If there was ever an appropriate use for our Heroes category its this:
Medic gets Distinguished Service Cross
By Henry Cuningham
Military editor
Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor on Wednesday received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest valor award, for his actions during a 17-hour battle in Afghanistan.
snip
O’Connor led a quick reaction force June 24, 2006, in Kandahar province’s Panjwai District, described by Special Forces as one of the most hotly contested areas of southern Afghanistan.
He maneuvered his force through Taliban positions and crawled alone through enemy machine-gun fire to reach two wounded soldiers, the citation said. He tied a signal cloth to his back to identify himself to aircraft overhead. While under fire, he provided medical care and carried a wounded soldier more than 150 yards across open ground. He climbed over a wall three times under enemy fire to help wounded soldiers seek cover. Then he took over as the operations sergeant and rallied, motivated and led his team.
“Thank God for men like Master Sgt. O’Connor,” said Lt. Gen. Robert Wagner, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg.
Maj. Sheffield Ford said after the ceremony that O’Connor picked up Sgt. Joseph Fuerst and carried him over his shoulder and ran while under fire.
“Knowing that bullets were coming in all around him, he didn’t hesitate,” Ford said. “He continued to get up and move because he knew he had to get Joe back if he was going to have a chance to try to save him.” Fuerst died, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Binney survived, Ford said.
Dear, God that’s bravery.
Jamie posted this at 5:16 PM EDT on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 as Heroes
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P.J. O’Rouke gives us a great article on his recent trip to USS Theodore Roosevelt. My favorite part:
Some say John McCain’s character was formed in a North Vietnamese prison. I say those people should take a gander at what John chose to do–voluntarily. Being a carrier pilot requires aptitude, intelligence, skill, knowledge, discernment, and courage of a kind rarely found anywhere but in a poem of Homer’s or a half gallon of Dewar’s. I look from John McCain to what the opposition has to offer. There’s Ms. Smarty-Pantsuit, the Bosnia-Under-Sniper-Fire poster gal, former prominent Washington hostess, and now the JV senator from the state that brought you Eliot Spitzer and Bear Stearns. And there’s the happy-talk boy wonder, the plaster Balthazar in the Cook County political crèche, whose policy pronouncements sound like a walk through Greenwich Village in 1968: “Change, man? Got any spare change? Change?”
Some people say John McCain isn’t conservative enough. But there’s more to conservatism than low taxes, Jesus, and waterboarding at Gitmo. Conservatism is also a matter of honor, duty, valor, patriotism, self-discipline, responsibility, good order, respect for our national institutions, reverence for the traditions of civilization, and adherence to the political honesty upon which all principles of democracy are based. Given what screw-ups we humans are in these respects, conservatism is also a matter of sense of humor. Heard any good quips lately from Hillary or Barack?
P.J. is witty as usual but it is his almost perfect distilation of the spirit of conservatism that I enjoy most.
(H/T)
Jamie posted this at 3:19 PM EDT on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 as Heroes
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Let us never forget.
Thank you to those that serve in the Australian Armed Forces - the only Allies you Americans have had for every conflict since WW1.
A special thanks to both my Uncle Alan Lockett RAAF, who served in Vietnam, and most of all my Grandfather John Sadler RAAF who served in Europe during WWII.
Jamie posted this at 9:58 AM EDT on Friday, April 25th, 2008 as Heroes
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It doesn’t get any more heroic than this:
Navy SEAL paid ultimate price to save buddies
- Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor awarded posthumous Medal of Honor for heroism
- President Bush gave medal to Monsoor’s parents at a White House ceremony
- Monsoor died in Iraq after falling on a grenade to protect his comrades
- He’s the first Navy SEAL to win Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq
From Mike Mount
CNN Pentagon Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) — When a grenade bounced off his chest and fell to the floor near his fellow troops, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor acted out of instinct.
His actions didn’t stem from a lack of training. His instant reaction was to protect his comrades.
The Navy says he committed a selfless act — jumping on the grenade and taking the full force of the blast.
President Bush presented Monsoor’s parents with a posthumous Medal of Honor for their son at an emotional White House ceremony on Tuesday. 
Watch Monsoor’s sister share her memories »
Monsoor was one of the U.S. military’s most highly trained combatants, a Navy SEAL. He’s the first SEAL to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq.
On September 29, 2006, Monsoor was part of a major clearing and isolating operation to root out enemy fighters holding parts of Ramadi, the Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.
Monsoor was in a sniper position on a rooftop along with two other SEALs when a grenade flew into his location from out of nowhere. It bounced off his chest and landed in an area where it likely would have killed or seriously wounded all three of them.
Monsoor was in a position to escape before the explosion but instead leapt on the grenade.
There are no words that can truly honor this man’s bravery and sacrifice.
Jamie posted this at 3:19 PM EDT on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 as Heroes
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Impressive: Fixing a jammed MK-19 automatic grenade launcher.
Very Impressive: Fixing a jammed MK-19 automatic grenade launcher under fire.
Oh-My-God-Dude-That’s-Awesome: Fixing your buddy’s jammed MK-19 automatic grenade launcher under fire and then unloading it on the Taliban.
“I jumped into the turret and saw that the charging handle was stuck behind the bolt and I knew the only way to fix it was to disassemble the weapon system,” [Sgt. Jonas Jerome] Allen said. “I knew I had to hurry because we were taking RPG’s and small-arms fire and I’d rather fire at the enemy than to have the enemy fire at me.”
Allen said he disassembled and reassembled the weapon as fast as he could.
“I just was thinking that if I hurry up and fix the MK-19, I could start engaging the enemy and kill them,” he said.
Once he repaired it, he had the driver of the truck move him into a better position then he put it to use.
“After checking the weapon, we both decided to stay where we were,” Villasenor said. “He had more knowledge on the MK-19 and I am more proficient on the .50 cal.”
“[I] fired the MK-19 into the house and the rooftop we were receiving contact from and after I unloaded an ammo can of 40 mm rounds, I reloaded it and kept engaging the enemy until we stopped taking contact,” Allen said.
Tom posted this at 9:12 AM EST on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 as Heroes
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In Indy.
Jamie posted this at 11:01 AM EST on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 as Nerdom, Heroes
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And he’s now my favorite senator:
U.S. Senator Wants to Revoke Funding From City of Berkeley, Calif., for Vote to Boot Marines
Friday , February 01, 2008
WASHINGTON —
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city’s downtown.
“This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families,” DeMint said in a prepared statement. “The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money.”
“If the city can’t show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer-funded handouts,” he added.
Sen. DeMint will appear Saturday on FOX News Channel — on FOX Online With Jamie Colby — between noon and 2 p.m. ET.
Jamie posted this at 5:24 PM EST on Friday, February 1st, 2008 as Dirty Hippies, Heroes
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