Great Americans

[LurkerNoMore]

Aside from those numerous factual links proving exactly what you claimed, I see no evidence of this. 

Sorry man, seriously, you're correct here.    Inexcusable.  I doubt anyone here can defend them on this. 

LOL!!!  Dude you need your own talk show.  It hilarious the way you box them in with satire and sarcasm and they can't do anything but deflect or ignore your posts.

[Dos Equis]

 

Police dog saves partner’s life after ambush attack in Mississippi woods
Published May 27, 2015·
FoxNews.com

PoliceDogToddFrazier.jpg

A police dog is being hailed a hero after the K9 saved the life of a Mississippi sheriff's deputy, ripping into the men authorities say dragged the officer into the woods Monday in an ambush attack.

A manhunt is under way Wednesday for the three suspects who beat Hancock County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Frazier and slashed him with a box cutter, The Clarion-Ledger reported.

"They told him they were going to slit his throat, and they were dragging him toward the woods," Chief Deputy Don Bass told the newspaper.

Frazier's life was saved Monday by his K9 partner, Lucas, a black Belgian Malinois who police say chased the assailants down before they could slit Frazier's throat, according to the newspaper.

"He had blood all over him."

- Sheriff Ricky Adam

Authorities said Frazier was able to activate the button that opens the door to his vehicle, releasing Lucas. Sheriff Ricky Adam told the newspaper the dog bit at least one, possibly two, of the suspects.

"We don't know how many he got, we just know he had blood all over him," Adam said.

The attack happened Monday when Frazier got out of his car to inspect a blue Lincoln Town Car with a darker vinyl top that was sitting at a rest stop, according to the newspaper. The driver appeared to be alone and the car's lights were off.

"When he got out, two other people came out of the woods right by the vehicle, and he backed up and fell, and it was on then," Adam told the paper.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Hancock County Sheriff's Department at 228-255-9191.

Click for more from The Clarion-Ledger

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/27/mississippi-police-dog-hailed-hero-for-saving-deputy-life/

[Dos Equis]

Life-saving medic recounts horror of shark attack on North Carolina girl
By  Cristina Corbin
Published June 16, 2015
FoxNews.com
   

Marie Hildreth, right, a paramedic from Charlotte, is seen applying a makeshift tourniquet to the leg of 12-year-old shark attack victim Kiersten Yow, left.

Marie Hildreth had just stepped from the water off North Carolina's Oak Island to throw a football with her family Sunday when she saw a woman running up the beach, arms flailing and yelling.

Minutes later, Hildreth, a 32-year-old paramedic from Charlotte, was on the sand next to a 12-year-old girl who had just lost part of her limb to a shark in waist-deep water.

"A woman came running down and said there's a shark attack," Hildreth told FoxNews.com. "Initially I thought, 'What are the chances?'"

Then, Hildreth said, her mother saw a dark fin emerge from the water and a crowd forming around a young girl, face down in the sand with her green and black boogie board still strapped to her arm.

"I don't think I did anything special."

- Marie Hildreth, paramedic

"She was bleeding pretty bad," noted Hildreth, who said she used strings ripped from a beach tent to create makeshift tourniquets to wrap around the girl's leg and arm.

"People were trying to do hemorrhage control but no one was trained," she said. "If you have certification as a paramedic you have a duty to act."

"I got the bleeding to stop," Hildreth said, as she asked the girl -- later identified as Kiersten Yow -- what her favorite colors are.

"I asked just simple things to keep her talking," she said of Yow, from Archdale, N.C. "She never cried, never complained. She answered all my questions."

A person then handed Hildreth an IV, which she inserted into the girl's arm to give her fluids. The child was in hypovolemic shock, she said.

On the same stretch of beach, meanwhile, 16-year-old Hunter Treschl, of Colorado Springs, Colo. was attacked 90 minutes later by a shark as he was swimming in shallow water 20 yards off shore.

Both Yow and Treschl were airlifted to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where they underwent surgery and remain in stable condition.

Yow lost her arm below the elbow after the shark attack and suffered tissue damage to her leg, the hospital said in a press release Monday. Treschl lost his left arm below the shoulder.

It's not known whether the same shark is responsible for the attacks.

On Monday, Treschl's mother released a statement, thanking, "everyone who has cared for my son, from the people who saved him through their quick actions on the beach, to the transport crew, emergency department team, doctors and staff here at New Hanover Regional Medical Center."

Hildreth, who was born in Hawaii and raised in Charlotte, has worked as a paramedic for 11 years. The ordeal, she said, "really hit home for me" because she and her family had just been in the water.

Hildreth credited the other first responders who came to the girl's aide, one using a boogie board as a stretcher to transport her to the hospital. She also praised the girl's parents for remaining "stoic."

Oak Island town manager Tim Holloman told FoxNews.com Yow's parents are "very appreciative" of the efforts by Hildreth and the other bystanders.

"It helped secure the scene for when our paramedics arrived," he said.

To Hildreth, her life-saving actions were nothing extraordinary.

"I’m just glad that I was able to help and hope that whatever I did will benefit her in the long run," she said. "I don't think I did anything special."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/16/life-saving-medic-recounts-horror-shark-attack-on-north-carolina-girl/

[Dos Equis]

36 MARINE HEROES OF PACIFIC WWII THEATER FOUND 71 YEARS AFTER DEATH

Marines Storm IslandObie Newcomb Jnr/Getty Images
by EDWIN MORA8 Jul 2015
Washington, D.C.

WWII Marine's Remains Found
KMGH - Denver, CO

The remains of 36 U.S. Marine heroes of a bloody World War II battle were found on an isolated island in the Pacific more than 70 years after they died, various news outlets report.

Mark Noah, director of Florida-based non-profit History Flight Inc., reportedly told Radio New Zealand that a four-month excavation on Betio Island in Kiribati resulted in the discovery of the warriors’ bodies.

The U.S. Marines were killed during the fierce Battle of Tarawa in November 1943, said Noah, whose organization worked in coordination with the U.S. Defense Department on the recovery efforts.

“(They) had an expectation that if they were to die in the line of duty defending their country they would be brought home… that was a promise made 70 years ago that we felt should be kept,” Noah reportedly said on Tuesday.

He added that the remains, although they nave not been officially identified, almost indubitably include those of 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military accolade, for conspicuous gallantry.

“Bonnyman’s citation says he led a series of assaults when Marines stormed the island, finally falling when he attacked a bombproof installation that was hampering the advance,” notes Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Overall, more than 1,000 Americans died at Tarawa, while the entire Japanese garrison of 4,800 was wiped out,” it adds.

Bonnyman was presumed buried at sea.

“The archaeological team found the mass grave using magnatomatry, radar scans, cadaver dogs, and interviews with surviving veterans of the battle,” notes The Associated Press (AP).

Several hundred U.S. troops were buried in make-shift, unrecorded graves after the Tarawa battle where they still lay, according to Noah.

The late Lt. Bonnyman’s “tale begins on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Sandy Bonnyman was a miner near Santa Fe, N.M. He had already served a stint in the Army and was now 31 years old. But when he heard the news, he reenlisted, this time in the Marines,” reports The Washington Post.

“By the time he landed on Tarawa Atoll, a string of strategically important islands in the middle of the Pacific, Bonnyman was the executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines’ Shore Party,” it adds. “For three days in late November 1943, the Marines tried to take Betio from the Japanese. Bonnyman led his party across the island, destroying enemy outposts as he went.”

Clay Bonnyman Evans was present when the lieutenant’s body was uncovered, according to The Post. Evans, a former Daily Camera reporter and editor, is the war hero’s grandson.

“Bonnyman’s remains will be flown to a military lab in Hawaii in July, and returned to the family by the end of August,” reports Daily Camera. “He will then be buried at the family plot in Knoxville in late September, in one of the empty plots underneath that large marble monument bearing those false words about his final resting place.”

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/07/08/36-marine-heroes-of-pacific-wwii-theater-found-71-years-after-death/

[Dos Equis]

Green Beret killed in Afghanistan recommended for Silver Star
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
August 13, 2015

(Photo: Courtesy 7th Forces Group)

The Special Forces soldier killed last week in Afghanistan has been recommended for the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor, for his actions during a vicious and bloody attack in Kabul.

