account is from eight weeks ago.

First is the email from "Ozzie" about how things are going in Iraq:

Life is a basket of peaches over here - full of pits.

Actually the day to day living is not to bad, since the temps are now down around a 100. Chow has sucked lately, but that is to be expected. After three months ashore, you have eaten every meal on the menu multiple times. Unlike some of the more posh Army or Air Force bases, we do not have Subway, McDonalds, Burger King, etc... Yes they have those at all the other service bases. Makes you wonder what Marines are doing 300 miles from the nearest salt water.

Flying is at a pace that would make your head spin.

We are pushing triple peace time utilization on all TMS every month. Take your best three months at home and I do that in a month here. Planes are doing great and the Marines are phenomenal. Work 14 to 18 hour days 7 days a week with no breaks. Pilots and crew are running 14 hour crew days. It is not unusual to put eight plus in the saddle four or five days in a row. If you have a high side account, I will send you the stats - amazing stuff.

Morale is the highest I have ever seen in the Corps.

We know what we are doing is the right thing.

We bust our tails to make sure it is done correctly.

We do it 24/7.

Time goes fast and you lose track of the days.

The only way I can tell what day of the week we are on is to look at my watch.

Threat issues are another other story.

...I will shoot you something on an incident we had. It will give you gray hair...

Enough business.

Drink a beer or three for me.

No alcohol in this fight.

It makes you hard and pissed off, so probably not a bad thing.

Drop me a line with the latest goings on.

More later

Ozzie

LtCol Roy A "Ozzie" Osborn
HMM-263(REIN)
"Thunder Chickens"

The incident report of Sexton 47 is included in the Extended Section.

LtCol Roy A "Ozzie" Osborn
HMM-263(REIN)
"Thunder Chickens"

The following summary of action is compiled from eyewitnesses that were involved in the downed aircraft as well as the rescue aircraft.

At approximately 2230 local time on 8 Sept 2004, Sexton 47 and Sexton 50 were tasked with the successful completion of Assault Support Request 066-Alibi. The mission consisted of launching two CH-46Es to transport VIPs from Al Taqaddum Air Base, Iraq to MEK East runway outside Fallujuah, Iraq. Total flight time, for the leg, was planned to be no more than 45 minutes. After the successful insertion of the VIPs into MEK East the section proceeded on routing to return to Al Taqaddum Air Base.

Approximately four minutes later, enroute to TQ, the section received at least three simultaneous enemy rocket propelled grenade attacks followed by small arms fire from multiple fighting positions. A well coordinated, multiple position enemy RPG and small arms aerial ambush had engaged Sexton 47 and flight. Cpl Lewis and LCpl Deboer, from both aircraft, opened fire on the enemy positions with their left door gun mounted 50-caliber heavy automatic weapons as dash two called for a breaking maneuver to the right. As dash two broke right the pilots and aircrew noticed that Sexton 47 was continuing straight ahead. Sexton 50 observed what was thought to be visible flares being expended by the lead aircraft. After closer examination, the pilots in the second aircraft noticed that the flares were indeed sparks and the left side of leads tail was on fire. During the initial RPG attacks, Sexton 47's aircrew felt and heard the RPG impact as the tail of the aircraft kicked to the right. The pilots saw a large flash, which was assumed to be the RPG impact. The other two RPGs climbed above dash two missing their intended target.

Sexton 47 immediately lost all electrical power to include instrument lights, internal and external communications, automatic flight control systems, as well as losing their number one engine. Both pilots were in a darkened cockpit with no instruments, no ability to talk to each other, with their aircraft on fire and going down over confirmed hostile territory without stabilized flight control inputs. Without verbal communication, Capt Franko and Capt Pawson immediately came on controls together to regain balanced flight. Sexton 47 could not perform the break right command from Sexton 50 because they had inoperable radios. Sexton 47 continued straight ahead attempting to clear the engagement area. With no visibility on engine instruments, Capt Franko heard the rotors "winding down". He immediately pushed the collective down to build rotor speed and prepare for an autorotational profile for landing. With the collective down, both pilots realized the aircraft was single engine and could continue with straight and level flight to clear the engagement area. Fortunately, an autorotational profile with no lights, no communications, and degraded flight controls was not necessary. The pilots remained at 50 feet pressing towards TQ for an emergency landing.

Within seconds, Sgt Weischedel climbed forward to the cockpit and yelled to the pilots that the aircraft needed to be landed immediately. The flames from the RPG impact were building and moving up the cabin towards the cockpit. Sgt Weischedel fought the fire while receiving burns to his face and hands. Capt Pawson, with Capt Franko riding controls, set up for a low light desert emergency landing into the wind south of Fallujah. On short final, both pilots could not see outside the aircraft due to the glare from the fire degrading their night vision goggles as well as the dust and sand obscuring visual cues to the ground. Capt Pawson trimmed up the aircraft with minimal rate of descent, level attitude with slight forward airspeed. Sexton 47 impacted the ground immediately breaking the nose wheel and left main mount. The aircraft rocked to the left causing the rotors to impact the ground. The rotors came apart and stopped quickly. The pilots egressed the aircraft through the cockpit emergency doors and joined up outside the nose of the aircraft.

Both pilots immediately started looking for the two remaining crew chiefs. Without regard to their own safety, Capt Fanko inspected the fiery cabin and saw that it was clear while Capt Pawson reached back in the cockpit to pull the Fire T-Handles to shut down the engines and possibly extinguish the fire. Sgt Weischedel and LCpl Deboer had egressed the aircraft safely from the opposite side. In flight, both crew chiefs had moved their way closer to the cockpit as the heat intensified from the rear. During impact Sgt Weischedel suffered a broken arm, bruised ribs, a collapsed lung and burns. LCpl Deboer was thrown into the cockpit during landing where he impacted the center console face first. He suffered lacerations and burns to the face. LCpl Deboer stayed on his .50 cal returning fire to suppress further enemy action taken against his and the dash two aircraft. He manned and engaged the door gun all the way to landing despite horrific temperatures from the cabin fire.

Once on deck, despite lacerations and burns to his face, LCpl Deboer remained calm and began acting as radio operator for the recovery effort. After the recovery and enroute to TQ, LCpl Deboer disregarded his own injuries and tended to Sgt Weishadel's injuries keeping him calm and comfortable prior to arriving at the medical facility. Capt Franko received serious burns to his hands and face. Capt Pawson received minor burns to his face, as well. After joining up outside the wreckage, the pilots and LCpl Deboer moved Sgt Weischedel farther away from the wreckage as fire engulfed the entire aircraft within minutes. Capt Franko turned on his survival radio and IR strobe to mark their position for pick up by Sexton 50. Sgt Weischedel now lay on the desert floor being treated for serious injuries to his chest and arm. He mustered the strength to walk to the rescue aircraft when it landed. All four aircrew survived and walked away from Sexton 47.

Wow!

Posted by Blackfive on October 25, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack

October 24, 2004

Message for the Troops

Debra Burlingame wanted me post this message to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and everywhere else in the world.

Just want you to know that there’s a bunch of us who love you and pray for you. See www.911familiesforamerica.org. See also my Wall St. Journal piece posted on the site (”Right War, Right Place, Right Time”) and check out the messages in our guestbook standing with us in support of the president and you wonderful men and women of the armed forces. You are there, standing in for my brother, who was a carrier-based fighter pilot and who volunteered to be activated for the Gulf War.

Godspeed.

Debra Burlingame, proud sister of an American patriot, Capt. Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, Pentagon attack 9-11-01, “Never forget”

Posted by Blackfive on October 24, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

October 23, 2004

Marine Battalion Commander Speaks Out

Via Seamus and Colonel Myers, a letter from a Marine Corps Battalion Commander re: the loss of one of his Marines. I've been getting quite a few of these kind of emails from commanders, officers, and sergeants on the front lines that are expressing their ire with the media and a certain presidential candidate.

