Category: Real Soldiers

My inbox has been full of links to articles about Robert O’Neill, who everyone agrees was the fellow who shot bin Laden. Apparently, he was worried that someone was going to leak his name, so O’Neill beat them to the punch, well, along with folks like our friends at SOFREF. According to the Washington Post, he’s been a motivational speaker for a while and he’s spoken publicly, so it really was just a matter of time, anyway;

O’Neill, in two meetings with The Post, said he had anticipated the criticism. He said his decision to go public was confirmed after a private encounter over the summer with relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York’s World Trade Center.

O’Neill, who works as a motivational speaker, had been invited to address a gathering of 9/11 family members at the National September 11 Memorial Museum shortly before its official opening. During what he described as a highly emotional exchange, O’Neill decided spontaneously to talk about how bin Laden died.

“The families told me it helped bring them some closure,” O’Neill said.

The meeting was facilitated by a member of the New York congressional delegation who asked O’Neill if he would donate his uniform to the museum’s collection.

“He insisted on doing this anonymously to honor his unit, however the incredible interest in this story made this difficult,” said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.).

Well, if members of Congress knew his name, you know it couldn’t stay secret for very much longer.They always like to act like they’re the smartest person in the room.

But I guess he’s going to be interviewed on Fox News beginning on Veterans’ Day, if you’re interested.

Aaron Mishler finished his Army career as an E-4 Army medic three months ago, but he says he couldn’t stand by and do nothing while Ebola ravaged the countryside in Africa, according to ABC57;

Mishler begins the story of how he found the opportunity to travel to Liberia by saying, “Well I have been watching the news and I know they need help over there and I was actually watching a news program and it said go to usa.gov/ebola.”

That was the newscast that led Mishler to the charity Heart to Heart International. With the organization he will use his experience as a Licensed Practical Nurse.

Mishler will be working in a treatment clinic dealing with both suspected and confirmed Ebola patients.

To prepare, Mishler has received shots for yellow fever and typhoid and he’s taking pills to prevent malaria.

Despite all the preparation Mishler says his family is still nervous.“They are worried obviously they are nervous but they have accepted that i set my heart and mind to this so i am going to do it,” says Mishler.

He is leaving a special person who doesn’t even know how selfless her father is. Mishler’s girlfriend is pregnant and due at the end of January.

At the time of the birth, his three month post Liberia quarantine will be over and he really wants to be able to tell his future daughter that he made a difference.

ABC57 News – See the Difference Michiana

Navy veteran, Kendrick Taylor saw 76-year-old Rosemary Carlson attacked in a grocery store parking lot and leaped into action. After saving the woman, he took down one of the criminals and held him for the police. Watch the video;

MCPO Ret. In TN sends us a link to the story about Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ralph E. Rigby, the last continuously serving Army draftee, who is retiring after 42 years of service.

At the young age of 19, joining the Army was far from his life plans. He was clueless as to what would be in store for him. His first response to the notice was, “I don’t have to put up with this! I can just move to Canada like everyone else, and avoid all of this,” he said jokingly. On the other hand, his mom, Dorothy Rigby, wasn’t going to allow this to happen. Her exact words to him were, “No way! You are not a quitter,” she said. “We do not quit in this family.”

Dorothy was scared that her son had to serve, but her daily prayers reassured her that he would come back home safely. With his mother’s advice, Rigby set out on his military journey.

“I took my mother’s words and kept on going,” said Rigby. “After all, being drafted was the closest I have come to winning the lottery.”

So, 42 years later it ends.

The surviving family of First Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing will be presented with the Medal of Honor at the White House next week for the lieutenant’s actions on the last day of the Battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the face of the famous Pickett’s Charge, according to the Stars & Stripes.

Though he and many of his men were wounded in the Confederate bombardment, Cushing refused to retreat, instead manning the last remaining cannon in his battery. He continued to fire and direct fire until he was shot and killed, and his actions made it possible for the Union Army to successfully repel the assault, according to the White House.

