For the public....tales of soldiers untold

Outside of the media's observations and acknowledgements, I'd like to start a thread of the trigger puller that the public can understand. Within this thread, I'd invite operators to engage on the stories of heroism untold.

Background:

For reference, this soldier attacked through multiple AQ trenches with hand grenades, infliltrated within the enemy lines in close tactical reconnaissance positively identifying enemy encampments, and suffered through 10 IED attacks until I finally pulled him. His mistake was lying to the medics over his injuries so that he could get back to the line.

In some ways, his brain was gone from the blast. In some ways, he persevered.

He was my lead scout.

I was nothing without his sacrifice and the will/experience/duty of other countless NCO's....


“Well, I still get to call you CPT *** for now. After a year of therapy I have reached normal for the recall skills of someone who has suffered from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) which simply means that I am an average retard person. I still have consistent headaches, dizziness, vomiting, and photophobia. On top of all that, I am still kicking myself in the ass for leaving the mission. That has been one of the hardest things for me to handle. I was finally doing what I had spent my adult life training to do, and I left before I was finished.”
-Wounded Paratrooper

Now, he rehabs. Awarded but one purple heart and Arcom-V, this soldier was the decisive point of the Surge.

As the TBI/PTSD weigh in, I only hope that he can tackle his current fight internally. He was never afraid.

As the day ends, drink a beer for him. As Sunday comes, say a prayer.

Facta Non Verba

In my own squadron of 300, we lost 23 men and 100 wounded in the wake of the Surge.

Each man would volunteer again.

These are the dilemmas that I still struggle through.

Please feel free to add other examples of our soldier's heroism to explain the fight...

As this soldier proclaims, this is my leadership PTSD, a sense of liminality- a sense of betwixt and in between.

At least in this thread, we can tell their tales of sacrifice...

Mike