From: Lieutenant Colonel Mark Smith

It is with the deepest sadness and most profound grief that I must report to you the loss of Daniel Wyatt, LCpl, Fox Co, 2nd Bn, 24th Marines, USMC. Daniel was killed in the line of duty, while conducting foot patrolling operations in Yusufiyah Iraq. Daniel was killed by a command detonated improvised explosive device. He died instantly, suffered no pain and was immediately recovered by his fellow Marines.

My command security element and I personally recovered Daniel's body and escorted him back to the forward operating base, and then onto the helicopter for the beginning of his final ride home. I cannot even begin to express to you the soul touching sight of combat hardened Marines, encrusted with weeks of sweat and dust, who have daily been engaged in combat, coming to complete and utter solemnity and respect in the handling of the body of one of their own. It puts on display a level of brotherly love you just cannot see anywhere else.

We conducted a memorial service for Daniel in the battle space owned by his fellow Marines, as well as one the following day at the battalion forward operating base. I have spoken with his fiancée and expressed the sorrow and sympathy of the entire Battalion.

If I might for a moment, I hear and see some of the media coverage. I hear the accusations and charges. I hear what could almost be labeled as hysteria over the situation in Iraq. Let me tell you something from ground level. The town of Yusufiyah that Daniel and his fellow Marines seized, had not seen government structure or security forces for over 8 months. FOREIGN FIGHTERS, TERRORIST AND THUGS have had free reign and have routinely murdered people in the market for no reason other than one day they MIGHT support a democratic process and speak for themselves. For nothing more than they MIGHT choose a version of religion even slightly different than the terrorists and foreign fighters. They live in squalor and fear. The Marines of Daniel's unit have not had a shower since seizing the town. They have eaten MREs day in and day out. They live a Spartan existence that few can imagine. And, on all my trips to their position for planning, coordination and command visits, I ask them if they want to be relieved. To a man, they look me in the eye and tell me NO WAY. Why? Well, I am not going to soften it for anyone, the primary reason why is to kill terrorists. Please remember, that is what they are trained and paid to do. But, they also tell me, they want to help the people of Yusufiyah. They want to show all of Iraq that they can stand on their own feet, push back against extremism, and with our help live the life of freedom that all men yearn for. Yes, from the mouths of these young and hardened warriors, this is what they tell me. And then...and then...they ask me how I am doing! Un-freaking believable! They worry about everyone else but themselves.

So believe what you want. That is your right as Americans. But I am telling you, there are no heroes on any football fields, basketball courts or halls of government. There are honorable and decent people all over America. However, the heroes are on the battlefields of Iraq. Suffering, killing and DYING that others might live, and live in FREEDOM. Americans free from terror, Iraqis free from oppression and tyranny.

I am an under-educated gun toter from Indiana who is just lucky there is an organization like the USMC where a half-wit like myself with some rudimentary combat skills can succeed. But I do know heroes! I am surrounded by over a thousand of them. And I am not the least bit ashamed to tell you I have wept like a baby for Daniel Wyatt. Because when one of these heroes falls, it is if an Angel of God himself has fallen from heaven! I will not profess glory of battle or any other such hype. I will profess duty and sacrifice. Daniel showed us all true duty and ultimate sacrifice. I have no doubt that the instant he died, he was whisked to heaven on the wings of Angels and placed before the unapproachable light of Jesus, who himself said: "greater love hath no man, than a man lay down his life for his friends."

GOD BLESS AND KEEP DANIEL WYATT, HIS FAMILY AND FIANCEE AND GOD BLESS AND KEEP ALL THE FAMILIES OF 2/24.

Yours in profound sadness,

Mark A. Smith, LtCol TF 2/24 Cmdr Mahmudiyah, Iraq

Posted by Blackfive on October 23, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack

October 22, 2004

The Good And Bad Days in Iraq

This one is from a Reservist named James who's in Iraq.

Good Days and Bad Days

Good days and bad days are easy to figure out in Iraq. It's a simple test by which I determine how my day went when I lay down to sleep at night. Good days are when you get any type of mail...snail mail, e-mail, packages, phone calls. Mail is a way by which the soldier keeps in touch with that which he loves and a grip on reality; a way in which he realizes that this place and time will pass and soon enough, he'll be home. A bad day is when you get shot at...by small arms fire, by rockets, by improvised explosive devices (IED), by vehicle borne IEDs (VBIEDs), or by suicide VBIEDs (SVBIEDs) (the military loves its acronyms).

Today (Sunday 17 October 2004) was a good and bad day. It was a good day because I got a wonderful letter from my wife with an enclosed letter from a high school friend. It was a two for one deal when I opened the letter and connected me with her and my friend, Steve. It was a reminder of all I hold dear to my heart, a little piece of America on ink and paper.

It was also a bad day as I received news of a friend and fellow Civil Affairs company commander's death. Rob was a good officer that I had the privilege to meet while at our pre-deployment training this last summer. The quiet professional that you trusted from the first moment you met him; in his civilian life he was an optometrist who felt the call to make a difference. He volunteered out of the Medical Corps to Civil Affairs because he wanted to have a direct impact with people. He, like most of us here, felt compelled to leave our wife and children to follow the call for Duty, Honor, and Country. Rob was on a convoy when his vehicle was hit with an SVBIED.

Some will argue that Rob and our country threw away his life on a war that should have never been fought. I can understand the sediment but from my viewpoint as a soldier on the ground, there are things worth putting your life at risk for. The saying that freedom isn't free is as true today as it was for our forefathers in 1776, in 1812, in 1864, in 1914, and in 1941. The individuals who initiated this current conflict did so long before September 11, 2001, but the bulk of Americans were thrust into the battle on that day. For me, as for so many of my fellow Reserve service members, our world changed that day too.

What strikes me most about Iraq having been here for a while is it is a place of dichotomies. The environment is harsh with the dust (not dirt but fine dust) everywhere contrasted by trees that have thousands of birds in them. Insurgents trying to kill you contrasted by a barber that spends thirty minutes trying to teach you his language when you say hello in Iraqi. Hot, hot days contrasted by clear, starry nights. Little boys mixing and pouring cement under the guidance of Seabees contrasted by the wholesale killing of families.

The one thing that is constant, however, is the Iraqi people's desire to be free and determine their own destiny as a nation. No matter who you talk to, they are a proud people that desire to make their own way. Freedom and the right to choose is something they have not experienced for thousands of years. Just as Afghanistan held its first elections in 5000 years, the elections in Iraq will provide the freedom this nation has not seen for generations.

The insurgents here use fear, just as Saddam did, to try to make the people submit to the insurgents control. They blow up, behead, and execute those that refuse to submit. Fear remains an effective tool pushing the average Iraqi around sapping their will to fight back. However, they are. I have seen and read of so many brave Iraqis fighting and dying for the privileged to vote and the ability to be free. It's when that freedom and self-determination has matured that we, the dog-footed soldier, will go home.

So as you sit, read the newspaper, and drink your cup of coffee this morning, say a word for Rob's family. He'll be coming home before the rest of us. He paid the price to keep freedom free.

Posted by Blackfive on October 22, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack

October 21, 2004

Email From Afghanistan - What Is At Stake

This one is (via Seamus) from a friend in Afghanistan.

All:

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update you on the situation in Afghanistan. As you can imagine, it has been busy over here! It hasn't slowed down a lot, but we are certainly proud of the accomplishments of the past week or so over here--it has been exciting, to say the least.

The successful elections are certainly the big news. Well, at least the big news for a day or two. Don't worry too much about the alleged "fraud;" while the ink mistake was unfortunate, it was not widespread and probably won't affect the election results at all, from what I hear in the press over here. It's good that the ink and several other charges are being investigated, but even the U.N. says that the election was well done, and I can tell you they'd be one of the first to speak up if there were problems!.

