Modern War Heroes

While American forces are performing heroic acts, and thankfully, are getting plenty of credit for their heroism, there are yet unsung heroes on the Iraqi front. They are the Iraqi translators.

These brave men face hardships unknown to us. They are looked on as traitors to their countrymen, even though their mission is peace. The translators perform a valuable service to the American military, and without them they wouldn’t be able to do what they do.The translators have to follow the troops into hostile territory, and often they are injured or killed.

But the Iraqi translators face real danger. Often they hide their faces, and use aliases and accents to hide their identity. If their identity is discovered, it’s not only themselves who can can to harm. The Iraqi people see them as traitors, and as such, they go after the entire family.

These men have taken up a job that is every bit as tough as being a soldier, but remain behind the scenes. I’ve read many articles that mention a lost translator, but the writers rarely mention the mens’ names. So take a moment to give a thought and a prayer to the Iraqi translators who have dedicated themselves to doing what they think is right, even if their entire country is against them.

For more about the Iraqi translators, click here.

This would have to be a mom’s worst nightmare. Her son is overseas fighting in Iraq, and she gets word that his troop was involved in a serious bombing attack. I would image she would wait nervously for the news about her son’s fate.

Tammy Gollinger knows how this feels. She received word from the government that her son Randy was alive, but critically injured. And that’s all they would tell her.

Tammy desperately wanted to be by her son’s side, but no information about him was forthcoming. She didn’t even know the extent of his injuries, and Randy himself couldn’t contact her due to the fact that he was unconscious the majority of the time.

This lack of information would start a mother’s nightmare. She eventually found out that Randy had suffered enormous trauma to his right leg and that it was only hanging by skin. His face had also been crushed and he had lost his right eye. The doctors thought he was going to die.

Tammy had trouble even reaching her son. The military told her to “stay put” and when she did finally manage to locate him and arrive at the hospital, they denied her entry.

However, using her connections as a hospital employee, she managed to get paperwork allowing her entry to her son’s bedside.

“The devastation of walking into that hospital room for the first time will never leave my mind,” recalls Tammy. “The smell alone was terrible. His leg was gangrenous. Since they didn’t think he was going to live, they left him in one piece. My first order of business was to order the doctors to remove my son’s leg and save his life. I knew in my heart that if he lived 48 hours, he had a chance of surviving.” (source)

Randy survived, but he had a long road to recovery, both physically and emotionally. He suffered from depression, and hated the reflection in the mirror. Slowly, with years of plastic reconstruction and therapy, Randy has made a comeback. Now, at 23, he is happy and living with his girlfriend.

Read the full article here.

Sergeant Gunnar Swanson joined the US Army and began serving in Iraq in 2003. During his time there, he and his fellow soldiers spent many hours playing with the local Iraqi children. They gave the kids toys and snacks, shared each other’s language, and played games with them. But months later, war reared its ugly head, and Swanson found himself pointing a gun at a young boy whom they believed was an insurgent.

Luckily, Swanson didn’t have to shoot that day, but the fact that he had had to point a loaded gun at a child and be prepared to shoot tormented him.

“Pointing a gun at a child, threatening to shoot him,” Swanson told the Christian Science Monitor. “I was 25 years old at the time, and it has weighed pretty heavy on me ever since then.”

After Swanson’s tour was complete, he moved to Key Largo and got a job training dolphins. However, despite landing what might be considered a dream job, Gunnar wasn’t happy. He continued to think about the Iraqi children.

So he moved to Minnesota and got a program manager job with War Kids Relief, a non-profit organization set up to help children in war-torn countries, such as Iraq, get help and much needed education.

As part of a fund raising venture for the organization, Swanson vowed to walk from Dallas to Minnesota, a journey of 1,000 miles. It was known as A Soldier’s March for Peace. He began walking of July 4th and finished September 10th. All along the way, Swanson stopped at schools to talk of his mission and the problems facing the children in Afghanistan and Iraq. He even helped them write letters to their overseas peers.

