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Taking The Fight To Islam ~~ !

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I just had to share this article about these wonderful young men who have put their lives on the line to stop islamic terror in its tracks.

This is a measure of what the islamic terrorist are up against and I am proud to call them brother.

Where do we find such remarkable men?

© 2002 David H. Hackworth

Our Rangers still aren't allowed to talk publicly about Operation Anaconda, fought last March in Afghanistan, probably because the op proved in spades how out-of-touch the top brass are with counter-guerrilla tactics. I suspect the Secrecy Act's being employed once again to protect bad generals – at the cost of telling our countrymen the truth about an extraordinary mission conducted by the men of the 1st Platoon of Alpha Company, 1/75th Rangers.

Eyewitness reports I've stitched together from Allied commandos testify to that platoon's daring and heroism while rescuing teammates and aircrew from a downed chopper as they were about to be snuffed out by a ferocious enemy.

Earlier, the platoon had been spread across the battlefield on separate missions. When word came down to find MIA Navy Seal Neil Roberts, the lead element air-assaulted, its chopper was shot to smithereens upon landing, and the Rangers and aircrew were stuck on a rocky ridge surrounded by a large, well-dug-in al-Qaida force.

Because of blistering enemy incoming fire, a 1st Platoon reinforcing element landed by chopper at the base of the mountain, about a mile from the besieged warriors. The 10 men began clawing their way toward the top – loaded down with 100 pounds of kit – on what would prove to be a 5,000-foot, almost-vertical three-hour climb. And throughout this near mission-impossible feat, they were battered by enemy rifle and mortar fire that wounded several of these elite warriors.

When the Rangers got to the top, they busted through the enemy's bunker line and linked up with their surrounded mates. But they soon found themselves waist-high in snow, the thermometer hovering around zero, in an increasingly hotter frying pan – with incoming RPGs, recoilless rifle fire, mortars thumping in and bullets snapping like angry bees across the open plain at 12,000 feet.

An SAS commando who watched the fight said, "These blokes, along with their tactical aircraft and chopper air support, killed a bloody lot of them."

Apart from their own incredible guts, the air support – virtually on top of them – is what kept them alive. If USAF air controller Kevin Vance wasn't on the ground bravely directing the fire, it would have been taps for all these good men.

Ranger Marc Anderson said, "This is where all the training pays off" before catching one with his name on it while bounding toward the enemy. Ranger Bradley Crose was hit in the head by a round that smashed under his helmet and out the back of his head, and Ranger Matthew Commons went down for the count as well. Air Force warrior Jason Cunningham was hit by two rounds in the gut and lay out in the bitter cold – slowly bleeding to death.

When the Ranger rifles were shot up, had malfunctioned or the men ran out of ammo, the Rangers policed up al-Qaida weapons and waded into the fanatics, wasting them with their own bullets. For almost 18 long, blood-soaked hours, it was often hand-to-hand fighting with knives, pistols and rifle butts.

That terrible night, the Rangers were supported by USAF C-130 Specter gunships that, according to an Aussie SAS commando on a nearby knob, lit up the hills around them. "It was bloody amazing, the most beautiful – yet fearsome – sight I'd ever seen," he said.

The entire action was relayed by Predator drone to the White House, the Pentagon and the generals whose flawed plan got our kids into FUBAR-plus in the first place. The spectators could watch in comfort and safety while our courageous Rangers fought and died and another squad fell wounded. But those who were hit never faltered, continuing to put heavy fire on the enemy in the fierce kind of combat and freezing conditions our forces haven't seen since the Korean War.

Marc Anderson used to tell his buddies he was leaving the 1st Platoon $5,000 to celebrate the good times if he checked out. Upon their return to Fort Stewart, Ga., they were stunned to learn he wasn't kidding. Hopefully, it won't be long before they'll be lifting a few to him and the other extraordinary men they – and we – lost during one of the most heroic small-unit fights in U.S. history.

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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    These men clang when they walk...

    OO-RAH!!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Elite commandos with the greatest and most terrifying air-support ever known, versus brainwashed underage fanatics with long out-dated weaponry, very little food, no supply lines, and nothing to fight for but their convictions.

    Actually, the men and boys of both sides probably clang when they walk. Or did, before the lives of so many brave men was snuffed out in a fight that happened purely due to the politicians who merely squeak when they walk.

    I think it takes more guts to stand and fight the incoming force of elite soldiers with air support, when you haven't had a meal, are wearing no more body-armour than a sheepskin, and have pretty much zero chance of survival. But hey, I'm old fashioned.

    I don't like to see anyone dismissed lightly.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've never understood the common link between evil and cowardice or goodness and bravery: as black knight says, it's pretty damn brave to fight the US marines - just stupid, as well. Post 9/11 the terrorists who crashed the planes were dismissed as cowards. Well, they were evil bastards, but one thing they weren't: cowards. They were pretty damn brave, actually, despite being total scumbags.
    (Similarly, though on a different note: has anyone else noticed the way in the press anyone with cancer/aids etc. is automatically labelled brave? why are they necessarily brave? surely most of them are (justly) pissing themselves in abject terror?)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    love the english SAS dudes in diesel's report, by the way, who say:

    "These blokes, along with their tactical aircraft and chopper air support, killed a bloody lot of them."
    and
    "It was bloody amazing, the most beautiful – yet fearsome – sight I'd ever seen."

    did this reporter meet John Stereotype? The english are capable of words other than bloody and bloke, y'know. I'm amazed they didn't refer to the dog and bone or apples and pears.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Prufrock, I thought it was only the Aussies that talked like that. <IMG SRC="biggrin.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">
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