The real story is the desire of the Afghan people to vote. The weather here for election was the worst I've seen since I got here in May--snow in the mountains, rain, a sandstorm in the south, and low clouds. It hardly stopped these people. We worry about rain affecting voter turnout in the States, even though we drive cars to vote--these people didn't let the weather bother them, and most walked to the polling centers!

I heard stories of lines over a mile long, with people waiting patiently to vote. I also heard of people standing in those lines on crutches, with legs amputated because of landmines, and families who pulled their grandparents to vote in oxcarts, because they were too old to walk. I also heard of people standing in lines at 3:00 in the morning, in the snow, so that they could vote. (The polls opened at 7:00AM). There are also a few stories of people angry because the polls closed early, or mad that they couldn't vote a proxy vote for members of their village that couldn't walk to the polling place, but those were actually rare.

The Afghan Army and Police did a great job. We've trained them well, and these patriots took their lives into their hands to guard polling centers, villages, and cities to ensure little or no violence. Sure, we helped them prepare, but they found explosives, suspicious vehicles, rockets, and people who wanted to disrupt things all on their own. No running from a fight for these folks!

Finally, I leave you with a personal experience. We have a group of Afghan men who clean the building where I work. They're here every day and I see them in the hallway seven days a week. They like to practice their English, or at least the English phrases they're learning in books or class: "Good morning, How are you? I am fine, thank you..." You get the idea. They didn't work on election day, because they were voting, and the roads were pretty congested. I asked them the first morning they were back to work if they had voted. They all got smiles a mile wide, had to show me their thumbs with ink on them, and each of them wanted to shake my hand and I got to congratulate each of them on their new country! Now, if that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, then you have ice water in your veins!

As good as this is, we're not done yet. There are still some out there that would like to cut off thumbs, rather than stain them with ink. But that group is up against a dedicated, capable Coalition that will not accept failure. They may have come over here "just doing their job;" but that changes with most as soon as they meet these great people--most in the Coalition are fighting not only for their own countries, but also they fighting for the great people of Afghanistan.

We will continue the fight here. As I've written before, you can be very proud of this young generation--whether soldiers, sailors, Airmen, Marines, or civilians, they are impressive! Someday they'll take over the leadership of America, and from what I see over here, we'll be in great shape!!

Everybody take care--be proud of what's happening here! I just wish you could have seen the pride in the eyes of those Afghans in the hallway; then you'd understand what we've done here!

Cheers

Beak

Posted by Blackfive on October 21, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Special Forces Speak Out Against Kerry's Claims

This is an email to Bill O'Reilly at FoxNews from a recently retired Special Forces Master Sergeant who spent 15 years on A Teams. It is in reference to Senator Kerry's claims that he will double the size of Special Operations Forces - a topic that's been discussed on this blog before. I'm posting this letter as just one more indicator from our military (retired or otherwise) about their regard for John Forbes Kerry.

1 - Gen Franks recently wrote an editorial in a NY paper concerning Sen Kerry's allegations that Pres Bush let Bin Laden slip away. Gen Franks said in part that "he had SF teams with Afghans, who knew the terrain, caves and routes, better than anyone else,......". Gen Franks, to his credit, did the right thing,...to find a small unit of guerillas,...you send in a small unit of guerillas. American conventional combat arms units, while the best in the world, were not the right choice to send into that region looking for Bin Laden. Conclusion - Sen Kerry spinning the circumstances and lack of results (killing Bib Laden) to his own politcal benefit - no big suprise there.

2. Sen Kerry repeated claims that he will double Special Forces. I assume he means all of the DoD Special Operations Forces (SOF), but I only know about Army SF. The Army SF Groups, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th, all have a hard enough time keeping the operational detachments (called "A" Teams) at any deployable strength. Most teams operate with 7-10 men. The table of organization and equipment (TO&E) requires a 12 man team. Fat chance. There just isn't a big enough pool of men in this country to make SF any bigger without lowering the standards. Lower the standards and you will not have the right men to execute the missions. Raising the pay and instituting more specialty pay will help families at home and raise the morale of the men, but will not create a greater pool of men to apply and to make it through SF training. Money is just not a good enough motivator for living the SF life. You have to want to do it. Conclusion - Sen Kerry is presenting a hollow promise,..or worst, he may keep his word and lower the standards of SF and SOF. Again - a calculated political move for a campagin devoid of solid promises.

I'm voting for Preseident Bush,....I can't say I even know anybody who will vote for Sen Kerry.

regards,

Brad G.

Posted by Blackfive on October 21, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBack

October 20, 2004

How Does The Military Feel About Michael Moore?

If you don't know Marine Staff Sergeant Nick Popaditch, he's Someone You Should Know. This is a message posted on the Free Republic by April Popaditch, wife of the Cee-gar Marine - Staff Sergeant Nick Popaditch, about Michael Moore.

Michael Moore profiting off my husbands blood

My husband's bloody image was used on Fahrenheit 911 on scene 22 on the DVD. Michael Moore took this very personal tragedy and used it without a care about our family having to see this awful image captured on film. I bet he doesn't even know that this Marine survived and still proudly serves his country.This movie is against everything my husband believes in. He has pride in his country and despite his disability, he has no regrets in his service to our Nation. He is truly an inspiration to all who meet him. He will continue to serve just as long as he is allowed to. The footage of my husband is pretty graphic, It's amazing he survived. Ironically it was the body armour that saved his life, the body armor that Kerry voted against. He lost his right eye, hearing in his right ear, loss of sense of smell and is legally blind in his left eye. He says "Our country is still at war and I will not leave the military without a fight." I don't think this is what Michael Moore was expecting to hear from this bloody injured Marine he used for quite the opposite effect. Kerry like Moore also used this same footage of my husband. He used it and implied that he knew the father of this injured serviceman and that the father told him he did not want his son to
>go to war. I can't believe that the two people that we despise the most, happen to be the two people who used the blood of my husband for their own benifit.

April wife of Cee-gar Marine

Posted by Blackfive on October 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Chicago Boys In Iraq

"If the envelope is thick enough, anything's possible.'' - The Chicago Boys motto

I love this story from the Chicago Sun-Times. Annie Sweeney is writing a series about a Chicago National Guard Unit in Iraq, and Jon Sall took some amazing photos of the Chicagoans in Iraq. I'll post the story in full in case it disappears into the archival abyss (plus there may be a Sun-Times strike soon).

Photo by Jon Sall

'We're the Chicago Boys'
October 17, 2004
STORIES BY ANNIE SWEENEY AND PHOTOS BY JON SALL

CAMP ANACONDA, IRAQ -- Chicago is a city of porches, corner bars and characters fashioned from the neighborhoods that define us -- from Rogers Park on the North to Hegewisch on the far Southeast.

Go a little bit farther south and a lot farther east, you'll find another neighborhood, this one behind concrete bunkers on a sprawling U.S. military camp where mortars thump in the night and people go to work in the morning to fight a war.

Here, a group of Chicago-based Army National Guard guys -- and two women -- have taken an assignment many figured was coming, leaving behind families and regular jobs to spend a year in Iraq.

They are Black Hawk helicopter pilots who left the city unnoticed in early January, packing up supplies from their hangar at 63rd and Central at Midway Airport, to serve a year in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

But they came with a plan. Along with equipment they would need to do their job -- fly missions low and fast over a country under attack by insurgents -- they also packed two refrigerators and lumber from Home Depot.

If they were coming to the desert for a year, Chicago was coming with them.

"We're the Chicago boys,'' said Capt. Daniel C. Lyons, commander of Bravo Company. "If you look at us, you'll notice we have little tabs [on our helmets] that say Chicago Guard. Well, there's no Chicago Guard. It's the Illinois National Guard. But we're known as the Chicago Guys. We're a breed apart. We're from the big city.''

