A Day in the Life of a Soldier...

[Sapper6]

greetings,

i'd like to start a thread containing true stories of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. preferably, non-politically motivated. a few of us will agree we don't hear nearly enough of the good that comes out of a theater of combat. let this thread counter that lack thereof...

enjoy. :asian:

Injured pilot determined to fly again

A Black Hawk helicopter pilot had a surprise visit four days before Christmas, receiving an Army Commendation Medal, Air Medal and promotion to major.

Maj. Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth, of the Illinois National Guard’s 1-106th Aviation, is recuperating from injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a rocket-propelled grenade hit the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq Nov. 12.

“I hope this is the worst thing that happens to anyone in the 106th during this deployment,” said Duckworth. “This is not so bad, there is always somebody worse off than you are. I’m just glad it was me and not one of my guys out there.”

Duckworth received a Purple Heart Dec.12, after loosing both of both of her legs and sustaining severe injuries to her right arm. Her copilot, from the Missouri Army Guard, landed the crippled Black Hawk as crewmembers, air ambulance personnel and doctors on the ground worked feverishly to save her life.

“She (Duckworth) is a person of unusual strength and courage and tremendous personal discipline,” said Lt. Gen. Roger Schultz. “Just being around her gives you a sense of appreciation for the people who make our Army the organization it is.”

Duckworth is determined to remain a Soldier, and hopes that after a long recovery process she will be able to fly again, or at least remain in the Army Guard.

“It is always a privilege to wear the uniform,” said Duckworth, who has been assured she can return to her civilian job as manager of Rotary clubs in the Asian-Pacific area for Rotary International when she is able.

 

[Sapper6]

Coalition Soldier helps Iraqi amputees

INTERNATIONAL ZONE, BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 3, 2005) - It is not unusual for Staff Sgt. Chris Cummings to have plaster stains on his desert camouflage uniform and boots, especially after visiting amputee patients in the prosthetic clinic at the Iraqi Forum and Convention Center.

He is the only Coalition Soldier responsible for keeping the Al-Bedaya Al-Jadida (The New Beginning) prosthetic clinic up and running. The clinic is part of the National Iraqi Assistance Center. As the prosthetic clinic manager, he supervises two Iraqi prosthetic technicians on using new techniques to create sockets that help hold amputees' limbs in place with prosthetics.

Cummings is a civil affairs Soldier assigned to the 478th Civil Affairs based in Miami , Fla. , where he is from. Here he spends hours seeing patients who have lost limbs, and uses plaster bandages to make an impression of their residual limb. Afterwards, he and his staff go to work constructing different total contact sockets. Tahseen Ibrahim, prosthetic technician, can complete a socket in three hours.

He averages seeing five to six patients a week, although he has seen more than 117 patients since October 2004. Prior to starting the clinic here, he went to various locations throughout Iraq , helping Iraqis who were victims of bomb attacks.

As insurgents step up their violence with frequent car bombings almost daily in Baghdad , more members of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi civilians are caught in the crossfire. Earlier this week, nine children visited the prosthetic clinic, and all of them were amputees. The clinic not only helps the Iraqi Army but innocent civilians injured due to bombings.

Although a date has not been set, Coalition officials anticipate the Ministry of Defense will take possession of all the prosthetic equipment, including a new computer automated design computer automated manufacturing system designed to increase efficiency of producing prosthetics here.

“The MoD staff will manage the model lab,” Cummings said. “We are trying to make this as the standard for care in Iraq .”

Soldier serves two combat tours…36 years apart

TAJI, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 5, 2003) – There are plenty of Soldiers who have served two combat tours, but not many who served one of those tours in Vietnam.

Master Sgt. Lanie Ray Vickers, 58, operations noncommissioned officer for A Company, 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, which supports 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, is back in a war zone.

The last time he was in combat was 1969.

"Everyone says life is a big circle and I believe it," Vickers said, who was drafted into the Army at 17, served 32 years total in active duty and Reserve units, and was called back from the Individual Ready Reserve to serve in Iraq this year.

Vickers plans to stay in the IRR until he turns 60, and he knows that might mean another tour overseas.