Master Sgt. Andrew McKenna also will posthumously receive a Purple Heart, officials from 7th Special Forces Group confirmed Wednesday to Army Times.

Even among some of the Army's best and brightest, McKenna stood out.

"He's the best of us," said Sgt. 1st Class Tim Kennedy, who served in 7th Group with McKenna. "He personified every single positive characteristic that Special Forces guys wished they exemplified. He's caring, empathetic, remarkable at everything he does, an amazing shooter, and a good human, first and foremost of all of those things."


ARMY TIMES
Army Green Beret from Rhode Island killed in Afghanistan

McKenna, 35, was killed Aug. 7 during a complex attack on Camp Integrity, a special operations forces facility in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Rhode Island native died from his wounds after he was attacked by enemy small arms fire, according to the Defense Department. Eight contracted civilians also died in the attack, which took place shortly after 10 p.m. local time, U.S. military officials in Afghanistan said.

Another master sergeant from 7th Group was severely wounded in the same attack. Army officials have not released that soldier's name; he is being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and will be flown home to the U.S. soon.

McKenna, whose full name was Peter A. McKenna Jr., was a member of 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

McKenna's family and friends continue to struggle with his loss, said Master Sgt. Paul Ross, who was in the Special Forces Qualification Course and 7th Group with McKenna.

"At this point it just hits everybody in waves," Ross said. "The truth is losing a guy sucks. Losing your best friend sucks. Losing your son sucks. The silver lining is he went out like a Green Beret should. He went out taking it to the enemy and shooting bad guys in the face."

McKenna was "the best of guys," Ross said.

"He was phenomenal at his job, but I wish the world would see how genuine he was and how much of an American patriot he really was," he said.


Master Sgt. Peter McKenna Jr. is the third American soldier to die in Afghanistan this year. (Photo: Courtesy 7th Forces Group)

The attack on Camp Integrity was one of a string of deadly attacks to hit Afghanistan's capital last week. Enemy fighters got onto the camp after blowing up a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, DoD officials said. Four enemy fighters were killed in the attack.

McKenna is the third American soldier to die in Afghanistan this year; the second from combat operations.

Spc. John Dawson, of the 101st Airborne Division, died April 8 in a deadly insider attack in Jalalabad. Master Sgt. Pablo Ruiz, of 3rd Special Forces Group, died May 24 in a non-combat related incident.

Outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno sent his prayers to McKenna's family Wednesday during his last briefing with reporters at the Pentagon.

"This reminds us we have soldiers around the world doing dangerous things every single day," Odierno said.

McKenna died doing what he loved, said retired Master Sgt. Christopher Corbin, who served with McKenna in 7th Group.

"His record precedes him," Corbin said. "Everything on paper doesn't do him near enough justice, not just the kind of guy he was, but the kind of soldier, the kind of Green Beret he was."

Corbin said he mourns his friend's loss, but he also is proud of — and not surprised by — McKenna's actions in his last moments.

"He was doing what a special operator should," Corbin said. "He heard a boom, he heard small arms, he kitted up, he grabbed his long gun, and he and another friend of ours, who was injured, they were side-by-side dealing death. That's just Drew. There's dozens of times he's done stuff like that."

A native of Bristol, Rhode Island, McKenna joined the Army in July 1998 as an infantryman, going on to serve in the 10th Mountain Division, according to information provided by 7th Group.

He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2002 and was assigned to 7th Group as a communications sergeant in May 2003.

During his 17-year career, McKenna earned the Bronze Star Medal with V device, four Bronze Star Medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Free Fall Parachutist Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and the Special Forces Tab, among several other decorations.

McKenna, who this year earned his bachelor's degree from Norwich University, is survived by his parents, Peter and Carol McKenna, of Bristol.

McKenna was honest and sincere, an "exceptional leader" on and off the battlefield, Ross said.

A whiz at investing, McKenna used to work with his soldiers and teach them how to invest and save their money, Ross said. McKenna liked Harley Davidson motorcycles, "even though he traded them all for a Mercedes Benz," Ross said, laughing.

As accomplished as he was on the battlefield, McKenna couldn't cook, Ross said.

"So if you came over there, you were eating macaroni and cheese and tuna fish," he said. "But he has that infectious smile, and that's what everyone knew him from, the guy with the big smile."

Corbin, who was wounded in Afghanistan in 2011 and is a double amputee, credits McKenna for playing a critical role in his recovery.

"When I was injured, he stayed with me, for weeks, literally, up at Walter Reed," said Corbin, who retired last year. "Every time I opened my eyes from whatever surgery or medication, Drew was right there. He's that guy you can count on."

Reality TV star and survival expert Mykel Hawke, a former Special Forces officer, was McKenna's team leader during Robin Sage, the culminating exercise for the Special Forces Qualification Course.

"He was special," Hawke said about McKenna. "I remember him very specifically because he was so young. He looked like a kid. What really stood out to me was how motivated he was but how unassuming."

The men stayed friends, Hawke said, adding that he was shocked to learn that McKenna had been killed in action.

"He was so likable, so friendly, so motivated, and you would never think of him as the barrel-chested freedom fighter that he was because he was very humble," Hawke said. "Everybody's got some jerk factor in them, it's part of the A-type personality, but Drew was not one of those guys. He was so good. He's the kind of guy we needed more of."

Kennedy, a professional mixed-martial arts fighter who served in 7th Group until he moved to the Texas National Guard, described McKenna as fun-loving with a knack for helping his fellow soldiers deal with their high-stress jobs.

"In Special Forces, you have to be good at a lot of things, and Drew really spent a lot of time being good at everything, but he never lost focus that we're still dealing with people," Kennedy said. "He had amazing humor. He could make anybody laugh at any time."

McKenna was always trying to cheer someone up or pulling a prank to lift his fellow soldiers' spirits, Kennedy said.


Master Sgt. Peter McKenna Jr. earned five Bronze Stars, one with V. (Photo: Courtesy 7th Forces Group)

On the job, Kennedy likened McKenna to Master Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart, who earned the Medal of Honor during the 1993 battle in Mogadishu made famous by the "Black Hawk Down" book and movie.

"He's the Shughart and Gordon," Kennedy said. "He's the guy in the helicopter that looks down in Mogadishu, sees a pilot alive and there's 500 guys coming for him, and says 'why don't you go ahead and put us on the ground so we can protect him.' That's him."

McKenna was never one to shy away from serving his country, Kennedy said.

"He's been in the military for 17 years, and there's not a day of the war that he missed, and at every point of his career, he volunteered to go further into harm's way," Kennedy said. "He's that guy who raises his hand and says, 'yeah, I'll go.'"

Losing McKenna is "frustrating, infuriating, heartbreaking," Kennedy said.

McKenna's friends and his hometown of Bristol are rallying around the fallen soldier's family, Ross said.

"Unfortunately, he lost his little brother three years ago to a motorcycle wreck," Ross said. "But I've been doing this for 15 years, and I have never seen a town pull together like Bristol, Rhode Island, did or a crew of friends pull together like his has to take care of his family."

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/08/12/green-beret-killed-afghanistan-recommended-silver-star/31553947/

[Dos Equis]

American train attack heroes awarded France's highest honor
Published August 24, 2015
FoxNews.com

The three Americans who helped thwart a massacre on board a high-speed European train were awarded the Legion d'honneur (Legion of Honor), France's highest decoration, by the country's president Monday.

U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their longtime friend Anthony Sadler were honored for tackling and subduing a suspected Islamist militant carrying an AK-47 on the Paris-bound train Friday. British businessman Chris Norman, who helped Stone, Skarlatos, and Sadler subdue the would-be gunman, also received the medal.

French President Francois Hollande praised the actions of the three men, saying "You behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men." Hollande added that the men demonstrated "that faced with terror, we have the power to resist ... You also gave a lesson in courage, in will, and thus in hope."

It was an unusual ceremony for the French president's office too, as dozens of photographers loudly shouted out the Americans' names as they approached Hollande standing on the steps of the palace-- unlike the quieter, more-subdued welcome for visiting heads of state. The four men listened to a translation of Hollande's speech through earpieces, and the visibly proud mothers of Stone and Skarlatos looked on.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley also attended the ceremony, along with the head of French national railway authority SNCF.