Midway is home to Bravo Company At Camp Anaconda, just outside Bravo Company's headquarters, the Black Hawks line up in the dry heat that radiates off the dark bodies. The helicopters, first used in 1978, are sleek and fast. In Iraq, they fly low enough to watch a farmer tilling his fields, a woman sheathed in black on a lonely road and clothes blowing on a line.

Bravo Company -- a part of the Army Guard's 1st Battalion 106th Aviation Regiment with 42 members -- has been at Midway since 1986. But the airport has been home to some type of guard helicopter combat unit since the late 1960s.

Bravo Company has flown to natural disasters around the region, including the 1990 Plainfield tornado and the 1993 Mississippi and Illinois floods.

Today, Bravo Company is thousands of miles from home fighting a war. Missions range from transporting generals to air assaults.

"The majority of Chicagoans are not aware we have a Black Hawk unit,'' said Dale Glowacki, 44, who grew up in Bridgeport and now lives in Brookfield. "I grew up in Chicago and was not aware there was a helicopter unit in Chicago until I joined it when I was 25 years old.''

'An amazing group of people'
The company arrived in Iraq in March with the rest of the 106th, a battalion of four companies -- two from Decatur, one from Jefferson City, Mo. and Bravo Company -- the Mad Dogs.

They are a paramedic, engineers and attorneys. Hispanics and African Americans. There's also a union carpenter and electrician. A 23-year-old farm boy who has relocated to the city's new South Side, a short cab ride from Rush and Division. An investigator for the IRS. Vietnam vets. A guy from the water reclamation district. And of course, a former bartender.

They embrace mottos such as "Any friend will loan you money, but only a true friend will help you hide the body'' and "if the envelope is thick enough, anything's possible.''

They laugh hard. They're a little cynical. One is nesting, hanging wind chimes and other tchotchkes; another is hunting mice around the hangar. Some crew partners bicker like married couples.

"Everyone is at the extreme of idiosyncratic,'' says Sgt. Tom Pullin, a crew chief. "But it's an amazing group of people.''

The Mad Dogs landed in Iraq on a roughly 12-square-mile base of sand, a sea of white trailers and large anonymous buildings with names like "d-fac'' where food is good enough, but plenty dull.

There are creature comforts -- an Olympic-size swimming pool, a movie theater with first-run films and indoor gyms.

It has the charm of a suburban mall.

But not on the block behind the bunkers at Bravo Company. Here, carpenters and electricians built a neighborhood.

Large, square concrete slabs pave the way between wooden buildings the company built. Wood porches with wind chimes and deck chairs offer respite, if not a superb view. Patio seating is built into the porches.

In the middle of it all is Bill's Place.

A large black and white sign swings above the entrance of the corner pub named for William Chaney, a member of Bravo Company who died from a non-combat-related illness in May. He was 59.

Smoke and near beers
An evening visit finds Staff Sgt. Stephen Corcoran of Lisle behind the bar with a smoke, glasses perched on his head, offering non-alcoholic beer for $1 from the two fridges. There's a couple in civilian clothes smoking and just blending in. A television murmurs above the bar; there's a dart board on a wall. Games and books line the wall by the booth, where the chess boards sit. Cases of pop and near beer gather dust. Teapots and dishes from local markets sit on shelves.

A "liquor license" signed by "Richard J. Daley'' is tacked to a wall. On another is the building permit -- this one signed by "Inspector Gadget" -- recognizing the structure commonly known as a bar to be made of wood and "bits of other materials.''

"This is a neighborhood tavern,'' said Pullin, 37, the former bartender who lives on the Northwest Side. "You've got books, you've got games. You've got fake beer. You've got TV. We don't have a pizza oven, but we've got popcorn. We've got darts. . . . What else makes a bar a bar? It's atmosphere really. What makes a bar is the regulars. Our company is the regulars and then anybody else we drag in here.''

The connecting "Chicago Theater" is wired for surround-sound and has a full-size movie screen and stage. It's painted in dramatic red and black stripes and has handmade sconces and lighting on each of the six risers.

"We're Chicago city guys,'' said Lyons, who has moved from the city to Hawthorn Woods. "We're da Bears and da Cubs. The union guys. Look at it. We build a bar, a neighborhood bar. It's 120 degrees out. Guys are sweating and tired, and they can't see straight. But they go do this kind of stuff.''

It took a village
Bravo Company members say everyone helped build Bill's Place and the theater -- installing doors, putting up walls or acquiring assets from around the base.

Members use the word family again and again when they talk about the group, people from all over the city who have shared each other's homes and families. Most were raised in Chicago, said Javier Jimenez, who grew up in Little Village.

But the work also bonds them, said Jimenez, who works at a security firm and now lives farther south in the city with his wife and two daughters.

"You have to trust each other. In the Black Hawk, you almost have to think about what the other person is thinking,'' Jimenez said. "We trust that the other person is doing what he or she has to do in order for the aircraft, and crew, to be able to function as one."

Stress weighs heavy
When Bravo Company left Chicago last fall, no one seemed to notice. That broke Lyons' heart, given the sacrifices they were about to make.

"What we do here is very demanding and you do it every day,'' Lyons said. "Monday has no meaning. Monday, a Saturday, a Sunday has no meaning. They all blur into one. That kind of stuff wears on guys.''

There are other stresses. Military pay usually doesn't match regular salaries, and some might be passed over for promotions. Long-established family routines were disrupted, and some were hit with unforeseen crises.

When Lyons was about to leave Fort Knox, he got a message that his daughter, nearly 2 at the time, had been diagnosed with kidney cancer that would require immediate surgery. He flew home, and Taylor Anne had surgery the day he arrived. After she responded well to treatment, Lyons returned to Bravo Company. Sitting in Bill's eight months later, Lyons fights tears while talking about the ordeal.

Bravo Company members say when stress from home or from the job weighs on them, they think of what they see when they fly.

Saddam Hussein's large palaces and a country left in ruins. Children waving arms, reaching out for candy the company sometimes scatters from the Black Hawks. It's moments like these that make them feel hopeful they are part of positive change for Iraq.

Yet there are doubts. Is Iraq in any better shape? Will it ever be? Does candy make a difference?

Some don't see it yet. And in the meantime, a Bravo Company member angrily points out, he has missed a birthday, a graduation and a confirmation back home.

He's venting, hanging out on the porch with friends.

Bravo Company flies hostage to freedom
The chatter from the five radios was busy on Sept. 21.

Black Hawk pilots from Bravo Company were bouncing around Baghdad, an hour into an evening mission.

I sat behind the pilots, peering down at the passing countryside through night-vision goggles, wondering who was down there and what was that cluster of buildings that looks like the Robert Taylor Homes.

Suddenly the radio chatter got interesting.

Baghdad Radio was calling "Horserider 50'' -- the call sign that night for Capt. Daniel C. Lyons and his crew -- to tell them to radio their command center for an emergency mission change.

Five hostages at a helicopter pad in Baghdad awaited evacuation. My heart raced. This was the day the second of two American hostages -- Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong -- were reportedly beheaded and the fates of several other hostages was unknown. There we were, circling Baghdad, five souls below waiting to be freed.

The story was partly true. There really was just one woman, who had been held for 16 days.

Canadian Fairuz Yamulky, 38, had been freed a couple of hours before and was coming aboard our helicopter to go home.

There we sat, on a helicopter pad in Baghdad, waiting on a hot night to see if this really would happen.

And then it did.

Car headlights streamed across the pad, and a woman in a white dress got out. She made her way to the helicopter. I was strapped into a front seat; Yamulky was in back. I was told she didn't want to talk.

Wearing body armor and a headset, I had little room to move. I strained my neck to catch a glimpse of her. She looked tired. She smiled sweetly at someone. She chatted.

We circled onto another pad at a camp in Northern Iraq and landed. Yamulky got off. The crew continued the mission after the brief delay, getting to bed eight hours later.

Posted by Blackfive on October 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

3/5 Marines Back In Action - Heroes Return to Iraq

Remember Marine Captain Brian Chontosh? If not, he's someone that you should know.