By the end of his long walk, Swanson’s feet were covered in painful blisters, but he knows it was worth it.

“I do this to protect kids in Iraq, Afghanistan, and here at home,” Swanson wrote. “I do this for my friends who didn’t make it home with me from Iraq. I do it for my nephews and my future children. I do it for every kid I see playing on a playground, riding bike down the street, or playing ball in the park.”

Quotes from Gimundo

Missing man formation over the USS Arizona memorial in Hawaii.

The “Missing Man” formation is a touching memorial to those lost in the airforce. It is a rare thing for those not in the military to witness. It is performed by the pilots flying in formation, just as if the lost man were still there.

It is believed that the tradition started in Britain at the funeral of Manfred von Richthofen, or the “Red Baron”. While that is just common belief, it is known for certain that its genesis orginates  during World War I.

For more information of the Missing Man formation, visit aiipowmia.com to learn more.

I found this account over at the website DamnInteresting.com. And the website does live up to its name. But first, I’d like you to check out the story of Virginia Hall, a woman born in Maryland in 1906.

Long story short, when Virginia was only 26, she went on a hunting trip in Turkey and accidentally shot herself in the leg. Sadly, the injury was so extensive that the doctors couldn’t save the limb and had to amputate.

But that didn’t stop her from making history. She ended up as a clerk in France and was trapped when Nazi Germany invaded in 1940. She snuck out of the country and joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Britain. SEO was created by Winston Churchill and was an effort to wage war in ways that didn’t involve direct military engagement. Known as the “Baker Street Irregulars,” they engaged in spreading propaganda and spying.

Virginia was sent to German occupied France to spy. The Nazis were aware of her presence, but not who she was. She was known to them only as “the woman with the limp”. Virginia spent 15 months on her first tour – most spies only spent three.  She spent most of that time in France assisting the Resistance, helping them receive supply drops from the Allies.

In 1942 she was forced to flee over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain when German troops were moving forcefully through France.

When she returned to London, Virginia signed on with the American intelligence office, the Office of Strategic Service. They sent her back to France in 1944 disguised as an elderly woman. This time she operated in a much more guerrilla fashion – destroying bridges, sabotaging trains, and causing overall havoc for the German forces.

Keep in mind that she only had one leg – and she managed all this.

Virginia Hall was the only woman during World War II to receive the US Distinguished Service Cross. I believe that she more than deserved that honor.

I believe I’ve posted before on the absolute mess our veterans are in when dealing with health care. And so many veterans are in desperate need of good health care. Why is this so hard for our government to provide? These men and women put themselves on the line for their country. The least our country could do for them in return is to guarantee care for the physical and emotional injuries these brave people incur in the field.

I found this article giving a few points about how badly cared for are veterans are, and in some cases, the deadliness of that poor care. It was originally posted on Veterans’ Day, but I thought that some of it was worth repeating.

These figures aren’t exactly pretty. The United States government should be ashamed of itself in that it lets these men and women suffer, and in many cases die, without proper post-war treatment.

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

The researchers, who released their analysis today [Tuesday], pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.

The Harvard group analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2009 Current Population Survey, which surveyed Americans about their insurance coverage and veteran status, and found that 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals or clinics.

Using their recently published findings in the American Journal of Public Health that show being uninsured raises an individual’s odds of dying by 40 percent (causing 44,798 deaths in the United States annually among those aged 17 to 64), they arrived at their estimate of 2,266 preventable deaths of non-elderly veterans in 2008.

…While many Americans believe that all veterans can get care from the VA, even combat veterans may not be able to obtain VA care, Woolhandler said. As a rule, VA facilities provide care for any veteran who is disabled by a condition connected to his or her military service and care for specific medical conditions acquired during military service.