Stone left later Monday for Ramstein, Germany, where U.S. air power in Europe is based, and then went for a military medical check at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, according to spokesman Juan Melendez.

Skarlatos also traveled Monday to Germany "to accompany his friend after the traumatic experience they went through together," Melendez said. Sadler's plans were not made public.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday the U.S. military services are considering "appropriate awards to recognize their heroic actions." Those recommendations would be up to each individual service. He added that it also will be up to each service's uniform regulations to determine whether Stone and Skarlatos can wear the Legion of Honor; generally foreign awards are not worn except "under certain circumstances when you're in dress uniform."

Davis added that, "we continue to be very proud of Airman Spencer Stone and his friends, who took immediate action to stop that attack and subdue the armed gunman.  Airman Stone is on the road to recovery. We do thank our French partners for taking care of him."

On Sunday evening, Stone, who was stabbed and slashed with a box cutter during the melee, described his version of the events on the train for the first time during a press conference at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Paris.

The 23-year-old said he was waking up from a deep sleep when Skarlatos "just hit me on the shoulder and said 'Let's go.'"

Stone and Skarlatos, 22, moved in to tackle the gunman, identified as 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani, and take his assault rifle. Sadler, 23, then moved in to help subdue the assailant. "All three of us started punching" him, Stone said. Stone said he choked El-Khazzani unconscious.

On Monday, Hollande said that with Skarlatos' words, a "veritable carnage" was avoided.

"Since Friday, the entire world admires your courage, your sangfroid, your spirit of solidarity," the French president said. "This is what allowed you to with bare hands -- your bare hands -- to subdue an armed man. This must be an example for all, and a source of inspiration."

Stone is also credited with saving a French-American teacher wounded in the neck with a gunshot wound and squirting blood. On Sunday, Stone described matter-of-factly that he "just stuck two of my fingers in his hole and found what I thought to be the artery, pushed down and the bleeding stopped." He said he kept the position until paramedics arrived.

"When most of us would run away, Spencer, Alek and Anthony ran into the line of fire, saying 'Let's go.' Those words changed the fate of many," Hartley said Sunday.

Asked if there were lessons, Sadler had one for all who find themselves in the face of a choice.

"Do something," he said. "Hiding, or sitting back, is not going to accomplish anything. And the gunman would've been successful if my friend Spencer had not gotten up. So I just want that lesson to be learned going forward, in times of, like, terror like that, please do something. Don't just stand by and watch."

El-Khazzani on Monday was being questioned by French counterterrorism police outside Paris.

His lawyer, Sophie David, told Le Monde newspaper the gunman is ill-educated, emaciated, and told her he had spent the past six months traveling between Belgium, Germany and Austria, as well as France and Andorra. She said he told her he only intended to rob the train with a cache of guns he came across in a public garden near the train station and is "dumbfounded" that it is being treated as an act of terrorism.

A French passenger was the first to try to stop the attacker and was also honored Monday, but he did not want his identity publicly known, Hollande said, who added "I understand" the decision.

Hollande said another passenger, French-American citizen Mark Moogalian, also intervened. Moogalian is hospitalized with a gunshot wound from the incident -- and his wife told Europe-1 radio Monday that he, too, "is among the heroes in this story."

Isabella Risacher-Moogalian described hiding behind train seats from the attacker and then seeing her husband wounded. "He looked at me and said `I'm hit, I'm hit.' He thought it was over and he was going to die," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/24/american-train-attack-heroes-awarded-france-highest-honor/?intcmp=hpbt3

[Dos Equis]

Oregon shooting hero tells gunman, 'It's my son's birthday today'
By Don Melvin, CNN
Fri October 2, 2015 | Video Source: CNN

Chris Mintz tried to block the door to keep the gunman out
Victim, shot several times, is in stable condition
Cousin: "He walked away with his life"



(CNN)—When Chris Mintz heard gunfire at Oregon's Umpqua Community College on Thursday, his thoughts were not of himself.

Instead, he thought first of protecting others. Then he thought of his 6-year-old son, Tyrik.

Nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the College on Thursday. Nine others were injured.

When the shooting broke out, Mintz, 30, a military veteran and a former high school football player in Randleman, North Carolina, tried to save the lives of others.

"Tries to block the door to keep the gunman from coming in," his aunt, Wanda Mintz, told Fox 8, a CNN affiliate in High Point, North Carolina.

"Gets shot three times," his aunt said. "Hits the floor."

"Looks up at the gunman and says, 'It's my son's birthday today,' " his aunt said.

Still, there was no mercy. The gunman shot Mintz again. It's not yet clear exactly how many more times, but both his legs are broken, said family members who talked to him by phone on his way into surgery.

"He's going to have to learn to walk again," Ariana Earnhardt, his cousin, told Fox 8. "But he walked away with his life, and that's more than so many other people did."

Frantic students hid behind backpacks, chairs

Some on social media hailed Mintz's courage and encouraged people to remember him rather than the killer.

"What a example of what it means to be a American Hero," one person said on Twitter.
 
Sheriff who 'will never' say shooter's name is no fan of gun control

Despite plea, gunman showed no mercy

Even in the hospital, riddled with bullet wounds, Mintz was thinking of others.

"When I found out he had been transferred to the hospital, I immediately tried calling him," said another cousin, Derek Bourgeois. "His ex-girlfriend was with him."

"When I asked him how he was doing," Bourgeois said, "he immediately said 'people died' and lost it crying."

Mintz told his cousin he had been shot five times, but the total number is not entirely clear.

"His ex-girlfriend actually corrected him while he was on the phone with me, telling him he was actually shot seven times," Bourgeois said. "He was so out of it, he didn't even know how many times he had been shot."

Mintz was shot in the back, stomach, hands and legs, Bourgeois said. He is in stable condition, according to staff at Mercy Medical Center.

Grave as Mintz's injuries are, Bourgeois -- like Mintz's other relatives -- is grateful.

"I'm just so happy that he's OK," Bourgeois said. "It could have been worse."

According to the Army, Mintz served as an infantryman from 2004 to 2007, reaching the rank of specialist (SPC). He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.

A GoFundMe page set up for Mintz by Bourgeois had raised over $200,000 in six hours, as of Friday afternoon.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/02/us/oregon-school-shooting-hero/index.html

[Dos Equis]

American hero: Pat Tillman's alma mater honors fallen patriot
Published October 30, 2015
FoxNews.com

Pat Tillman is remembered for his service to his country, but also for his exploits at Sun Devil Stadium.

It’s been 18 years since Pat Tillman, who gave up his NFL paycheck and eventually his life to serve his country following 9/11, took the field at Arizona State University, but he was back in spirit Thursday night.

The Sun Devils’ “Salute to Service” night had the home team donning custom uniforms that bore the former linebacker’s name and special new ”Darks Ops” cleats, which adidas claims were inspired by the U.S. Army Rangers and Tillman. Although Arizona State lost in triple overtime to Oregon, the star of the game was the rugged patriot killed by friendly fire 11 years ago.

“This special tribute honors Pat’s example as an athlete, scholar and soldier, while raising awareness and academic support for the Tillman Scholars who are carrying on his legacy," said Tillman's widow, Marie, who heads the Pat Tillman Foundation.


“We preach the value of passion and character to our players and no one embodies those qualities more than Pat Tillman."

- Arizona State Football Coach Todd Graham

The uniforms were designed to replicate those Tillman and the 1996 team wore for their 1997 Rose Bowl appearance, while honoring his military service. A portion of all sales of adidas' Tillman-inspired gear goes to the Foundation, which offers scholarships to veterans and their spouses.

“We preach the value of passion and character to our players and no one embodies those qualities more than Pat Tillman," said Sun Devil Football head coach Todd Graham. "I’m proud as a Sun Devil football coach but I’m also proud as an American that we can suit up and pay tribute to the hero that was Pat.”

Tillman, who graduated with a marketing degree and a 3.85 grade-point-average, was a seventh-round NFL draft pick in 1998. In 2002, Tillman, by then an all-pro safety for the Arizona Cardinals, turned down a three-year, $3.6 million contract and put his professional football career on hold to enlist in the U.S. Army with his brother, Kevin, himself a Major League Baseball prospect. The brothers completed basic training together and were deployed, but not until Pat Tillman married his high school sweetheart, Marie Ugenti Tillman.


