Devtun sends us a link to Stars & Stripes which reports that Ranger Staff Sgt. Michael Young was awarded a Silver Star for his heroics performed on April 27, 2017 at Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
Throughout the fight, the noncommissioned officer displayed an “extraordinary ability to maintain composure in a terrifyingly chaotic situation,” his award citation reads.
Young, 28, was ultimately credited with saving the lives of 22 Rangers, according to the citation.
It’s an award that Young, a member of elite 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, never anticipated receiving, he told Stars and Stripes on Friday following the ceremony. But the honor served to validate the importance of that mission and the sacrifices made by Sgts. Joshua P. Rodgers and Cameron H. Thomas, who were killed during the operation.
Someone sent us their work on this fellow, John Bonner Braddy, who claims that he was a Navy pilot, that he was shot down over Vietnam, that he was wounded and earned a Navy Cross. He even puts all of that on his résumé;
Of course, there’s no record of him attending the United States Naval Academy, but when confronted, he says that’s because he attended under another name, his name before he was placed in the federal Witness Protection Program. The Witness Protection Program folks messed up, because, he was John Braddy back in high school in North Carolina;
Braddy is quick to stand up in front of audiences and wow them with tales of his exploits in the skies over Vietnam;
According to his records he’s never even seen the skies over Vietnam. He spent a year on active duty in the Army, then he spent two years in the Army Reserves until he joined the Navy Reserves. He never went to Vietnam, he wasn’t a pilot, he was enlisted. His only award is a Good Conduct Medal;
Bobo sends us the sad news this morning that R. Lee Ermey, the quintessential Marine drill instructor has passed at the age of 74.
Statement from R. Lee Ermey’s long time manager, Bill Rogin:
It is with deep sadness that I regret to inform you all that R. Lee Ermey (“The Gunny”) passed away this morning from complications of pneumonia. He will be greatly missed by all of us. It is a terrible loss that nobody was prepared for. He has meant so much to so many people. And, it is extremely difficult to truly quantify all of the great things this man has selflessly done for, and on behalf of, our many men and women in uniform.
An outspoken conservative, Ermey spoke to Fox News in 2016 about being “blackballed” from Hollywood over his political views.
“I’ve had a very fruitful career. I’ve done over 70 feature films,” he said. “I’ve done over 200 episodes of [Outdoor Channel series ‘GunnyTime’]… and then [Hollywood] found out that I’m a conservative.”
Actually, he corrected, “I’m an Independent, but I said something bad about the president. I had something unsavory to say about the president’s administration, and even though I did vote for him the first time around, I was blackballed.”
Ermey, who was an NRA board member, said at the time that his association with the organization and his disapproval of President Obama cost him acting jobs.
“Do you realize I have not done a movie in five to six years? Why? Because I was totally blackballed by the … liberals in Hollywood,” he alleged. “They can destroy you. They’re hateful people [who] don’t just not like you, they want to take away your livelihood … that’s why I live up in the desert on a dirt road … I don’t have to put up with their crap.”
In 1961, at age 17, Ermey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and went through recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California. For his first few years, he served in the aviation support field before becoming a drill instructor in India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he was assigned from 1965 to 1967.
Ermey then served in Marine Wing Support Group 17 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, Japan. In 1968, he was ordered to Vietnam with MWSG-17, and spent 14 months in country. The remainder of his service was on Okinawa where he was advanced to staff sergeant (E-6). He was medically discharged in 1972 because of several injuries incurred during his service. On May 17, 2002, he received an honorary promotion to gunnery sergeant (E-7) by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James L. Jones.
It happened near South Sixth and Pennsylvania Drive. Tucson Police say the woman left a store and a man approached her as she got into her car. He had a machete and demanded her keys. The woman was able to retrieve a handgun and she told the man to leave. She shot him when he started to lift the machete.
The suspect is in the hospital and police say he faces charges when he is released.
The Navy doesn’t remember his career like Tony remembers it;
Tony’s summary sheet shows that he served just over 3 years in the Navy and was discharged as an AR (E-1) and only received the National Defense Service Medal. His first duty station was at NAS Miramar which it looks like shore duty. Tony’s second duty station was the USS Kitty Hawk, during his time there the USS Kitty Hawk was deployed to Western Pacific Indian Ocean and returned on July 9, 1974, but Tony transferred on June 20, 1974 to be discharged. Based on Tony’s summary sheet it shows NO BUD/S (UDT-R), NO combat Diver, NO UDT/SEAL Team, NO Combat Action Ribbon, NO Vietnam Service and NO E-5.
The preliminary investigation indicates the victim was attempting to break up a physical altercation between several individuals when the suspect exited his apartment, observed the altercation and retrieved a handgun,” Chafee said in a statement.
The man aimed his gun at the victim and another male, but police did not say if he fired a shot.
“The victim then produced his own handgun and fired several times, striking the suspect,” Chafee said.
Earlier, police said the man breaking up the fight was shot in the face. It is unclear if that is still the case.
Chafee said charges are expected against the suspect. The victim was not injured in the shooting.
ABC News 15 reports that Private Julian Diaz was killed in an accident at the National Training Center in California. Diaz was from Tolleson, Arizona, but assigned as a mortarman in 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington.
The News Tribune reports 19-year-old Pvt. Julian Diaz of Tolleson, Arizona, died in a vehicle crash at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. No further details about the crash were released.
