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Trooper
 
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July 19, 2008 First-hand account of heroic outpost defense in AfghanistanJohn B. Dwyer
On Sunday, July 13, a remote combat outpost near the village of Wanat in Afghanistan's rugged Kunar province on the Pakistan border was nearly overrun by a combined force of some 200 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The outpost was manned by men from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and Afghan Army personnel.
The attack was well coordinated and designed for one purpose -- to overrun the outpost and kill everyone in it. No way were the outnumbered Sky Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, C Co., 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment going to let that happen.
Today's Stars & Stripes contains a stirring first-hand account by one of the men from Chosen Company that should inspire us and make us all thankful for their service and sacrifice. Here are the opening paragraphs, to give you a taste; read the whole thing.
Everything was on fire. The trucks. The bazaar. The grass.
It looked surreal. It looked like a movie.
That was what Spc. Tyler Stafford remembered thinking as he stepped onto the medical evacuation helicopter. The 23-year-old soldier would have been loaded onto the bird, but the poncho that was hastily employed as his stretcher broke. His body speckled with grenade and RPG shrapnel, the Vicenza, Italy, infantryman walked the last few feet to the waiting Black Hawk.
Here is a list of the brave warriors, those heroes, who were killed in action. We honor them and pray for their families.
- 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii.
- Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, Calif.
- Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga.
- Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle.
- Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tenn.
- Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Ga.
- Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C.
- Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Mo.
- Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky.
Fifteen other U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack, which was the deadliest for the U.S. military in Afghanistan in three years.
De Oppresso Liber
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Seasoned Vet
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| Awesome, good read on fire fight. The Sky Soldiers not only held on they kicked ass. 
------------------------------------------------------------ Out of every 100 men, ten shouldn't even be there, Eighty are just targets, Nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back." - Hericletus, circa 500 BC ----------------------------------------------------------- 
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Combat Veteran
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| The true heros and courage of a paratrooper! Gents get ready, OEF is going to be picking up and it is going to be a knock down drag out fight for the next few years over there in Afghanistan! RIP Fellow Paratroopers! Muddy!!!
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Trooper
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Outstanding Airborne Soldiers!
"American Parachutists...devils in baggy pants...are less than 100 meters from my outpost line. I can't sleep at night; they pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems like the black-hearted devils are everywhere..."
(An entry in a German officer's diary found after the Battle of Anzio)
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Ei Temporis Vita Semper Resumo Sese
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Damned good job!
"The degenerative and loony should never be denigrated but, rather, thanked. In their absence, the rest of you would be obliged to fill congressional seats... positions naturally unsavory to the sane and honorable." Thorax
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Hard Charger
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Brave Men who did what they needed to do, may God comfort the families of the fallen and touch the wounded bodies with His healing
"...my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me." He added, after a pause, looking me full in the face: "That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave" General "Stonewall" Jackson
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Pnet's Thread Insurgent and Chief Muldoon
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Oustanding read on our Airborne Brothers kicking tango ass over there.
I'm Surprised Panama's still sea level, after all the Push Ups I did down there.
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Regular Joe
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Hell yeah Sky Soldiers! It's stories like this that make me want to go to Italy and join these ass-kickers.
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