Pat Tillman, (l.), and his brother, Kevin, (r.), joined the military after 9/11. (Pat Tillman Foundation)

Two years later, while serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment in eastern Afghanistan, he was killed  in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost. The Army initially claimed that Tillman and his unit were ambushed near the Pakistan border. It wasn't until after his burial an investigation by the Department of Defense, that his death was ruled a case of friendly fire.

Before Thursday’s game, the presence of Tillman, whose No. 40 was retired at the school nearly a decade ago, was felt throughout Sun Devil Stadium. A day earlier, Kevin Tillman, the younger brother he served with in the Rangers, told players how much his brother loved playing for ASU and then shook the hand of every ASU player.


Adidas' new football cleat is inspired by Tillman and the Army Rangers. (Adidas)

At the game, Parker Hancock, of Mesa, watched with his 3-year-old son, Tillman.

“My wife wouldn’t let me have a ‘Jr.,’ so I decided to go with a name he’d be proud to carry,” Hancock told the Arizona Republic.

Tillman played at ASU from 1994-97, and had one of his best collegiate games against Oregon in 1996, registering 13 tackles, a quarterback sack, an interception and fumble recovery in a 48-27 victory.

His long hair and free spirit prompted one reporter to write that Tillman “looks as though he just came from a poetry reading – oh, (but) he hits like an anvil.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/10/30/american-hero-pat-tillman-alma-mater-honors-fallen-patriot/?intcmp=hpbt4

[Dos Equis]

Army Captain Who Tackled Suicide Bomber to Receive Medal of Honor
By SARAH KOLINOVSKY 
Nov 12, 2015

Cpt. Florent A. Groberg, seen here in eastern Afghanistan in July, 2012, will be presented the Medal of Honor by President Obama, for tackling a suicide bomber.

He tackled a suicide bomber to the ground, lessening the impact of a major attack on senior officers in Afghanistan. For that act of courage, President Obama will present retired Army Captain Florent Groberg with the Medal of Honor of today.

But Cpt. Groberg, 32, said the medal belongs to the families of the four service members who died in the attack.

“These are the true heroes, guys who make the ultimate sacrifice, and their families who have to deal with it for the rest of their lives,” Groberg told ABC News.

It was a security detail operation he had completed many times, but on Aug. 8, 2012, Cpt. Groberg said something just felt off. His unit was escorting a group of senior officers to a meeting in Asadabad, Afghanistan, when “we had that eerie feeling, that something doesn’t fit.” That’s when Groberg saw a man walking backwards and parallel to their patrol, and he immediately knew the man was a threat.

Groberg approached the man and hit him with his rifle. He realized the man was wearing a suicide vest, so he tackled him to the ground. The vest detonated, gravely injuring Groberg’s leg, and causing another vest on a second suicide bomber to detonate prematurely.

“I couldn’t remember what happened, I got thrown 15 to 20 feet,” Groberg said about the hazy aftershock of the explosion. “I saw that my leg was injured so I thought I had stepped on an IED. My tibia was sticking out, I saw my foot was crooked and there was blood everywhere.”

Cpt. Groberg spent much of the last three years recovering at the Walter Reed Medical Center.

“The hardest part is when you can’t move and you know some of your guys are still out there in Afghanistan and there’s nothing you can do about it," he said. "You’re dealing with injuries but you still feel like you’re letting them down because you’re not there doing your job.”

The emotional toll of the attack was just as difficult. “We all had our demons," he noted. "Why Me? Why did I live?”

Today, Cpt. Groberg’s leg has mostly healed. He cannot run the way he used to (he was a varsity member of the University of Maryland’s track and field team), but he knows his new mission is even more important.

“I know it’s cliché and you hear this all the time but we’re just doing our jobs," he said. "If I could take this medal and give it back and have my guys back, it would be done yesterday. I just hope I’m the right courier for them."

As for the future, Cpt. Groberg intends to continuing serving. He is retired from the Army, but wants to focus on military policy at the Pentagon.

“I still want to serve my country as I did when I joined the service, until someone tells me I can’t do it anymore," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/army-captain-tackled-suicide-bomber-receive-medal-honor/story?id=35150689

[Dos Equis]

Army Captain Who Tackled Suicide Bomber to Receive Medal of Honor
By SARAH KOLINOVSKY 
Nov 12, 2015

Cpt. Florent A. Groberg, seen here in eastern Afghanistan in July, 2012, will be presented the Medal of Honor by President Obama, for tackling a suicide bomber.

He tackled a suicide bomber to the ground, lessening the impact of a major attack on senior officers in Afghanistan. For that act of courage, President Obama will present retired Army Captain Florent Groberg with the Medal of Honor of today.

But Cpt. Groberg, 32, said the medal belongs to the families of the four service members who died in the attack.

“These are the true heroes, guys who make the ultimate sacrifice, and their families who have to deal with it for the rest of their lives,” Groberg told ABC News.

It was a security detail operation he had completed many times, but on Aug. 8, 2012, Cpt. Groberg said something just felt off. His unit was escorting a group of senior officers to a meeting in Asadabad, Afghanistan, when “we had that eerie feeling, that something doesn’t fit.” That’s when Groberg saw a man walking backwards and parallel to their patrol, and he immediately knew the man was a threat.

Groberg approached the man and hit him with his rifle. He realized the man was wearing a suicide vest, so he tackled him to the ground. The vest detonated, gravely injuring Groberg’s leg, and causing another vest on a second suicide bomber to detonate prematurely.

“I couldn’t remember what happened, I got thrown 15 to 20 feet,” Groberg said about the hazy aftershock of the explosion. “I saw that my leg was injured so I thought I had stepped on an IED. My tibia was sticking out, I saw my foot was crooked and there was blood everywhere.”

Cpt. Groberg spent much of the last three years recovering at the Walter Reed Medical Center.

“The hardest part is when you can’t move and you know some of your guys are still out there in Afghanistan and there’s nothing you can do about it," he said. "You’re dealing with injuries but you still feel like you’re letting them down because you’re not there doing your job.”

The emotional toll of the attack was just as difficult. “We all had our demons," he noted. "Why Me? Why did I live?”

Today, Cpt. Groberg’s leg has mostly healed. He cannot run the way he used to (he was a varsity member of the University of Maryland’s track and field team), but he knows his new mission is even more important.

“I know it’s cliché and you hear this all the time but we’re just doing our jobs," he said. "If I could take this medal and give it back and have my guys back, it would be done yesterday. I just hope I’m the right courier for them."

As for the future, Cpt. Groberg intends to continuing serving. He is retired from the Army, but wants to focus on military policy at the Pentagon.

“I still want to serve my country as I did when I joined the service, until someone tells me I can’t do it anymore," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/army-captain-tackled-suicide-bomber-receive-medal-honor/story?id=35150689

The U.S. Army will induct Capt. Florent Groberg into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes today at 10 a.m. EST. The Pentagon ceremony will add Groberg's name to the distinguished roster in the Hall of Heroes, the Defense Department's permanent display of record for all recipients of the Medal of Honor.

The Pentagon
CAPTAIN FLORENT GROBERG
BORN
1983

HOMETOWN
Bethesda, Maryland

ENLISTMENT DATE
July 2008

DATE OF COMMISSION
December 2008

UNIT
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

DEPLOYMENTS
Operation Enduring Freedom X & XIII, Afghanistan

Retired U.S. Army Capt. Florent "Flo" Groberg was born in Poissy, France, May 8, 1983. Groberg became a naturalized U.S. citizen, Feb. 27, 2001, and graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md., in June of the same year.

“The proudest thing I have ever done in my life is to wear this uniform and serve my country.”
Retired Capt. Florent Groberg

Groberg attended the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) and competed in varsity track and cross country. In May 2006, Groberg graduated from UMD with a bachelor's degree in criminology and criminal justice.

Groberg entered the Army in July 2008 and attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. He received his commission as an infantry officer, Dec. 4, 2008. After completing Infantry Officer Basic Course, Mechanized Leaders Course, U.S. Army Airborne and U.S. Army Ranger Schools, he was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo., as a platoon leader.