Heeeee's baaaack...and in command of India Company.

Below is an article that will be in the next issue of Time. Retired Marine First Sergeant John W. sent this one.

Taking the Battle to the Enemy
U.S. and Iraqi forces launch high-risk probes of the insurgency in Fallujah and Ramadi.
A TIME exclusive

By PHIL ZABRISKIE/FALLUJAH
Monday, Oct. 25, 2004

As lightening flashes intermittently in an otherwise clear sky, a group of more than 200 Marines begins to gear up on a dusty plain outside the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Officers bark orders, directing grunts into their vehicles. Tank drivers climb into turrets and crank up heavy-metal tunes. Infantrymen who moments earlier had been asking about baseball scores exhort one another to move forward. "This is what you trained for, Marine!" "You're the hunter! You're the predator!"

As the group prepared to move last Thursday on the city that has most bedeviled the U.S. occupation, the hyperbole seemed appropriate. Fallujah is the presumed base of Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, the most potent terrorist in Iraq. And more than 100 suspected insurgents have been arrested in recent weeks in nearby villages. Now the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines along with the Army's Brigade Combat Team 2 and a company from the 2nd Tank Battalion - a combined force exceeding 1,000 troops - were about to launch the biggest move on Fallujah in months. The 3/5 would not enter the city but intended to go right up to the southeastern outskirts. The Army would move to the southwestern edge and the tankers to the northern limits, while F/A-18s continued to pound suspected insurgent hideouts. Yet this was not the big showdown everyone had expected but rather an attempt to see how the insurgents inside the city would respond. A Marine battle-operations officer called it "a dress rehearsal" for the ultimate combat. This was a scouting mission, a risk-filled feint supported by air power, an attempt to get an edge for the eventual showdown.

The latest counterinsurgency effort began in a week that included the start of Ramadan and saw the U.S. military - primarily the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force - move boldly to try to subdue the rebellion raging in Fallujah and Ramadi, the two most restive towns in Anbar, Iraq's most restive province. New forces were brought in, new strategies employed. But despite clear successes, the week's record of strikes and counterstrikes suggests that if, as the young Marine said, the Americans are predators, the prey is dictating the nature of the hunt.

The assault had begun in Ramadi two days earlier, when much of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines joined the elite 36th Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard and their U.S. special- forces advisers to raid seven mosques in the city. As in Fallujah, attempts to prop up a local government in Ramadi have faltered amid violence, kidnappings and assassinations. Military bases in both places are frequently mortared. Unlike in Fallujah, though, in Ramadi the Marines are a regular presence in the streets. And they are hit daily by a mostly invisible enemy, bountifully armed with improvised explosive devices (IEDS), rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and automatic weapons. Most attacks occur on Ramadi's main road, dubbed Route Michigan. (When asked if they're in control of the city, a roomful of grunts responds with phrases like "Oh, f___ no!") The mosques offer support and sanctuary to fighters, the Marines say. Calls to attack Americans and the Iraqis working with them go out over the mosques' loudspeakers.

Iraq's 36th Battalion was called in because American troops are forbidden to enter mosques and because the 36th is battle tested, having taken part in earlier sieges in Najaf and Samarra. "God willing, we will go anywhere in Iraq and kill the terrorists," says battalion commander Fadil Jamel. With the 36th out front, the Marines play a supporting role.

The Ramadi operation, launched at 4 a.m., is designed to end before sunrise, before morning prayers. The Marines expect resistance, but as the 36th breaches the gate of Ramadi's main mosque, the city remains quiet. Sergeant Jose L. Carillo of the 2/5's Whiskey Company looks out from a position on a nearby rooftop. "These guys fight when they want to fight, not when we want them to fight," Carillo says of the insurgents, as he peers through night-vision goggles. "They just keep on recruiting. And, I don't mind saying it, we don't have enough people for what we're doing."

With the first search complete, Whiskey Company moves with the 36th to another mosque, while other units pursue other targets. Again, no resistance. The whole day is quiet. "That's not good. That means they're planning," says a Marine who asks not to be identified because he has told his wife he is in Kuwait. Indeed, the response comes at night. Shortly after 9 p.m., another company encounters resistance in the town. The Whiskey platoon, tasked as that night's Quick Reaction Force, gears up, led by company commander Captain Patrick Rapicault. "We'll probably get hit tonight," says his driver, Corporal Marc Ryan, who gazes at a picture of his sweetheart back home before speeding into town.

First stop is the government center, a heavily fortified observation post where two Marines had been wounded by mortar fire earlier that day. The stay is brief. "We're definitely being observed," says Rapicault, but the night seems calm enough, so the units decide to head back. They turn right out of the government center onto Michigan, then right again on Central. Halfway down the street, an IED detonates near the lead humvee. They have driven into an ambush. As Ryan steers through the smoke, red tracers streak through the air and bounce along the ground. RPGs fly from both sides of the road, and AK-47 fire crackles. Rapicault's gunner returns fire with the mounted .50-cal. machine gun; his counterparts in other vehicles do likewise. The convoy U-turns en masse, back to Michigan, then back to sanctuary in the government center. No one is injured. One humvee has a flat tire, and another has been hit with two RPGS, which were deflected by the armor. A Marine says his crew saw an RPG team running down an alley and tried to take it out with an automatic grenade launcher, but the weapon jammed.

In the empty, darkened hallways of the government center, Rapicault huddles with senior officers from both Whiskey and Echo companies, studying a map by flashlight, plotting the next move. Reports arrive that some 25 men are massing south of the ambush site. The Marines debate their options, then head out again to find these insurgents.

Ryan once more turns right on Michigan. As the convoy approaches Central, an IED blows near the lead vehicle. Then two more-- 155-mm mortar shells wired with remote triggers - detonate on either side of Rapicault's humvee, only a few feet from the front tires. The blasts shower the humvee with sparks and dust, spider-webbing the windshield and nearly piercing the reinforced glass in two places. Ryan pushes through the smoke, struggling with steering and visibility, then hits a barrier on the side of the road. The vehicle is alone, no support front or back. More IEDs go off in the distance, and Rapicault shouts to Ryan to turn around. "We can't stop here!" he yells. The windshield is covered with oil, so the gunner shouts out directions, and Ryan feels his way back onto the road.

A few anxiety-ridden minutes later, the men again take cover in the government center. The other humvees lurch in on busted tires. Between Whiskey and Echo, seven vehicles have wheel or windshield damage. A few gunners are dazed. One has had his neck grazed by shrapnel, but again the men have evaded serious injuries thanks to the reinforced armor of their vehicles. For the next few hours they wait for a support team with extra tires. When the vehicles are fixed, the men will head out to swap with another platoon. Rapicault's humvee is disabled - this is the sixth time he has been hit - and efforts to tow it fail when it skids sideways into a concrete barrier, busting the axle.

All told, 13 IEDs have been detonated in Ramadi Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. The explosions and the chase - it's not always clear who is chasing whom - continue into the next day. Two Echo Company Marines have been killed and one wounded by small-arms fire and an RPG attack. By noon Wednesday, things begin to settle. The battalion has detained 15 people and seized a weapons cache. The Americans believe they have killed 30 to 40 insurgents but can't say for sure because the insurgents quickly remove their dead and wounded. Rapicault calls it "a very successful day" and says he hopes the seizure of mortar shells, pipe bombs, AK-47s, machine guns and RPGs means the next few days, at least, will be quiet.

The push on Fallujah comes the following night. The tanks and troop carriers led by the 3/5 pull out of the base around 9 p.m. An AC-130 Spectre gunship - known to the Marines as "Basher"--is already in the air. After an hour, the battalion vehicles set off. The neon-green lights of the Fallujah mosques are visible in the distance. The main target, though, is an old soda factory just south of the city's main thoroughfare; insurgents are thought to be congregating in the area. The nerve center of the jihadist network, the military believes, is just to the west, in an area the Americans dub "Queens."

