Category: Real Soldiers

The next video in the NRA/Brownells series “Life of Duty” is the story of Jim Allen who volunteered for the paratroops during World War II, was wounded by a German grenade during Operation Market/Garden, then came home and volunteered for the smokejumpers in Oregon;

I picked this up Ace of Spade‘s sidebar. From the Chicago Sun-Times, the story of Specialist Paville Simpson, 21, a National Guardsman who ran off two thugs and held another for the police in their attempt to rob a civilian in a Chicago subway station;

“I wasn’t trying to be a hero,” the military police officer who serves with the Headquarters Company, 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade said, “I didn’t have time to think — my training just kicked in.”

Simpson was on his way to his day job as a security guard around 6:30 p.m. and was wearing his World Security Agency uniform when the 28-year-old victim approached him and described the three attackers who’d just unsuccessfully tried to snatch his iPhone at gunpoint, Simpson and the victim both said.

Within seconds, Simpson had chased down and cuffed two 16-year-old boys to each other, he said. Then he squared off against a 17-year-old who pulled out what “looked like a real .22 pistol,” he said.

As Simpson grabbed his own gun, the 17-year-old — identified in court Sunday by prosecutors as Donte Jackson — shouted “please don’t shoot, it’s not real!” Simpson said. The 17-year-old pulled the trigger on the fake gun, revealing a flame, he said. “It was a lighter, but I told him, ‘You shouldn’t have done that, I could have shot you.’”

To borrow from Lawrence Vance in the following post, why would you do that to your family, Specialist Simpson? Just kidding…good job. We know why you put your family through your deployments and why you stand between the sheep and the wolves. America is a better place because people like you live here and put some things ahead of your personal safety.

Mr. Wolf sent us a link yesterday to the New York Post about Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and it sounded too fake and I had to ask our friend Captain Larry Bailey if the guy was really a SEAL. Apparently he is.

During his 10-year career as a member of SEAL Team 3, Kyle, 37, saw action in every major battle during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He became known among his fellow SEALS as “The Legend.”

The enemy was less complimentary.

In Ramadi, insurgents put an $80,000 bounty on his head and branded him “Al-Shaitan Ramadi” — “The Devil of Ramadi.”

“That made me feel like I was actually doing my job and having an effect on the war,” he said.

He was on Fox News a few times yesterday, too;

That’s Marine Lieutenant Colonel Karl Trenker and he looks like he won’t be complaining about his PT test in the next few years despite the fact that he was shot three times when he confronted thieves in Miramar, Florida. A veteran of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan where he survived without a scratch, Trenker plugged the three bullet holes in his chest with his fingers while he told his children that he’d be OK according to the report from UK’s Mail;

He said the confrontation with the robbers took place after his girlfriend Tanta Siaz advertised a gold chain for sale on Craigslist.

The U.S. Marine said he volunteered to carry out the sale and drove to an apartment complex to meet the potential buyers.

As he showed off the necklace one of the men shoved him and grabbed the jewellery.

Lt Colonel Trenker said he chased after the two men when one of them turned round and opened fire, hitting him multiple times.

Doctors have told Lt Colonel Trenker he will make a full recovery from his wounds and can return to work at the Southern Command Headquarters.

The two mutts who plugged the Marine are in custody without bail and they’re facing attempted murder charges.

Thanks to Rick for the link.