In November 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Lethal, with responsibility for the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Upon returning home in June 2010, he continued serving as a platoon leader until he was reassigned as an infantry company executive officer from October 2010 to November 2011. He was then assigned as the brigade personal security detachment commander for 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. He deployed again to Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in February of 2012, with Task Force Mountain Warrior. He was promoted to captain in July 2012.


Then-U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Florent Groberg conducts a key leader engagement meeting in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, February 2010. (Courtesy of Retired Capt. Florent Groberg)

Then-U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Florent Groberg conducting a meeting with local Afghan National Police in Kunar Porvince, Afghanistan in January 2010. (Courtesy of Retired Capt. Florent Groberg)
Then-U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Florent Groberg conducts engagement meetings in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, with key leaders (left), February 2010, and local Afghan National Police (right), January 2010. (Photos courtesy of Retired U.S. Army Capt. Florent Groberg)

As a result of his actions, Groberg sustained the loss of 45 to 50 percent of his left calf muscle with significant nerve damage, a blown eardrum, and a mild traumatic brain injury. Groberg spent his recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center from August 2012 through May 2015. He was medically retired from Company B Warriors, Warrior Transition Battalion, as a captain, July 23, 2015.

Groberg's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three Bronze Service Stars; the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the U.S. Army Parachutists Badge, the U.S. Army Ranger Tab, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

Groberg currently resides in the National Capital Region and is a civilian employee of the Department of Defense.

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/groberg/?from=hp_spotlight

[Dos Equis]

'We are all Jews': Israel honors US soldier who stared down Nazi 70 years ago
By John Huddy
Published December 12, 2015
FoxNews.com

RoddieEdmonds1.jpg

It was January, 1945 and Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds had a gun to his head.

The commandant of the Stalag IXA POW Camp near Ziegenhain, Germany, ordered Edmonds, of the 422nd Infantry Regiment, to turn over the Jewish-American soldiers under his command. Edmonds and his men – Jews and non-Jews alike – stood together in formation.

"They cannot all be Jews," the German said, looking over the more than 1,000 POWs.

"We are all Jews," Edmonds responded.

"I will shoot you," the commandant warned.

"He was very calm, even with a gun to his head. It’s amazing even to this day."

- Paul Stern, Jewish WWII veteran
But Edmonds had his own warning: "According to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and after the war you will be tried for war crimes."

The commandant stood down.

Those four words uttered by Edmonds echo 70 years later, as a testament to the solidarity he and his men showed to their Jewish brothers in arms. And because of that, Edmonds’ name will be etched in history when he becomes the first American soldier to receive the Yad Vashem Holocaust and Research Center’s Righteous Among the Nations recognition and medal.

Only four other American civilians have received the honor – Israel’s highest for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during World War II.


RoddieEdmonds3.jpgExpand / Contract

Edmonds saved an estimated 200 Jewish soldiers, whose chances of survival if turned over to the Nazis were slim. Although Edmonds, who lived in Knoxville, Tenn., died in 1985, his son, the Rev. Chris Edmonds, has a good idea of what his father would say about the honor.

"I think he would say they’re making a big deal about something he was supposed to do," Chris Edmonds said. "He fulfilled his responsibilities."

Chris Edmonds will accept the Righteous Among the Nations medal on his father’s behalf during a ceremony early next year. His father's name will also be inscribed among 26,000 others on the walls of honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem – a sprawling 50-acre campus of winding paths set amongst the Jerusalem pines of Mount Herzl.

"He’ll join some incredible people," Chris Edmonds said, as he looked at the rows of names as we walked together.

Among them: Varian Fry, an American journalist who helped more than 2,000 Jewish refugees escape Nazi Germany, and perhaps the most famous, Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who helped save more than a thousand Jews and whose story was documented in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film “Schindler’s List.”

Irena Steinfeldt, director of the Righteous Among the Nations department at Yad Vashem, said Master Sgt. Edmonds’ story is special because not only did he save his fellow countrymen, but he did it so late in the war when they were just trying to survive.

"Roddie Edmonds decides he’s going to take a terrible risk and maybe never return home because he believes in his duty to stand up for his fellow prisoners of war," Steinfeldt said.

Lester Tanner and Paul Stern were two of the Jewish POWs Edmonds protected, and recall how they stood next to him during the tense exchange with the German commandant.


RoddieEdmonds2.jpgExpand / Contract

"It was 70 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday," Stern, 91, said from his home in Reston, Va. "He was very calm, even with a gun to his head. It’s amazing even to this day. We never talked about it until now."

Lester Tanner, who lives in New York City, agrees.

"He was a true friend to his troops, a respected commander and one whom all of us followed those dark days in early 1945 with confidence in him," he said.

Chris Edmonds, who leads a Baptist congregation in Maryville, Tenn., has also submitted his father’s name for the Congressional Medal of Honor.

"He was just an ordinary man but lived in a way that was extraordinary," Edmonds said, smiling as he looked down at his father’s picture – a young Roddie Edmonds with a hint of a smile on his face.

"I never knew he had a [superhero's] cape in his closet. But he did."

John Huddy is a Jerusalem based correspondent for the Fox News Channel.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/12/11/are-all-jews-israel-honors-us-soldier-who-stared-down-nazi-70-years-ago/?intcmp=hplnws

[whork]

What a badass.

Talk about balls.

[headhuntersix]

Only reason to do it is you knew you were gonna die....he thought it was over. Fucking stud.....

[whork]

Only reason to do it is you knew you were gonna die....he thought it was over. Fucking stud.....

Some would cling to their life in this situation he said fuck ill die while being brave.

Definitely a fucking stud.

[Dos Equis]

Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor for U.S. civilian rescue in Afghanistan
By Meghann Myers, Navy Times
February 2, 2016


A senior enlisted SEAL will be the first sailor in a decade to receive the Medal of Honor, for a mission to rescue an American civilian hostage in Afghanistan in 2012, according to a Tuesday release from the White House.

President Obama will present Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers with the nation's highest award for valor in a Feb. 29 ceremony at the White House, the release said.

Byers’ actions were so clearly beyond expectation, even for a Navy SEAL, that the Navy had no hesitation in nominating him for the Medal of Honor, according to a defense official familiar with his case, but not authorized to speak publicly about it, told USA Today.

“There’s no margin of doubt or possibility of error in awarding this honor,” the defense official said. “His actions were so conspicuous in terms of bravery and self-sacrifice that they clearly distinguished him to be worthy of the award, including risk of his own life.”

Despite the public announcement and ceremony, the White House is keeping tight-lipped about the details of the rescue. His citation, according to the release, only states "his courageous actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan, December 8-9, 2012."

Gen. Martin Dempsey, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "strongly recommended" Byers for the Medal of Honor in December 2014, according to a memo obtained by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act.

The ceremony was delayed in part by Byers' recent deployment, according to a senior Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

A 1905 executive order by President Teddy Roosevelt requires that Medal of Honor recipients come to Washington to receive the medal from the president.

Byers will be the 11th living service member to receive the medal for actions in Afghanistan and the third sailor to earn the distinction since Sept. 11, 2001.

SEAL Team 3's Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the medal in 2006 for actions in Iraq. A year earlier Lt. Michael Murphy was posthumously recognized for his role in Operation Red Wings, the battle detailed in retired Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell's memoir "Lone Survivor."

Byers, 36, is a native of Toledo, Ohio. He joined the Navy in Sept. 1998 and served as a hospital corpsman before attending Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in 2002.

His awards and decorations include five Bronze Stars with combat "V" device, two Purple Hearts, a Joint Service Commendation with "V," three  Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals — one with "V"— and two Combat Action Ribbons.

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/02/02/navy-seal-receive-medal-honor-us-civilian-rescue-afghanistan/79706520/

[Dos Equis]

Department of Veteran's Affairs
Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Colin Powell. Colin served in the U.S. Army from 1958-1993 and is a Veteran of the Vietnam War, Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm. During his second tour in Vietnam he was decorated for his bravery after single-handedly rescuing three Soldiers from a burning helicopter, one of those Soldiers being division commander Maj. Gen. Charles Martin Gettys.