On their way toward the factory, the vehicles turn off a paved road onto a dusty plain and struggle with the uneven terrain and fine sand. One tank gets stuck for a spell. "So much for rolling right on in," says Captain Brian Chontosh, who heads the infantrymen of India Company. But they are protected. The deep percussion of artillery impacting the target area booms through the night, sending a huge black cloud into the sky. Aerial surveillance spots a pickup truck with a mounted machine gun moving in from the west. From above comes a deep rumbling sound. "Basher took it out," says a radio operator in Chontosh's carrier. Insurgents seen trying to set up a mortar position are killed with a TOW missile fired by another company. Around midnight, as the convoy approaches the factory, the Americans take gunfire from the upper floors and off both flanks. The shooters are immediately silenced by tank shells and heavy machine guns. India Company grunts dismount and move through the factory and surrounding buildings. There are no further exchanges.

Chontosh sets up a command post in the sand and lights a cigarette. "It's time for a defensive mind-set now," he says, settling back to await the insurgents' reaction. On a screen with a live satellite feed, he monitors movement in the surrounding area. There isn't much to see. Word from headquarters is that communications intercepts suggest the insurgents thought this was in fact the big showdown and had congregated in the middle of the city. But other than random bursts of small-arms fire, which is met with heavy fusillades, there is little action at the soda factory. Chontosh meets with the 3/5 commander, Lieut. Colonel Patrick J. Malay. They agree that things are looking good, but Malay says, "Let's not press our luck" by staying too long and "letting someone get lucky with a mortar." Twenty minutes later, they head out.

By the end of last week's mission, Marines and Iraqi soldiers began to relax the checkpoints they had set up around the city. The military gamesmanship in Ramadi and Fallujah gave the U.S. useful information about the insurgents but certainly did not eliminate them. Company commanders know it will be a long struggle and that this is only one piece of it. No single battle can settle everything.

The U.S. believes its Fallujah bombing campaign has killed some top al-Zarqawi operatives, and military officials hope the latest mission will hamper his network's ability to operate. But the insurgency has shown a clear ability to regenerate itself after losses. And the rebels continue to adapt their tactics, adding TNT to their IEDs, for instance, to make them more lethal. In Ramadi they have begun attacking more at night; in Fallujah they have dug into defensive positions. A U.S. military battle-planning officer in Fallujah says the raid left a "big intel wake," information that will be useful later, he says, when the military moves to retake the city. No one can say when that will be. Corpsman Scott Pribble, a Navy medic with the 3/5, had said before last week's operation that he hoped he wouldn't be busy that night. He wasn't. But when asked about the eventual fight for control of Fallujah, he said, "Oh, we'll be busy then."

Posted by Blackfive on October 20, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 19, 2004

They're Not Just Numbers!

I received this email this morning.

Tonight, when the talking heads give out the number of men and women killed in Iraq, I want you to remember this:

So what's new around the country? Things here in Iraq continue along. We had a great deal of fighting the other day, just lots of gunfire then quiet. Usual stuff.

Some time ago we had a farewell for our Brigade Executive Officer, who left to take command of a battalion in the Fourth Infantry Division. We all did skits lampooning him; some guys could not get their video to play on the video player, so a panic ensued while we transferred digital to video and back trying to get it together. We ended up with a US video player and needed a US video, so we took my buddy Dennis Pintor's home video and recorded the skit on the end of the recording of his daughter Rhea collecting Easter eggs around the house.

When it came time to show the video, we had re-wound it too far, so we had the entire Brigade of officers watching Dennis Pintor's cute little daughter run around looking for Easter eggs and waving at her father far away. It was actually pretty cute, because Dennis narrated the whole time, and because everyone with kids missed theirs too. "There she is, ladies and gentlemen, Rhea Pintor, waving at her daddy," he said.

You would be surprised at how seriously people around here take these farewells. This could have actually been a disaster, but Dennis chiming in with his commentary on his daughter toddling along kept everyone smiling; even I was laughing. The home video had the usual terrible, home video, yellow-green quality, but it was easy to get passed it for the brief moment he transported us all back home to our own loved ones.

Captain Dennis Pintor was killed with his entire vehicle crew a few nights ago, just a kilometer from the base camp at 10:52 PM. You guys will miss him even though you never knew him, because he believed in defending his country, and he knew that a lot of the bad guys he captured here were out to kill Americans wherever they could find them, and he therefore believed in this mission.

As an engineer, Dennis spent a lot of time rebuilding, and in many ways he was very lucky to be able to help the Iraqi people directly, with concrete missions fixing roads (ha ha) and repairing bridges he could look at later to know he had accomplished something. He even went out of his way to help the Palestinians in his sector.

Because of the nature of my job, I always try to remember that the people we kill on the other side are also humans, that they also have families and brothers and sisters and wives and children. Some of them, I have seen, did not even have shoes on when they died. It is an almost forgivable poverty they fight from.

What makes a difference to me is that their goals are to turn this country into one with fewer freedoms than before we came, to enforce an extreme religious government that suppresses liberty and worse, exports their intolerance. It makes a difference to me that when we raided the Kufa and Imam Ali Mosque we found hundreds of bodies that had been tortured and executed. Some had had their eyes drilled out; others - men, women, and children - their genitals mutilated; almost all – men, women, and children - had been sexually assaulted. Holy warriors indeed.

Dennis knew this too. For the life of me I cannot get the memory of his little daughter out of my mind; I can't forget Dennis narrating her laughter and her toddler's speech. He was, of course, a great guy. He and his driver and gunner will be 1067, 1068, and 1069 on a list somewhere. To me three of them were the best of friends, and they were Americans dedicated to defending and sharing freedom.

The men and women doing the fighting and dying know what is at stake, and they know how the media portrays the sacrifices. Don't allow them to become statistics for Peter Jennings or Dan Rather.

Remember what the number means.

Posted by Blackfive on October 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack

"Calibrate"? How about Decimate, Mr. Secretary General?

cal·i·brate 3. To make corrections in; adjust - The American Heritage Dictionary

When I read the article below, I kept thinking, "Yeah, like when you calibrated the Oil For Food Program so that Iraqis didn't starve and Saddam didn't get rich..." I still find it hard to believe that the UN has any credibility left in the world today. Maybe, it just has credibility where it can financially reward government officials.

Annan Says Crackdown in Iraq Must Be 'Calibrated' Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:28 AM ET By Mike Peacock LONDON (Reuters) - A crackdown on insurgents in Iraqi hotspots like Falluja must be carefully conducted to avoid losing a battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday.

"In these kind of situations you have two wars going on," he said. "You have the war for minds and hearts of the people as well as efforts to try and bring down the violence.

"The two have to go together and it has to be calibrated in such a way that you are able to move the people along with you ... I hope that approach is also the one that is being pursued by the government and others," he told a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw...

Well, Mr. Annan, third time's a charm...According to my friends in Iraq, Fallujah is about to be crushed.

Twice before, the US has entered and held ground in Fallujah about 1/4th of the way into the city. With elections coming soon, Fallujah will be taken by American and Iraqi forces. Evacuations of civilians have been arranged for weeks, now. It's just beginning.

Saddam couldn't control Fallujah. We probably can't control Fallujah. But we can eliminate significant numbers of terrorists by engaging and destroying them. We will lose American lives in the coming fight, but it's necessary in order to acheive stability in the region.

I've said before that by not taking Fallujah the last two times that someone else would have to do it and possibly pay a greater price in order to accomplish victory. This time, it looks like it will be Iraqi forces along side of US forces paying the price.

Perhaps that sum will be what is needed to separate the Iraqis from the foreigners among the terrorists.

Posted by Blackfive on October 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Photo Of The Week - IED Trigger

Soldiers from the 39th Brigade Combat Team recently hit the jackpot in Taji, Iraq. After some intense fighting, they nabbed a terrorist leader and cache of weapons and items used for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device).