Woolhandler said veterans who pass a means test are eligible for care in VA facilities, but have lower priority status…Veterans with higher incomes are classified in the lowest priority group and are not eligible for VA enrollment. (Mother Jones)

This isn’t right. I believe the author, James Ridgeway, quoting these statistics said it all right here:

So after these men and women risk their lives in the military, we throw them on the mercy of the private system of medicine-for-profit, which is touted as a cherished part of the American way of life. It all gives a whole new meaning to dying for your country.

I found this very interesting. These women are able to walk the lines between two cultures and open communications in places that our male soldiers have only had glimpses of.

I’ve been reading a recent internal summary of how Marine “Female Engagement Teams,” or FETs, have worked in Afghanistan. The bottom line is that done right, this approach works surprisingly well, with benefits among the population that can’t be achieved by males. The findings run directly contrary to several assertions made in the comments reacting to my previous post on this subject.

First, Afghans don’t seem to mind the female teams. Paradoxically, “Female Marines are extended the respect shown to men, but granted the access reserved for women,” the report finds. “In other words, the culture is more flexible than we’ve conditioned ourselves to think.”

Second, the teams have been successful in reaching the other half of the population, one that carries disproportionate influence with the prime Taliban recruiting pool. “Local women wield more influence than many of us imagined-influence on their husbands, brothers, and especially their adolescent sons.”

When one patrol that took a FET with it was observed, the female Marines were invited inside several compounds, while the male Marines stayed outside. “And in each case, the FET succeeded in breaking the ice and getting women to open up and discuss their daily lives and concerns.” Nor was this an isolated event. When patrols returned, “we discovered some Afghan women had been anticipating the opportunity to meet American women. In one home, the women said they had caught glimpses of the patrolling FET through a crack in the wall and that they had ‘prayed you would come to us.’” The fact that the Afghan women welcomed return visits indicated that their men hadn’t punished them for speaking to Americans.

The women interviewed also had surprisingly diverse backgrounds. Though all impoverished now, some had once been prosperous. One group of young women reported that they had been held captive by the Taliban.

The interactions also seemed to change how some local men viewed the Marine presence. “One gentleman with a gray beard who opened his home to the FET put it this way: ‘Your men come to fight, but we know the women are here to help.’” Read on…

Is this isn’t the ultimate in bravery, then I don’t know what is. I’m humbled by these two brave men. I hope that their families can take solace in their loss in knowing that their sons/brothers gave their all to protect others.

RAMADI, IRAQ (April 29, 2008) – It was a typical quiet morning on April 22, with the temperature intensifying as a bright orange sun emerged high from the horizon.

Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, RCT-1, were standing post, just as they’ve done numerous times before. During a standard length watch in a small checkpoint protected by concrete barriers where they overlooked the small gravel road, lined with palm trees leading to their entry control point.

However, this morning would be different. Quickly it would turn, chaotic then tragic. Two Marines would gallantly sacrifice their lives so others could live.

A truck packed with thousands of pounds of explosives entered the area where Haerter and Yale were standing guard. Realizing the vehicles intentions Haerter and Yale without hesitation stood their ground, drew their weapons and fired at the vehicle. The truck rolled to a stop and exploded, killing the two Marines.

“I was on post the morning of the attack,” said Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj, a rifleman with 3rd Platoon, Police Transition Team 3, Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. “I heard the (squad automatic weapon) go off at a cyclic rate and then the detonation along with a flash. Then I heard a Marine start yelling ‘we got hit, we got hit.’ It was hectic.”

In the face of a committed enemy, Haerter and Yale stood their ground, in turn saving the lives of numerous Marines, sailors, Iraqi Policemen, and civilians. Both Marines displayed heroic, self-sacrificing actions and truly lived up to the Corps values of honor, courage, and commitment.

“They saved all of our lives, if it wasn’t for them that gate probably wouldn’t have held,” Tupaj said. “The explosion blew out all of the windows over 150 meters from where the blast hit. If that truck had made it into the compound, there would’ve been a lot more casualties. They saved everyone’s life here.”