In April 1989, he was promoted to four-star general under President George H.W. Bush where he served as the commanding general for U.S. Army Forces Command. He received his last military assignment later that year when he was selected as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense.

After his retirement from the military, President George W. Bush appointed him as Secretary of State, the nation's highest diplomatic position.

Thank you for your service, Colin!

[Dos Equis]

Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor for U.S. civilian rescue in Afghanistan
By Meghann Myers, Navy Times
February 2, 2016


A senior enlisted SEAL will be the first sailor in a decade to receive the Medal of Honor, for a mission to rescue an American civilian hostage in Afghanistan in 2012, according to a Tuesday release from the White House.

President Obama will present Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers with the nation's highest award for valor in a Feb. 29 ceremony at the White House, the release said.

Byers’ actions were so clearly beyond expectation, even for a Navy SEAL, that the Navy had no hesitation in nominating him for the Medal of Honor, according to a defense official familiar with his case, but not authorized to speak publicly about it, told USA Today.

“There’s no margin of doubt or possibility of error in awarding this honor,” the defense official said. “His actions were so conspicuous in terms of bravery and self-sacrifice that they clearly distinguished him to be worthy of the award, including risk of his own life.”

Despite the public announcement and ceremony, the White House is keeping tight-lipped about the details of the rescue. His citation, according to the release, only states "his courageous actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan, December 8-9, 2012."

Gen. Martin Dempsey, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "strongly recommended" Byers for the Medal of Honor in December 2014, according to a memo obtained by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act.

The ceremony was delayed in part by Byers' recent deployment, according to a senior Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

A 1905 executive order by President Teddy Roosevelt requires that Medal of Honor recipients come to Washington to receive the medal from the president.

Byers will be the 11th living service member to receive the medal for actions in Afghanistan and the third sailor to earn the distinction since Sept. 11, 2001.

SEAL Team 3's Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the medal in 2006 for actions in Iraq. A year earlier Lt. Michael Murphy was posthumously recognized for his role in Operation Red Wings, the battle detailed in retired Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell's memoir "Lone Survivor."

Byers, 36, is a native of Toledo, Ohio. He joined the Navy in Sept. 1998 and served as a hospital corpsman before attending Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in 2002.

His awards and decorations include five Bronze Stars with combat "V" device, two Purple Hearts, a Joint Service Commendation with "V," three  Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals — one with "V"— and two Combat Action Ribbons.

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/02/02/navy-seal-receive-medal-honor-us-civilian-rescue-afghanistan/79706520/

Navy SEAL Medal of Honor recipient proved mettle in hand-to-hand combat
Published February 29, 2016  FoxNews.com

The Navy SEAL who will become on Monday the sixth member of that elite force to receive the Medal of Honor proved his mettle in hand-to-hand combat in Afghanistan – or more accurately, hand-to-throat.

During a daring nighttime raid in 2012 to rescue an American citizen from Taliban clutches, Edward Byers Jr. leaped across the room to shield the hostage from oncoming fire while simultaneously engaging a Taliban guard.


Navy SEAL Edward Byers Jr. is set to be awarded the Medal of Honor on Monday at the White House. (U.S. Navy)

“While covering the hostage with his body, Chief Byers was able to pin the enemy combatant to the wall with his hand around the enemy’s throat,” according to a Navy news release.

Earlier in the mission, Byers, who will receive the medal Monday from President Obama at the White House, grabbed a Taliban guard with one hand “while adjusting the focus of his night vision goggles with his other.”

“Anyone who has been in combat knows that in those moments you either react or you get killed,” Byers said in a Navy video.

After his team rescued the hostage and boarded a helicopter, Byers spent the 40-minute flight back to Bagram Airfield attempting to resuscitate another member of his team who had been shot, Nicholas Cheque. Cheque died, but Byers said he’ll be accepting the award on behalf of all fallen SEALs.

“I’m going to be a representative for the Navy and the Naval Special Warfare Community and there’s a weight that that carries with,” Byers said. “And that weight is the sacrifices that everybody has made within this community, guys like Nick Cheque and all my other brothers who have fallen. It’s an affirmation, once again, of the job that we do.”

Byers, 36, became a SEAL in 2003. He’ll be the sixth SEAL Medal of Honor recipient and the first living one since the Vietnam War, The Navy Times reported. Byers is the 11th living service member to receive the Medal of Honor for fighting in Afghanistan, according to Stars and Stripes.

“To be a Navy SEAL means you have to be incredibly resilient,” Byers said. “You have to be hardworking. They’re the toughest men on the face of this planet. Any mission they’re given, they will have success at it, and ultimately they are our brothers who, if they have to, they’ll die for you.”

Cheque was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, according to The Washington Post, citing Navy officials.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/29/navy-seal-medal-honor-recipient-proved-mettle-in-hand-to-hand-combat.html

[headhuntersix]

He's a grad from where I went to college. Based on the citation and what he did...there's gotta be way more to the story. These guys are fucking hero's.

[Dos Equis]

He's a grad from where I went to college. Based on the citation and what he did...there's gotta be way more to the story. These guys are fucking hero's.

I saw a blurb that said the details of the mission are classified. 

[Dos Equis]

Fallen Green Beret earns Silver Star for final act of heroism
Michelle Tan, Army Times
March 7, 2016


(Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew McClintock has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor, for his actions during an hours-long firefight in southern Afghanistan.

McClintock, a Special Forces engineer sergeant, was killed Jan. 5. He will be laid to rest Monday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery.

“He died saving his friend’s life and went out [under fire] knowing that he could get hurt,” McClintock’s wife, Alexandra, told Army Times.

McClintock, 30, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. He was killed and two others were wounded Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Her husband’s teammates have since told her that he left a compound, under fire, to find a new landing zone so a helicopter could land and evacuate his wounded teammate, Alexandra McClintock said.

“He ran out without even thinking about himself,” she said. “When he got to really do his job and do the job he loved, he came home a happy man.”

Matthew McClintock is also survived by the couple’s four-month-old son Declan.

“When you’re going through this horrific nightmare, you think that you won’t be able to find a reason to smile,” Alexandra McClintock has said. “But when I wake up in the morning, that little boy, who looks exactly like my husband, makes me smile.”


McClintock with his son Declan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

Alexandra McClintock has been tireless in her efforts to ensure people know about her husband.

“Instead of just ... Sgt. McClintock, he’s Matthew, he’s my husband, he’s Declan’s father,” she said.

A serious, skilled and dedicated Green Beret who was trying to go back on active duty, her husband was also funny, silly, romantic and a little bit nerdy, Alexandra McClintock said.

During their short time together, just like any other military family, the McClintocks worked to “cram as many memories in as we can,” she said.

“We’ve crammed so much love and so many memories into these last three years, I just wish that my son got that, too,” she said.


Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock and Alexandra McClintock (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

She is grateful to the Army, which “moved mountains” to get Matthew McClintock home from Afghanistan to witness Declan’s birth.

“He got to spend two weeks with his little boy,” Alexandra McClintock said. “My husband, holding his son, he was glowing. It was just surreal.”

Before he died, Matthew McClintock had started the process of returning to the active Army.


Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock was killed Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, Afghanistan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

The soldier joined the Army in 2006, deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He left active-duty in December 2014 after “a very rough Afghanistan deployment when he lost one of his very good friends and teammates,” Alexandra McClintock said.

It took just one drill weekend for her husband to realize he missed the Army, Alexandra McClintock said.

“He loved his job, he was so passionate about it,” she said. “My husband’s a Green Beret. That’s who he is.”

Alexandra McClintock has said she is sure her husband had no regrets.

“I know if he woke up that day knowing that’s how the day was going to go, I know he wouldn’t have changed a thing,” she said. “I know he would’ve gone charging out.”

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2016/03/07/fallen-green-beret-earns-silver-star-final-act-heroism/81431456/

[Dos Equis]

Fallen Green Beret earns Silver Star for final act of heroism
Michelle Tan, Army Times
March 7, 2016


(Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew McClintock has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor, for his actions during an hours-long firefight in southern Afghanistan.

McClintock, a Special Forces engineer sergeant, was killed Jan. 5. He will be laid to rest Monday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery.

“He died saving his friend’s life and went out [under fire] knowing that he could get hurt,” McClintock’s wife, Alexandra, told Army Times.