"If I do get called again, I'll go," said Vickers

Female Soldier receives Silver Star in Iraq

For the first time since World War II, an Army woman was awarded the Silver Star for valor June 16 in Iraq.

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester of the 617th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit out of Richmond, Ky., received the Silver Star, along with two other members of her unit, for their actions during an enemy ambush on their convoy.

Hester's squad was shadowing a supply convoy March 20 when anti-Iraqi fighters ambushed the convoy. The squad moved to the side of the road, flanking the insurgents and cutting off their escape route. Hester led her team through the "kill zone" and into a flanking position, where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 grenade-launcher rounds. She and Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, her squad leader, then cleared two trenches, at which time she killed three insurgents with her rifle.

When the fight was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and one was captured.

Hester, 23, who was born in Bowling Green, Ky., and later moved to Nashville, Tenn., said she was surprised when she heard she was being considered for the Silver Star.

"I'm honored to even be considered, much less awarded, the medal," she said.

Being the first female soldier since World War II to receive the medal is significant to Hester. But, she said, she doesn't dwell on the fact. "It really doesn't have anything to do with being a female," she said. "It's about the duties I performed that day as a soldier."

Hester, who has been in the National Guard since April 2001, said she didn't have time to be scared when the fight started, and she didn't realize the impact of what had happened until much later.

"Your training kicks in and the soldier kicks in," she said. "It's your life or theirs. ... You've got a job to do -- protecting yourself and your fellow comrades."

more great stories of American heroism in the face of adversity to come... :asian:

 

[Tgace]

Note the number of National Guard soldiers? This is going to totally re-define the guards status as professionals vs. the "no go" label they picked up from the Vietnam era. My buddies NG division in Iraq has active duty brigades attached to it. Bet they never thought that would ever have happened.

 

[Tgace]

I tried this a while back too Sapper. Heres a link to bolster your efforts.

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17125

 

[shesulsa]

*MODERATOR NOTE*

Please review the Terms and Conditions regarding copyrighted material now available as a sticky in the Study.

G Ketchmark / shesulsa
MT Senior Moderator

 

[Sapper6]

I tried this a while back too Sapper. Heres a link to bolster your efforts.

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17125

ok Tom. oversight on my part. had i known that, i wouldn't have started a completely new thread devoted to the idea. just that much more exposure, huh? :idunno: you can never have too much of a good thing, right :asian:

to everyone else, read the stories in this thread and the ones Tgrace has linked to. read them before forming a mainstream-media influenced opinion on these wars.

:asian:

 

[Tgace]

No problem..just adding on.

 

[Sapper6]

*MODERATOR NOTE*

Please review the Terms and Conditions regarding copyrighted material now available as a sticky in the Study.

G Ketchmark / shesulsa
MT Senior Moderator

shesulsa,

the above articles contained herein and those forthcoming are taken from the Army News Service Public Affairs Bulletins and DefenseLink, which in themselves, are free for public distribution unless otherwise. please note excerpt taken from defenselink.mil and the U.S. Army Office of Public Affairs:

DefenseLINK is provided as a public service by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense-Public Affairs and the Defense Technical Information Center.

Information presented on DefenseLINK is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

The mission of DefenseLINK is to support the overall mission of the Department of Defense by providing official, timely and accurate information about defense policies, organizations, functions and operations. Also, DefenseLINK is the single, unified starting point for finding military information on-line.

This mission is consistent with the DoD Principles of Information, which outline the Department's policy for providing information to military members, DoD civilians, military family members, the American public, the Congress, and the news media. The information you find here is cleared for public release in accordance with applicable DoD policies.

The Army Home Page is provided as a public service by The Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army in coordination with Army Public Affairs.


Information presented on The Army Home Page is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

there are no copyright infringements resulting from the posting of the aforementioned and forthcoming articles.

 

[Tgace]

Good research...

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Re: copyrights - We have to cover our butts with this stuff. Some of those folks get a little, well, crazy in enforcing things. Glad to see this is free-use.

Please, post more as you come across them. Every one of these people deserves to be recognized, I think. :asian:

 

[Sapper6]

Re: copyrights - We have to cover our butts with this stuff. Some of those folks get a little, well, crazy in enforcing things. Glad to see this is free-use.