U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott One type of trigger device found was a cell phone rigged up to a motorcycle battery which allows the trigger to remain operational for an extended period.

Posted by Blackfive on October 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

October 18, 2004

Reservists Refuse Mission In Iraq

I watched Al Hunt on CNN say that Reservists were refusing to fight in Iraq. He's wrong. Some Reservists are refusing to transport fuel in Iraq. There's a difference.

Over the weekend, I've received over thirty emails asking for an opinion about the Reservists refusing to transport fuel in Iraq - they called it a "suicide mission".

On October 13th, eighteen (out of 100) soldiers of the 343rd Quartermaster Company, a reserve unit from Rock Hill, S.C., failed to show up Wednesday for the fuel convoy's departure for a 150-mile trip to Taji, north of Baghdad. The 343rd has been in Iraq since February. The soldiers refused to drive the transports due to many reasons (reported by the media):

(1) lack of armored vehicles - according to preliminary findings, the 343rd did not have up-armored vehicles upon arriving in Iraq and did not receive upgrades while in Iraq.
(2) lack of vehicles that were not deadlined (meaning safe or able to operate correctly) - for example, a broken fuel injector could keep a vehicle from operating.
(3) lack of convoy security in the form of MP humvees or helicopter gunship support - this is in dispute right now.
(4) the fuel they were supposed to transport was alledgely contaminated - this is in dispute right now.
(5) the trip from Talil to Taji is one of the most dangerous in Iraq.

Other soldiers from the same company completed the mission for the eighteen who refused it. BTW, the route from Talil to Taji IS one of the most dangerous routes in Iraq.

The small unit leadership of the unit (lieutenants and captains) was lacking - that's an understatement - in order for this to occur. I don't mean that some future General Patton is going to kick things into gear, but somebody was supposed to keep the vehicles maintained, the fuel pure, and the unit protected on it's missions. How far would you go to get your vehicles armored? Would you find the steel to ensure your soldiers are taken care of...? Apparently, the unit's soldiers complained about the lack of armor to their chain of command.

The military gives a three part rule to disobey an order: Is the order illegal, immoral, or unethical? This doesn't even come close to passing the rule for disobedience.

To me, it boils down to extremely poor leadership. My opinion is that the leadership's mind set was to accept their situation, and it looks to me like they did nothing to improve it. It seems that the 343rd had a cushy mission for the most part of their tour and didn't continue to focus on a combat mind-set. Most soldiers will tell you that you never stop training. There is no finale, no finish-line. Always keep improving and testing. It's not easy or fun, but any other focus will get you and your men and women killed.

There isn't any indication at this point that the (Officer) leadership of the company tried to do everything in their power to increase the survival of their unit - either by training their soldiers in combat skills or by getting their soldiers the equipment they needed to perform their mission. And sometimes, you have to take matters into your own hands. Whether that's getting steel for armor on the Iraqi black market or bribing people to get your vehicles armored and protected by escorts or by initiating a Congressional or Inspector General Inquiry, that's what you have to do.

That's what I think as of today. There might be more details forthcoming but don't count on it. This is about the fine line between doing everything to protect your troops and getting every mission accomplished. It's a very delicate matter for all of the troops in Iraq. The command has to send the right signal to the rest of the soldiers who continue to accept their dangerous missions (the missions are dangerous but not "suicidal").

While the disobeyers might get General Discharges, the command structure in Iraq probably won't convene a court-martial. The 343rd will probably get new leadership and the command will retrain them and equip them properly. And they'll probably serve with distinction.

Sometimes to you have to break something in order to fix it properly.

Update 10-19-04: I have received tons of email about this issue. Many want to know why I am not being tougher on the "mutineers". I appreciate all of your opinions and ideas and criticisms. Thank you.

The soldiers refusing to complete any mission should be punished and will be punished...probably with Article 15s and a select few may get worse. That's what I think will happen, not what I would do in that situation.

The main point is that the soldiers may have had some legitimate concerns with their mission, leadership, and equipment. HOWEVER, they used the wrong means to fix the problem. So, the unit needs to get fixed - leadership and equipment - AND the soldiers need to be punished. Those still kept in service will need to be retrained as well. I believe that I was clear about that.

The junior leadership of the unit is still the main problem. This would never have happened with a unit that was led by mediocre officers and sergeants...let alone good ones.

Posted by Blackfive on October 18, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (33) | TrackBack

October 16, 2004

Trouble Among Friends - Canadians Find More Than Weapons Cache

Jim W. sends this article from the Toronto Sun about Canadian troops in Afghanistan finding a huge weapons cache - one with some interesting history. Unforunately, our friends to the north are learning about some of our "allies" loyalties. In case the article disappears into archival abyss, I'll post the whole piece.

Weapons cache stuns Canucks
By PETER WORTHINGTON -- For the Toronto Sun
Canadian soldiers attached to the Afghan National Army (ANA) have stirred up a hornet's nest in Kabul by being too efficient.

They've "discovered" a huge Soviet ammunition dump a few kilometres from Camp Julien with the potential of obliterating the camp, as well as most of Kabul.

That may sound like hyperbole, but I was with the Canadians who discovered the cache -- soldiers (mostly Princess Pats and combat engineers) who are training and working with the ANA and consider themselves to have the best job in the army.

In the dusty foothills, 10 minutes drive from Camp Julien (population 2,000), 82 buried bunkers, each 20-metres long, housed thousands of Soviet FROG missiles (one step down from Scud missiles), and every variety of rocket and mortar shells.

Some of the FROG missiles were still in their original cases. Some heaped in the open. Some stacked to the roof in the unlocked, open bunkers. Much of the ordnance had warheads removed to collect the explosive for homemade bombs -- or for blasting at a nearby quarry.

"Unbelievable!" was Maj. Brian Hynes' reaction when he saw them. "We (troops of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)) have been here some two years, and no one knew this was at our back door. Unbelievable."

In truth, the Soviet bunkers were well-known in an area supposedly under control of the Afghan Militia Force (AMF) -- not to be confused with the ANA. The AMF is paid by various warlords and so their loyalty is to them.

The hero of the discovery was combat engineer Sgt. Mike Mazerolle of New Brunswick, who has run the observation post for eight days with ANA soldiers. They watch the valleys leading to Kabul.

He saw people to his rear so he investigated and found the 82 bunkers "loaded with ordnance, and here I am sleeping next to a FROG!"

He informed his boss, Maj. Hynes and -- eureka -- the cache was discovered.

Many of the rockets, missiles and shells had been pried open for the explosives, which are used peacefully to blast mountain rock into gravel, and by those who want to make bombs that disrupt Kabul.

"These bunkers have been known for two years but no one bothered to check them," said Maj. Hynes.

"To me, that's incompetence."

"To me it's criminal," said Sgt. Power, who works with the major in training the ANA.

I've never seen anything like it. The feeling is that AMF soldiers were selling access to the dump or permitting friends to enter it.

Littered with burned out Soviet military vehicles, the whole area is a junk pile strewn with every sort of live ammunition, fuses, unexploded shells, rockets, etc., all supposedly under the authority of Belgian troops (at the moment), who ignored it.

In the midst of examining the bunkers and taking photos, a Swedish UN guy, a French major and a German colonel arrived to make a fuss and order the Canadians to leave. The French major insisted his government had a deal with the Afghan government for the area, and ISAF had no business being there.

This cut little ice with Maj. Hynes, who is responsible -- not to the commander of Camp Julien, Col. Jim Ellis -- but to the ANA, which has now moved in to secure the site.

The French major was clearly bluffing, hadn't checked the bunkers and got a classic Canadian roasting from Maj. Hynes -- who was supported by a German general who was also appalled at the laxity.

"Now we've stirred up the hornet's nest," grinned Maj. Hynes. "Good. Now we may get some action."

