BlackFive

Al Qaeda in Iraq, had one last shot left for us and they took it trying to drown Gen. Petraeus' testimony to Congress in the blood of kidnapped, tortured and then slaughtered US troops. Fortunately for ustheir 10 to 1 numerical superiority was well short of what is necessary to take out US Paratroopers. Jeff Emmanuel has one of the most riveting stories I have read. The heroes of the Iraq War are many and we just added several more names.

The four-man team emerged onto the northern half of the roof and surveyed their surroundings. The building was set up with two staircases, one on the north side and one on the south side, both of which opened up onto the top of the building facing west. Dividing the north and south halves of the roof was a four-foot high, east-west running wall. The entire perimeter of the building's top was lined with a wall of the same height.

Once the area had been secured and the OP established, there was little to do but watch the street around the building. The team took turns keeping watch and sleeping; they had done hundreds of these before, and, while things could get hairy at times, their job involved far more boredom than excitement -- especially if they were careful, as they always were, to keep their heads down and not let anybody below know that they were there.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the four men of Reaper Two, one of the building's occupants had seen them enter and had passed the information along.

Go read the whole thing and remind yourself again of the amazing men who are earning our victory in Iraq.