Please, post more as you come across them. Every one of these people deserves to be recognized, I think. :asian:

thank you. all of this information is free for public distribution as properly noted.

to everyone else, please don't limit yourself to this thread when looking for soldier stories. feel free to visit DefenseLINK and the U.S. Army Office of Public Affairs for more.

:asian:

 

[Sapper6]

enjoy...

1st Infantry Division Soldier receives three awards for heroism

A 3rd Brigade Combat Team Soldier from the 1st Infantry Division was awarded the Silver Star, the Soldier’s Medal and the Bronze Star with Valor this month for his actions on three separate occasions during Operation Iraqi Freedom at ceremonies held in Germany.

First Lt. Karl Gregory, of the Germany based 1st Infantry Division, was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor at a ceremony in Vilseck, Germany, for exceptional courage and conspicuous gallantry while serving as a Bradley fighting Vehicle Platoon Leader during combat action in Fallujah, Iraq, during Operation Phantom Fury in November 2004.

On May 16, First Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. John Batiste presented Gregory with the Soldiers Medal. The award cited Gregory’s dedication to his fellow Soldiers and complete disregard for his own safety when he swam across a canal to rescue four Soldiers trapped in a submerged vehicle.

The same day, Gregory was presented is final award in front of the entire division. During the 1st Infantry Division’s Welcome Home Ceremony Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Commanding General, V Corps, presented Gregory the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in the face of superior enemy presence during an insurgent uprising in Baqubah, Iraq on 24 June 2004.

While attached to the 3 BCT Recon Troop during heavy fighting to regain control of key terrain in the city, 1LT Gregory’s heroic actions destroyed or dispersed the enemy’s presence in the western portion of the city.

In fight to regain control of a stadium occupied by more than 30 insurgents several of his soldiers were wounded. Gregory stood his ground until his wounded were evacuated and both of his Bradleys’ turrets were disabled. Even after having been wounded in the face by a rocket propelled grenade and knocked unconscious by an improvised explosive device, he returned to make sure that no one was left behind.

The Silver Star is an award designated solely for heroism in combat. Gregory is one of five Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion 2nd Infantry to receive the medal for their actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

U.S. Soldiers save life of ANA troop

Two Soldiers at the Kabul Military Training Center were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with Valor device May 5 for saving the life of an Afghan soldier.

Staff Sgt. Scott Erhman and Staff Sgt. David Dixon of the 136th Regional Training Center received the award for actions that saved an Afghan National Army soldier who stepped on a land mine near KMTC.

“I heard an explosion and looked toward the direction of the blast,” Ehrman said. “I saw a smoke cloud, then an ANA soldier hobbling out, from there it was all

automatic.”

Dixon immediately drove to the edge of the marked minefield area and called in the grid coordinates to range control and requested medical assistance. They and the ANA cadre then devised a rescue plan to extract the Soldier from the minefield.



Even though the ANA soldier lost his foot, it was deemed that the quick actions of Dixon and Ehrman spared the soldier’s life.

“You don’t think about what can happen to you. You do what you can for the wounded soldier,” Dixon said.

1st Cav Soldier earns Silver Star in Fallujah

Injured by the flying fragments of an enemy grenade, a Soldier collected himself and noticed his buddies were down. He rushed to protect them, firing round after round at his attackers as bullets punced into the walls around him. If he and his friends were to live, there was nothing he could do but continue to fight alone and wait for reinforcements.

This was the situation Sgt. Benny Alicea, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry, 1st Cavalry Division – then Spc. Alicea – faced during a battle in Fallujah in November 2004. Alicea’s actions that day earned him the Silver Star, just one of the many awards he earned during his year in Iraq. He also received two Purple Hearts and two Army Commendation Medals – one with a V device for valor in another battle.

Members of A Company, were in Fallujah to take part in Operation Phantom Fury, which aimed to bring the rogue city under coalition control. As the sun rose over Fallujah, insurgents operating from a complex of houses fired on the company’s 1st platoon. The platoon returned fire from their Bradley Fighting Vehicles and began clearing the complex to secure the area.