McClintock, 30, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. He was killed and two others were wounded Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Her husband’s teammates have since told her that he left a compound, under fire, to find a new landing zone so a helicopter could land and evacuate his wounded teammate, Alexandra McClintock said.

“He ran out without even thinking about himself,” she said. “When he got to really do his job and do the job he loved, he came home a happy man.”

Matthew McClintock is also survived by the couple’s four-month-old son Declan.

“When you’re going through this horrific nightmare, you think that you won’t be able to find a reason to smile,” Alexandra McClintock has said. “But when I wake up in the morning, that little boy, who looks exactly like my husband, makes me smile.”


McClintock with his son Declan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

Alexandra McClintock has been tireless in her efforts to ensure people know about her husband.

“Instead of just ... Sgt. McClintock, he’s Matthew, he’s my husband, he’s Declan’s father,” she said.

A serious, skilled and dedicated Green Beret who was trying to go back on active duty, her husband was also funny, silly, romantic and a little bit nerdy, Alexandra McClintock said.

During their short time together, just like any other military family, the McClintocks worked to “cram as many memories in as we can,” she said.

“We’ve crammed so much love and so many memories into these last three years, I just wish that my son got that, too,” she said.


Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock and Alexandra McClintock (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

She is grateful to the Army, which “moved mountains” to get Matthew McClintock home from Afghanistan to witness Declan’s birth.

“He got to spend two weeks with his little boy,” Alexandra McClintock said. “My husband, holding his son, he was glowing. It was just surreal.”

Before he died, Matthew McClintock had started the process of returning to the active Army.


Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock was killed Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, Afghanistan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)

The soldier joined the Army in 2006, deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He left active-duty in December 2014 after “a very rough Afghanistan deployment when he lost one of his very good friends and teammates,” Alexandra McClintock said.

It took just one drill weekend for her husband to realize he missed the Army, Alexandra McClintock said.

“He loved his job, he was so passionate about it,” she said. “My husband’s a Green Beret. That’s who he is.”

Alexandra McClintock has said she is sure her husband had no regrets.

“I know if he woke up that day knowing that’s how the day was going to go, I know he wouldn’t have changed a thing,” she said. “I know he would’ve gone charging out.”

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2016/03/07/fallen-green-beret-earns-silver-star-final-act-heroism/81431456/

[Dos Equis]

Pioneering female pilot of World War II era dies at 96 in Faribault

Elizabeth Strohfus, a Faribault native, was a member of the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.
By Associated Press |    
March 7, 2016


In this March 10, 2010 file photo, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz greets Elizabeth Strohfus of Faribault, Minn., on Capitol Hill in Washington, before she and other members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Her son, Art Roberts, says Strohfus died Sunday, March 6, 2016, at the age of 96 at her assisted living center after being placed in hospice care following a fall. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

FARIBAULT, Minn. — Pioneering Minnesota aviator Elizabeth Strohfus, who piloted military planes across the country during World War II and received two Congressional Gold Medals, has died at age 96, her son said Monday.

Strohfus died Sunday night at a Faribault assisted living center after being placed in hospice care after a fall a few weeks ago, said her son, Art Roberts of Northfield.

Strohfus was one of the last remaining members of Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. She ferried military planes in 1943 and 1944, and helped train air and infantry gunners at Las Vegas Army Airfield.

She was one of 1,074 female pilots to earn silver wings in the WASP. The female pilots flew military aircraft in noncombat roles during wartime to free up male pilots for combat. The women were considered civilians until Congress retroactively granted them veteran status in 1977.

After graduating from high school, Strohfus borrowed $100 from a bank using her bicycle as collateral to join the previously all-male Sky Club. She was a member of the Civil Air Patrol before joining WASP, the Faribault Daily News reported.

As a young woman, Strohfus was so intrigued with flying that she spent many afternoons after work at the Faribault airport, thumbing rides from pilots.

Roberts said her mother would say she loved to climb trees as a young girl.

“She would be up there all day, if she could,” Roberts said. “She just liked being up high and looking at the world.”

After WASP was disbanded in December 1944, Strohfus worked as an aircraft controller in Wyoming before returning to her hometown of Faribault, about 50 miles south of Minneapolis, where she married and raised a family. A member of the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame, Strohfus received two Congressional Gold Medals: one for her service as a WASP and the second for her service in the Civil Air Patrol.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she was saddened to learn of Strohfus’ death. In a statement, Klobuchar said Strohfus “served out country admirably,” not only during WWII as a WASP but also after the war advocating for her fellow WASPs.

Klobuchar has been calling for allowing WASPs to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, after the Army recently reversed its policy allowing the women to be interred at Arlington. Strohfus planned to be buried in Minnesota but supported allowing WASPs to be buried at Arlington, her son said.
 Funeral arrangements are pending.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/07/pioneering-female-pilot-of-world-war-ii-era-dies-at-96-in-faribault/

[Dos Equis]

10 Incredible Photos Of The Heroes Who Fought The Vietnam War
By JAMES CLARK
March 29, 2016 


Vietnam Veterans Day marks the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam and honors the 3 million who served there.

When the last of America’s troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, their return home brought a defining and divisive chapter in the country’s history to a close. Roughly 3 million men and women served in Vietnam and nearly 60,000 gave their lives over the course of the war.

To commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day, which was established on March 29, 2012 to honor those who served in the war, here are 10 incredible photos from the Vietnam War’s early days to years after.

After their unit landed in the middle of a Viet Cong staging area, a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne provides cover for a wounded comrade while under sniper fire, on June 24, 1965.


Vietnam War US Wounded
A soldier with the U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division is helped by a fellow soldier as he crawls from the mud of a rice paddy while taking heavy Viet Cong fire near An Thi in South Vietnam on Jan. 30, 1966. U.S. troops were engaged in a fierce 24-hour battle with the enemy along the central coast.


Vietnam War US Troops
U.S. Army paratroopers with 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain during a search for Viet Cong positions in the jungle area of Ben Cat, South Vietnam on Sept. 25, 1965. The paratroopers had been searching the area for 12 days with no enemy contact.


U.S. PARATROOPERS
First Cavalry Division medic Thomas Cole, with one of his own eyes bandaged, continues to treat wounded Staff Sgt. Harrison Pell, during a Jan. 30, 1966 firefight at An Thi in the Central Highlands between U.S. troops and a combined North Vietnamese and Vietcong force.


COLE PELL
Farewell ceremonies in Danang on July 25, 1969 mark the departure of the colors of the 9th Marine regiment which is being deployed to Okinawa under President Richard Nixon’s 25,000 troop withdrawal plan.


Vietnam War: U.S. Troops
U.S. Marines prepare to board a ship in Danang for their return trip to the states.


Vietnam War
Released prisoner of war Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm is greeted by his family at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, as he returns home from the Vietnam War, March 17, 1973.



Don Wilkes, left, and Steve Giles stand outside of the Huntington, West Virginia Vet Center on July 30, 1980. Vietnam veterans themselves, both counselors endeavor to reach out to fellow veterans and their families in order to help them cope with the society they have returned to and must readjust to since the war.


Don Wilkes, Steve Giles
Thousands of Vietnam veterans gather in Chicago’s Grant Park following a parade through the city’s downtown on June 13, 1986. The parade was a “Welcome Home” tribute more than a decade after their return from Vietnam.


Vietnam Veterans Homecoming Parade
A man places his hand against the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 11, 1986, on Veterans Day.


http://taskandpurpose.com/10-incredible-photos-heroes-fought-vietnam-war/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tp-today

[Dos Equis]

Heroic US Marine Corps service dog awarded top medal for war animals
Published April 05, 2016
FoxNews.com

April 5, 2016: Gunnery sergeant Christopher Willingham, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, poses with US Marine dog Lucca, after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London.

A heroic U.S. Marine Corps German shepherd that lost a leg sniffing out a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was awarded the world's highest honor for service dogs during a special ceremony Tuesday.

Lucca, who served U.S. troops during more than 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan over a six-year span, received the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal at the Wellington Barracks in London. She is the first Marine Corps dog to receive the medal, considered the top honor for war animals around the world.

Her handler, Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Willingham, told Sky News that it was an "incredible honor" to receive the award from the veterinary charity.