"I feel foolish that for eight days we've been watching our front, when at our back all this was going on and nobody cared," said Sgt. Mazerolle.

Posted by Blackfive on October 16, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack

October 15, 2004

Sy Hersh Is At It Again

First go here (and don't let it get your blood pressure pumped up). Think about the situation described.

Then go read what Sergeant Mom has to say about it at Stryker's place.

What do you think?

If it's true, Hesch should do something about it. If it's not, then we should do something about Hersh.

Without a Vietnam mess, Hersh has nothing to write about.

If you knew that the US had murdered 36 Iraqis, would you just sit on that information?

You wouldn't.

Posted by Blackfive on October 15, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack

Photo Of The Week - New Citizens

Glad to have you as citizens and THANK YOU!

October 3,2004 - Al Faw Palace, Camp Victory South Baghdad, Iraq - Deployed men and women from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines take the Oath of Allegiance during a overseas naturalization ceremony to recieve their U.S. citizenship something never done before October 1, 2004. Photo by Spc. J. Tashun Joyce

Here's the related story:

Soldiers Take Oath of Citizenship in Iraq
By Spc. Leah R. Burton / 28th Public Affairs Detachment LOGISTICS SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Balad, Iraq, Oct. 13, 2004 — Forty-eight non-U.S. citizen service members raised their right hands, took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and became naturalized U.S. citizens at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Oct. 3.

Prior to Oct. 1, legislation stated that an applicant for U.S. citizenship had to take the exam and oath on U.S. soil. Effective Oct. 1, Congress granted the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the authority to allow applicants to take the exam, interview and oath at certain overseas locations...

“The United States recognizes the contributions non-citizen service members make in ensuring we remain a free nation, and as a sign of appreciation, the United States has expedited the naturalization process for non-U.S. citizens who serve on active duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom,” said Capt. Marc Defreyn, chief of client services, LSA Anaconda Consolidated Legal Center.

About 7,000 non-citizen service members have cases pending. About 2,000 soldiers serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom are non-U.S. citizens.

Spc. Jote Aga, a native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and a truck driver with the 630th Transportation Company here, immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1997.

He applied for citizenship in 2003, but due to this deployment was unable to attend his naturalization appointment, where he would have taken the exam and completed his interview. After passing the exam and interview in Baghdad, Aga was able to join the other applicants who took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.

“I wasn't planning to get sworn in over here,” Aga said. “The U.S. gave me the opportunity to pursue my goals.”

The USCIS's goal is to process military members' applications within four months. It normally takes six months or longer.

“I have seen an increase in the number of service members taking advantage of this expedited process, especially our fellow guard and reserve service members,” Defreyn said.

In addition to the expedited process, USCIS has also waived the filing fee for applicants serving in the U.S. armed forces.

“The decision to become a U.S. citizen is an important decision in a service member's life. They are demonstrating a commitment to the United States and while they will enjoy all of the benefits of being a U.S. citizen, they also bear all of the responsibilities,” said Defreyn. “I hope the first official act they do as a United States citizen is to vote in the soonest election to ensure their voice is heard.”

“I can't imagine what would be more memorable for a service member than to become a U.S. citizen while serving during (OIF),” Defreyn said.

“This means a lot to me. I'm so happy I'm serving the country. It's nice to become a citizen,” Aga said. wasn't planning to get sworn in over here,” Aga said. “The U.S. gave me the opportunity to pursue my goals.”

Posted by Blackfive on October 15, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Showdown Part 9 - Marines Hit Fallujah

''It is going to be a long night." 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force

The Marines are getting set to hit Fallujah, again. JarheadDad sends the following story:

U.S. Marines launch air and ground attacks after Fallujah delegation suspends peace talks By Nadia Abou El-Magd, Associated Press, 10/14/2004 23:55

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) U.S. Marines launched air and ground attacks Thursday on the insurgent bastion Fallujah after city representatives suspended peace talks with the government over Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's demand to hand over terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Late Thursday, residents of the city, 40 miles west of Baghdad, reported shuddering American bombardments using planes and armored vehicles in what they said was the most intensive shelling since U.S. forces began weeks of ''precision strikes'' aimed at al-Zarqawi's network.

In Washington, however, a senior military official, speaking on operational matters on condition of anonymity, described the latest fighting as strikes against specific targets and of the same scope as previous attacks into Fallujah.

Warplanes and artillery pounded the city as two U.S. Marine battalions attacked rebel positions to ''restore security and stability,'' 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told CNN.

''It is going to be a long night,'' he said.

Maj. Francis Piccoli, spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told The Associated Press that two Marine battalions were engaged in the fight backed up by aircraft.

He would not say the attack was the start of a major campaign to recapture the city, saying he did not want to jeopardize any future operations.

Piccoli said the goal of the operation was to ''disrupt the capabilities of the anti-Iraqi forces.''

''Ultimately, the intent is to help the Iraqi government bring in democracy,'' he added. ''As you bring in sustained security and stability, the Iraqi government can build on as they go into elections'' in January....

U.S. officials believe al-Zarqawi's terrorist group, Tawhid and Jihad, is headquartered in Fallujah. The group purportedly claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings inside the heavily guarded Green Zone in Baghdad on Thursday, according to a statement posted on a Web site known for its Islamic content. The unprecedented attack killed six people, including three Americans and a fourth who was missing and presumed dead.

The U.S. military said its targets were linked to al-Zarqawi's terrorist network, including a building being used to store weapons, two safehouses used to plan attacks, several illegal checkpoints and a weapons cache.

At least five people were killed and 16 wounded, according to Fallujah General Hospital.

Fallujah residents said the Americans were attacking several areas with rockets, artillery and tanks. One resident said U.S. forces were using loudspeakers in the west of the city to urge Fallujah fighters to lay down their arms ''because we are going to push into Fallujah.''

Residents reached by telephone from Baghdad also said there were sharp clashes in the northern part of the city, which was a major battlefield during last April's Marine siege of Fallujah.

Allawi warned Wednesday that Fallujah must surrender al-Zarqawi and other foreign fighters or face military attack.

Abu Asaad, spokesman for the religious council of Fallujah, said that ''handing over al-Zarqawi'' was an ''impossible condition'' since even the Americans were unable to catch him.

''Since we exhausted all peaceful solutions, the city is now ready to bear arms and defend its religion and honor and it's not afraid of Allawi's statements,'' Asaad said in a live interview with Al-Jazeera television.

However, he used the Arabic word for ''suspend,'' implying that the talks could resume later.

''We are not afraid of Ayad Allawi's statements or the American troops,'' Asaad said. ''The government now is an (American) agent that is working to make this city easy for American troops to enter and do what they want.''

Negotiations had been aimed at restoring government control to Fallujah, which fell under the domination of clerics and their armed mujahedeen followers after the end of the three-week Marine siege last April.

''Military operations didn't even stop when the negotiating delegation was in Baghdad,'' Asaad said. ''Dozens are killed every day. Entire families have been eliminated.''

The government made no comment about the breakdown of the Fallujah talks. However, national security adviser Qassem Dawoud said military operations against Fallujah ''will continue'' until the city ''has been cleansed'' of ''terrorists.''

Dawoud said he is hopeful the delegation will succeed in ridding the city of insurgents.

''I hope they can succeed and can take them away from Fallujah as soon as possible, or otherwise, we're preparing ourselves to smash them ... by military means,'' he said.

Go get 'em, boys! Our prayers are with you.

Showdown (Marines in Fallujah) Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight

Posted by Blackfive on October 15, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

October 14, 2004

Honor Counts - The Military Vote - Part 2

Tanker Schreiber sent me a link to this Jed Babbin piece at NRO that nails why Kerry won't get the military vote.

...The reaction to the Military Times survey is, so far, a fascinating case of denial; typical is the column in Tuesday's Washington Post by Peter Feaver. Feaver says, accurately, that the military is tough to poll, and that our me