The company detained 20 suspected insurgents and also found a cache of weapons and ammunition. As the Soldiers dealt with the detainees, another group of insurgents attacked the troops from a nearby house. Alicea’s squad got the order to eliminate the new threat.

While clearing a house, the platoon cleared and empty room and moved toward a closed door with apprehension. “The door was not even fully open when a hailstorm of bullets started coming out,” Alicea said. “It was chaotic, and I felt the rounds passing by me. We didn’t realize how many people were in there until they started shooting and we heard their voices.”

The squad found itself battling 15 insurgents. Bullets and debris flew everywhere as both sides suffered casualties. Fragments from two enemy grenades caught Alicea in the hip and buttocks. As the squad backed out of the house, Alicea laid down suppressive fire before falling to the ground in pain. Three of his comrades were also injured, and Alicea positioned himself to protect them. “I just loaded my weapon and kept on firing as I was staying around my brothers to protect them,” said Alicea. “At this point, in my mind I felt like I was going to die.”

Alicea was running out of ammunition when a Bradley came to rescue him and the other wounded Soldiers.

With the skirmish over, Alicea helped load the wounded into vehicles, ignoring his own pain. The three Soldiers Alicea protected all suffered severe wounds. One of those Soldiers, Spc. Jose Velez, didn’t survive.

Despite his heroism, Alicea remains humble about his actions. According to his friends and fellow Soldiers, that attitude describes the type of person he is.

While he is proud of what he did to earn the Silver Star, the award also brought back the harsh memories of a fallen friend. “It is an honor to get it, but the award also reminds me of Velez a lot,” he said, his

eyes welling up with tears.

Now in Kuwait, the first stop on his way home, Alicea prepares for his return to Fort Hood, Texas. He looks forward to spending time with his wife, organizing his life and thinking about the future. “I appreciate life a lot more,” he said. “Some people don’t take life seriously until they see someone close to them being picked up off the ground.”

more to come. :asian:

 

[shesulsa]

shesulsa,

the above articles contained herein and those forthcoming are taken from the Army News Service Public Affairs Bulletins and DefenseLink, which in themselves, are free for public distribution unless otherwise. please note excerpt taken from defenselink.mil and the U.S. Army Office of Public Affairs:

>snip<

there are no copyright infringements resulting from the posting of the aforementioned and forthcoming articles.

Thanks much, Sapper6. It always helps to cite a source, even when it's free usage.

Keep 'em coming!

 

[Sapper6]

enjoy yet another great story...

Coalition docs mend boy’s cleft palate

An Army surgeon and an Army nurse were able to help restore the palate and lips of a three-year-old Afghani child.

Khan Mohammad was born with a severe cleft palate. With his lip and gums split in the middle up to his nostrils and teeth protruding from the gums, it was difficult for the boy to eat and breathe.

Doctors Dallas Homas and John Caulfield, both colonels with the 325th Combat Support Hospital, set out to change that.

Khan’s uncle, Jan Mohammad, drove six hours from the Ghazni province in central Afghanistan to the airfield where Khan would receive surgery.

Nurses inserted a breathing tube into the boy’s throat, the surgeons, The surgeons closely inspected Khan’s face, to determine which parts of the lip would be cut and sutured, ensuring the folds of skin would match up to form the lip.

Working methodically, the two spent several hours in the operating room, ensuring Khan’s lips would look much like any other 3-year-old’s.

For the attending surgeons and assistants, this surgery reflected their favorite part of working in Operation Enduring Freedom – helping others.

“To perform this surgery is very gratifying,” said Caulfield.

Older enlistee trades in civilian life for Army training

Michael Crosby was having a mid-life crisis. But unlike the stereotypical fast cars and faster women; the 51-year-old chose a somewhat uncommon expression of his dissatisfaction – he joined the Army.

A decision that raised more than a few eyebrows among his family and friends.

“They thought I was going off the deep end,” he said. “But I’m not one to follow the norm.”

But why, when most of his peers are looking ahead to lazy days on the front porch, would a 50-something bus driver enlist in the Army?

“I felt I had unfinished business,” he said. “Deep in my heart I wasn’t satisfied.”