According to official reports the heroic actions of Haerter and Yale’s saved the lives of the 33 Marines and 21 Iraqi Police as well as numerous civilians at the entry control point.

“They are heroes because thousands of pounds (of explosives) would’ve made its way through the gate and many more of us wouldn’t be here,” said Lance Cpl. Lawrence Tillery a rifleman with 3rd platoon. “I have a son back home, and I know if that truck would’ve made it to where it was going – I wouldn’t be here today. Because of Lance Cpl. Haerter and Cpl. Yale, I will be able to see my son again. They gave me that opportunity.”

A week after the attack, the Marines with 3rd platoon, remember their fallen brethren as good friends and Marines

“Cpl. Yale was a great guy, really friendly and kind of shy,” said Hospitalman Eric Schwartz a corpsman with the platoon.

“Haerter was an amazing guy, I knew everything about him. He was my best friend.” said Lance Cpl. Cody Israel, a rifleman with 3rd platoon, Haerter’s roommate for more than a year and half.

Haerter and Yale were both posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and have been nominated for an award for their valor.

Editor’s Note: This story was written by Lance Corporal Casey Jones, a combat correspondent stationed in Camp Ramadi, Iraq. Jones recently completed a story on two Marines that were killed while defending their post. The Marines have been nominated for a Silver Star, the third highest award in the military, for their heroic actions that day.(WITN)

The picture says it all. Former soldier Shaun Clark made a promise to tattoo the name of every soldier lost in Afghanistan, and he’s holding true to that promise. He now has 232 names permanently inked onto his back.

Mr Clark, who served with the 8th Battalion Light Infantry Regiment from 1989 to 1996, was waiting in the tattooist’s chair at 11am this morning to carry out his painful pledge.

The first name was etched on his body just as the traditional Armistice Day two-minute silence began.

He said: ‘I don’t mind suffering for a few days if I can let the lads know that people really care about what they’re doing out there, and raise some money for the guys coming home wounded as well.

‘The family thought I was mad to begin with, but they’ve come round to the idea now, and my wife is backing me all the way.’

The married father-of-two from Doncaster hopes his challenge will raise £500 for the charity Help for Heroes.

He plans on updating the sombre list every year on Remembrance Day if required.

Before his ordeal began, Mr Clark said: ‘It’s going to be painful business but it’s nothing compared to what the troops are going through every single day on the front line.’

He added: ‘I know it’s a bit extreme covering the top half of your body front and back with 223 names, but it’s my way of honouring all those men and women and it’ll be there as a memorial for as long as I live.’
Mr Clark

Mr Clark hopes to raise £500 for Help4Heroes through his ordeal

Mr Clark said: ‘I wanted to do something to raise money for the heroes who still need help and to honour the memory of the fallen.

‘I’ve still lots of friends from my days in the Army over in Afghanistan and there’s lots of Donny lads out there as well.

‘Lots of people do things to raise money but I wanted to do something different and something permanent.

‘It’s not just about raising money – it’s also about letting these lads know that people care about what they’re doing.’ (DailyMail.co.uk)

People now know about the famous Navajo Code Talkers, thanks in part to the 2002 movie Windtalkers. But during World War II, even the very existence of the elite code talkers was a heavily guarded secret. With the cunning use of their native Navajo tongue, they were able to pass vital information along to U.S. troops without the chance of the message being interrupted and translated. A small force of only 400 was able to confound the Japanese attempts to gain information.

Before the Code Talkers, the Japanese had been having an easy time intercepting and translating the American messages. They had excellent English translators.

After the Code Talkers began their operations, not one coded message was broken.

The Code Talkers had been sworn to utter secrecy regarding their actions in the field, and even after the subject was officially declassified in 1968, they kept quiet. But now not many are left, due to age and illness, and the remaining men fear that their incredible story will be lost.

Let us not forget their vital part in World War II.

For more information about the Navajo Code Talkers, click here for an article talking about them joining in for Veteran’s Day, or here for the official website.