Stars and Stripes
Sgt. Jacob Walker and Spc. Tyler Stafford talk about the attack
Soldiers recount deadly attack on Afghanistan outpost
Everything was on fire. The trucks. The bazaar. The grass.
It looked surreal. It looked like a movie.
That was July 13. That was when Stafford was blown out of a fighting position by an RPG, survived a grenade blast and had the tail of an RPG strike his helmet.
That was the day nine Chosen Company soldiers died.
It was just days before the unit was scheduled to leave the base.
“It was some of the bravest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life, and I will never see it again because those guys,” Stafford said, then paused. “Normal humans wouldn’t do that. You’re not supposed to do that — getting up and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in over your head … It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ‘ em off.”
Stafford offered a guess as to why his fellow soldiers fought so hard.
“Just hardcoreness I guess,” he said. “Just guys kicking ass, basically. Just making sure that we look scary enough that you don’t want to come in and try to get us.”
CNN
“It’s gonna be a bloodbath,” fallen soldier told father
Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling suspected that his days were numbered last week, while he and his band of brothers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team prepared for a mission near Wanat, Afghanistan.
Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling had a bad feeling about his final mission in Afghanistan, said his father, Kurt.
“It’s gonna be a bloodbath,” he told his father, Kurt Zwilling, on the phone in what would be their last conversation.
The Defense Department on Wednesday identified the U.S. soldiers killed Sunday when their outpost was overrun in Afghanistan.
1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Aiea, Hawaii.
Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, California.
Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Georgia.
Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Washington.
Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tennessee.
Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Georgia.
Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, North Carolina.
Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Missouri.
* Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Kentucky.
There’s nothing I really can add to the above, nor do I feel I should.
The interviews at the links and the video, by the soldiers, are the reality.
RIP Young Brothers
Military looking at intelligence before deadly Afghan clash
This one from today:
Misunderstanding leaves 9 dead in Afghan airstrike
I leave it up to your own thoughts to see the picture of what is and has been going on!
Witnesses to War
When the separation ends! CNN Video
CNN’s Rick Sanchez talks with Dr. Paul Ragan about the effects of war on soldiers and the high price they pay for it.
After the centuries and than finally after ‘Nam and still way too many just don’t get it, as to combat soldiers and those living in combat theaters!
is LOSING this war?
Okay, the soldiers are brave. Also, they are being abused. But the entire operation, as laid out by Command, is series of war crimes, and NOTHING changes that.
Oh yes, and we are losing.
Progressives and their GOOD WARS are making me sick. NOBODY is getting out of this one unscathed. Watch and learn–if you can.
I’m a ‘Nam Vet and frankly understand Much More about what’s going on than You think you need to try and Explain!!!
And You’re Doing What??