From the White House;

First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions while serving as commanding officer of Battery A, 4th United States Artillery, Artillery Brigade, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac during combat operations in the vicinity of Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1863.

During Longstreet’s Assault, also known as Pickett’s Charge, First Lieutenant Cushing’s battery took a severe pounding by Confederate artillery. As the Confederate Forces advanced, he manned the only remaining, and serviceable, field piece in his battery. During the advance, he was wounded in the abdomen as well as in the right shoulder. Refusing to evacuate to the rear despite his severe wounds, he directed the operation of his lone field piece continuing to fire. With the Confederate Forces within 100 yards of his position, Cushing was shot and killed during this heroic stand. His actions made it possible for the Union Army to successfully repulse the assault.

Chief Tango sends three links about 6 soldiers who were presented with Soldiers Medals for their heroism here at home. Staff Sergeant Christopher Cummings and Sergeant Carlos Torres of the 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg were each awarded the medal when they pulled two other soldiers from a burning car.

Major Dennis K. Hill, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brent C. Burdge and Staff Sergeant Luke Stahley of the 2d Battalion, 160th SOAR at Fort Campbell, KY were each presented the Soldiers Medal. Major Hill for rescuing a drowning 8-year-old boy, Burdge and Stahley, saved two folks from their burning vehicle.

Finally, but certainly not least, Sergeant First Class Raymond Presley III of the New York National Guard pulled another guardsman from a burning automobile.

Go read their stories at the links and render a salute to each of these real soldiers.

Someone sent us a link from the Waynesville Daily Guide about their Veterans’ Day events starring Walter Dixon who they claimed was a Korean War POW. We checked the DPMO website and couldn’t find him, so we became suspicious.

Dixon is a a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. He was captured and reported killed in action (KIA) on May 18, 1951, one day before his scheduled return to the United States. The mixup occurred because Walter gave his field jacket containing letters from his wife to a wounded soldier who was subsequently killed and identified as Walter.

He was held as a prisoner of war (POW) for 30 months.

At the time of the peace talks, Dixon was incarcerated in a turnip cellar at the prison camp. He had been sentenced to life for escape attempts, building a radio and other violations. As the talks progressed his sentence was commuted to 10 years. All charges were dropped and he was released in Operation Big Switch in September 1953.

We decided to hold off until we could check further. Mary said that DPMO’s records for the Korean War are notoriously inaccurate. So, Mary checked for us, and sure enough, he was a POW from May, 1951 – Sept. 1953. A pleasant surprise for us for a change. Waynesville is indeed lucky to have this hero as their Veteran of the Year.

According to Stars & Stripes, Marine Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter opened the festivities for the 39th Annual US Marine Corps Marathon yesterday with a parachute jump to the starting line, despite the injuries he suffered when he pounced on a grenade to save his Marine brothers in 2011. After the jump, Kyle went on to complete the 26.2-mile run in just over 5 hours.

It was soldiers who took the honors, though;

Army Spc. Samuel Kosgei came in first in the men’s division with a time of 2:22:11 for 26.2 miles, and Capt. Meghan Curran was the first female finisher with a time of 2:51:46.

For Curran, a field artillery officer based at Fort Dix, N.J., it was the military camaraderie and the memory of a friend and fellow soldier killed in combat that got her through the race. Curran, 28, ran with the initials A.W.S. drawn on her left hand to honor 1st Lt. Ashley White-Stumpf, who was killed by an IED in Afghanistan in October, 2011.

“I think seeing all the wounded warriors out there, seeing everybody screaming, and the flags, it’s just one of those events that pumps you up the whole way,” Curran said. “When you’re hurting and sucking … that extra push will get you through.”

That energy also propelled Kosgei to first place, and the Army medic hopes that’ll be his ticket to the Army’s World Class Athlete Program and through that, the 2016 Olympics.