Crosby’s “unfinished business” dates back to the ’70s, when he first joined the Army. He did a stint as an OH-58 helicopter mechanic then scored a spot as a trumpet player and brass generalist for the Army band at Fort Benning, Ga.

He traded in active duty for the Guard in 1979, where he became a jack-of-all-trades – medical specialist in the Ohio Air National Guard, helicopter mechanic and aviation life support equipment specialist. He left the Guard in 1991 and became a bus driver for the mentally challenged in Franklin County, Ohio.

He said he “slumbered” for 13 years until the day he came home to find his son talking to an Army recruiter. When he saw the recruiter he got an idea, fueled also by 9/11.

“What about taking a 50 year old?” he asked. Crosby figured the recruiter would send him, as he puts it, “back to my rocking chair.”

The recruiter asked about Crosby’s previous service and age, and said he was eligible.

Crosby and Aaron were sworn into the Army side by side in June 2003. Because of his history, Crosby bypassed basic, leaving for the 91W Combat Medic Training Course at Fort Sam Houston in November 2004.

Crosby said he is easily able to pass his physical requirements. The greater challenge for him is his age. Crosby is surrounded by cocky teens, fresh from their high school proms.

“It’s strange to know I’m the oldest by far,” Crosby said. “I have no peers. Even the instructors are younger than I am.”

Most Soldiers are retired before they even reach Crosby’s age. According to the Soldiers Almanac 2005, the average age for an officer retiree is 46 and for an enlisted, 42.

He graduates combat medic training in March and hopes to continue on to earn his LPN. He’ll then head back to Ohio to serve in his Reserve unit, the 629th Forward Surgical Team in Black Lick. His son, also a Reservist, will be in an office across the hall.

As for his future, Crosby hits 20 years next year, but has no plans to walk away again.

“I’ll stay as long as the Army will have me,” he said. “My friends still tease me about my ‘mid-life crisis’ but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Why I Serve: Soldier Fights Way to Iraq

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ORYAN, Iraq, Nov. 30, 2004 – A year ago, New York National Guardsman Spc. Brian Williams was ready to deploy to Iraq with his unit.

In his quest to serve, however, he hit a major snag: Medical tests revealed he had a condition rendering him medically "unfit for duty."

The Saranac Lake, N.Y., resident, like many of his north country National Guard brethren, answered the call to active duty last year in support of ongoing efforts in Iraq.

Williams gathered with his fellow soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment early in October 2003 at the Morrisonville Army National Guard Armory. He said goodbye to his wife Kim, their three children Amber, Lauren and Brendan, and then got on the bus for the first leg of his long journey to Iraq.

He expected to do the normal processing at Fort Drum and to train up prior to deployment. But medical screening detected Williams had a blood disease called hemochromatosis: a condition in which the liver is unable to readily process iron in the body.

Untreated, the excess iron in William's system would eventually lead to an enlarged liver and diabetes. The doctors explained that in order to keep the hemochromatosis in check, and his blood's iron saturation level normal, he would have to have a pint of blood drawn from his body every two months. This process would rid his body of the built up excess iron in his bloodstream.

The simple question then became whether Williams was deployable with the condition. So the clock started. Williams waited for three long months on medical hold status while his fellow soldiers trained for Iraq.

Williams spent his time serving as the assistant training NCO for the Ground Support Unit at Fort Drum while waiting for his case to be reviewed by an Army medical evaluation board. Finally, in May, the evaluation board determined that the hemochromatosis rendered Spc. Williams "unfit for duty" and therefore "non- deployable."

When Williams learned of the decision, he did not react as one might expect: Rather than to be content and to return to his family and civilian life, he filed an appeal.

The appeal went forward. In August, after an appointment with a hematologist at Walter Reed the moment of truth arrived: Williams learned that he had won the appeal.

The hematologist determined that there were adequate facilities in Iraq to care for Williams' condition and the previous "non-deployable" status would be amended to read "deployable."

Last month, a full year after activation, Williams finally reunited with his fellow Bravo Company soldiers in Iraq. And on his second mission, his quick reaction to enemy fire earned him the Combat Infantryman Badge.