"It is very humbling to be part of this entire process,” he said. “I think more importantly is that Lucca's accomplishments are going to help bring awareness and recognition to all our military working dogs and their handlers.”

"Through all of her treatment, and despite the pain she was in, her temperament never changed."

- Cpl. Juan Rodriguez

There were no human casualties during Lucca’s bomb-sniffing patrols. Her career ended in March 2012 when she lost her leg and suffered chest burns from a bombing in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, who was her handler at the time, stayed by her side throughout each step of Lucca’s recovery.

"The explosion was huge and I immediately feared the worst for Lucca,” he told The Telegraph. “I ran to her and saw her struggling to get up. I picked her up and ran to the shelter of a nearby tree line, applied a tourniquet to her injured leg and called the medics to collect us.”

Ten days later, after an operation, Lucca was up and walking again.

"Through all of her treatment, and despite the pain she was in, her temperament never changed,” Rodriguez said. “Her fighting spirit was plain to see and I was so proud of how quickly she recovered."

Willingham, who now takes care of Lucca in California, told Sky News that he tries his “best to keep her spoiled in her well-deserved retirement.” He traveled to London to accept the medal Tuesday.

"Lucca's conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty makes her a hugely deserving recipient of the PDSA Dickin Medal,” said Jan McLoughlin, director general of the PDSA. “Her ability and determination to seek out arms and explosives preserved human life amid some of the world's fiercest military conflicts."

Since the medal was introduced in 1943, it has been awarded to dozens of dogs and World War II messenger pigeons, as well as three horses and a cat.

Diesel, a French police dog who was killed in the raid to capture terrorists behind the deadly Nov. 13 Paris attacks, will also posthumously receive the medal this year.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/05/heroic-us-marine-corps-service-dog-awarded-top-medal-for-war-animals.html

[Dos Equis]

73 years later, a fallen American commando comes home
Matthew L. Schehl, Marine Corps Times
April 6, 2016

(Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)

More than seven decades after he was killed in action in the Pacific, a World War II Raider has come home.

Marine Corps Sgt. John C. Holladay was buried with military honors Monday at the National Cemetery in Florence, South Carolina, after his remains were identified and repatriated from the Solomon Islands.

His return means his family’s 70-year grieving process is over, his nephew Jack Holladay said.

“It was a joyous occasion to finally have him back on American soil,” he said. “Knowing that the Marine Corps bent over backward to identify the remains and bring him home — words can’t describe it; it means everything to us.”


Members of 1st Marine Raider Battalion render a final salute to Sgt. John C. Holladay during his memorial service in Florence, S.C., on Monday. Holladay, a World War II Marine Raider was killed in action while assigned to Bravo Company, 1st MRB, in 1943. (Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)
Under brilliant skies, Marines of Fox Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, rendered the funeral detail for Holladay’s burial before more than a hundred family, friends and community members.

In attendance as well were members of today’s Raiders: the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, the decade-old spec-ops community that directly traces its lineage to the Raiders of WWII.

“The fact that Raiders take care of their own, in life and in death, is a major contributor to their audacity and mission accomplishment,” MARSOC spokesman Capt. Barry Morris said. “Sgt. Holladay’s return provides closure for both his family and the Raider community, demonstrating that although he was missing 73 years he was never forgotten.”

On July 20, 1943, the 1st Raider Battalion, 1st Raider Regiment, was tasked with assaulting through enemy positions at Bairoko Harbor on New Georgia Island as part of Operation Cartwheel, a joint Marine Corps-Army offensive to shut down Japanese operations in the South Pacific.

After fighting through two successive defensive lines, 31-year-old Holladay, as platoon sergeant of Bravo Company, attempted to rally his Marines for an attack on a third when he was hit by a sniper, according to the Florence Morning-News.

“As we reached down to pick him up, John looked up at me, shook his head a little, gave me a smile and died,” his platoon leader, Lt. Robert Kennedy, recounted in a letter to Holladay’s family. “He had been shot directly in the heart and died easily and quickly.”

Thirty-three other Marines and soldiers were killed in the battle. In the days after, patrols returned to recover and bury the dead, yet Holladay’s remains were unaccounted for.

In 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company returned to conduct an intensive search, but to no avail. In 1949, Holladay was officially designated unrecoverable by the American Graves Registration Service.

“Most of us had never met my uncle,” Jack Holladay said. “The stories that our fathers told us, me and my cousins, made him leap out at us, larger than life. He would never be forgotten in our family because the stories kept his memory alive to a point that as young children, we expected him to walk through the door.”


Marine Raiders remove and fold the flag that covered Sgt. John C. Holladay's casket. (Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)
The United States military did not forget him, either.

In 2012, local workers on New Georgia unearthed foxholes, military gear and human remains while clearing land for logging.

The U.S. Defense Department POW/MIA Accounting Agency, tasked with searching for and identifying missing American military personnel around the world, dispatched a task force to Bairoko to investigate.

DPAA personnel interviewed islanders, launched an exhaustive search and, in 2015, took custody of remains that they conclusively identified as belonging to the Marine Raider.

“To identify Holladay’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab used circumstantial evidence; two types of DNA analysis, including mitochondrial DNA, which matched a maternal cousin, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA, which matched a paternal nephew; as well as dental comparison and anthropological analysis, which matched his records,” DPAA said in a statement.

The paternal nephew was Jack Holladay. The commandant's office contacted his family to ask for DNA samples and Holladay returned a DNA kit the day after he received it.

“Of course I volunteered; I knew how dear it way to my father and my uncle’s hearts, their mother and father’s” he said. “They longed to bring him home, so much that as you look through letters they wrote to the Marine Corps, they asked for just a photo of his grave, but they couldn’t do that. We didn’t have any hope of ever recovering him.”


A Marine presents the American flag to Sgt. John Holladay's family 73 years after the Marine Raider was killed in World War II. (Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)
The military then brought Sgt. Holladay home to Florence, the town where he had graduated high school as an 18-year-old in 1930.

He worked as a florist for a while, but his passion was forestry and the outdoors, his nephew said.

In early December 1941, Holladay and a buddy set off in a rowboat on a 100-mile river trip, fishing, hunting and living off the land.

“When they came out some 30 days later, they realized we were at war with Japan,” Jack Holladay said. “He told his friend that he knew what he had to do and went straight away and enlisted in the Marine Corps.”

On Jan. 9, 1942, John Holladay stepped on the yellow footprints at Parris Island. The 29-year-old immediately stood out for his maturity, integrity and leadership.

“When he decided to do something, he poured his heart and soul into it, he gave 100 percent of himself, and he gave that in the Corps,” his nephew said.

He was only there for a month before getting word that Maj. Gen. Merritt Edson was looking for volunteers for a new, high-speed unit to conduct risky raids behind enemy lines.

Holladay stepped forward, and quietly disappeared to Quantico, Virginia, to begin training with the 1st Raider Battalion — Edson’s Raiders — the unit many consider the first American special operations force of WWII.

“He was asked at Quantico to stay and be an instructor, but he wouldn’t have it,” Jack Holladay said. “He joined the Marines to fight for his country, and that’s what he wanted to do.”

On Aug. 7, 1942, Edson’s Raiders opened the Guadalcanal Campaign with a landing on the small island of Tulagi. Once captured, they were dispatched to defend Henderson Field on Guadalcanal Island from an Imperial Japanese Army offensive.

Over the next year, Holladay fought across the Solomon Islands until he met the sniper’s bullet on New Georgia Island.

Seventy-three years later, his casket was met by a Marine Corps honor guard on the tarmac at Charleston International Airport, South Carolina.

Interstate 26 shut down to all traffic except his motorcade, which was escorted by police and the Patriot Guard Riders; hundreds of people lined the 100 miles of Route 52 on the way to Florence to pay their respects, Jack Holladay said.

“Every little hamlet or town we passed through looked as if the whole town had turned out,” he said. “Veterans organizations, folks lining the streets waving American flags; it was intensely emotional to see that much respect paid to a fallen comrade.”

Sgt. John Holladay returned home April 4, his birthday.

“He would have been 104 years old,” Jack Holladay said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/2016/04/06/73-years-later-fallen-american-commando-comes-home/82671008/