Category: Real Soldiers

ROS sends us a link to an article in USAToday about the only Ranger serving in combat with a prosthetic limb;

From the moment his broken body was pulled from an armored vehicle in Iraq — after an enemy grenade, dropped through a hatch, detonated inches away —Army Ranger Joseph Kapacziewski vowed to be back in the fight.

“Is this going to ruin my chances of being a squad leader?” he asked as he was carried into a medical ward.

Fast-forward five years to the morning of April 19, 2010, to a village in eastern Afghanistan.

With help from his false leg, Sgt. 1st Class Kapacziewski, 28, races down an Afghan road through enemy fire to reach a fellow Ranger who had been shot in the stomach. Along with another soldier, they drag the wounded man 75 yards to safety and administer first aid as insurgents with heavy machine guns try to kill them.

Rebecca from Squid Thoughts sends us a link to an article about Robert D. Maxwell who was finally awarded his high school diploma 67 years after he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1944 – still inspiring yet another generation;

At 15, he wasn’t tromping down school hallways. In fact, he wasn’t in school at all. After seventh grade, Maxwell was taken out of school to work on his family’s farm in Kansas, during the Great Depression.

“It was just accepted in those days,” Maxwell said Friday. “When a boy was old enough to do a man’s work, that’s what he did.”

But don’t call him a dropout.

Maxwell’s education didn’t stop when he left school. He got his GED, even taught at Bend High back in the ’50s.

One lesson the Medal of Honor recipient continues to teach every day — modesty.

From his MOH citation;

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 7 September 1944, near Besancon, France. Technician 5th Grade Maxwell and 3 other soldiers, armed only with .45 caliber automatic pistols, defended the battalion observation post against an overwhelming onslaught by enemy infantrymen in approximately platoon strength, supported by 20mm. flak and machinegun fire, who had infiltrated through the battalion’s forward companies and were attacking the observation post with machinegun, machine pistol, and grenade fire at ranges as close as 10 yards. Despite a hail of fire from automatic weapons and grenade launchers, Technician 5th Grade Maxwell aggressively fought off advancing enemy elements and, by his calmness, tenacity, and fortitude, inspired his fellows to continue the unequal struggle. When an enemy hand grenade was thrown in the midst of his squad, Technician 5th Grade Maxwell unhesitatingly hurled himself squarely upon it, using his blanket and his unprotected body to absorb the full force of the explosion. This act of instantaneous heroism permanently maimed Technician 5th Grade Maxwell, but saved the lives of his comrades in arms and facilitated maintenance of vital military communications during the temporary withdrawal of the battalion’s forward headquarters.

From the article;

A man with heroic accomplishments, yet still so humble. It’s Maxwell’s selflessness that allows his soon-to-be fellow graduates to chase the American dream.

“They can do that, because of the things that Bob has done,” said [Principal H.D. Wedell]. “He’s laid his life down, so that our kids can be part of that.”

Jeffrey Williamson who served in the Marine Corps in the 90s, was shot while he foiled a robbery of a convenience store in Houston;

“Just to get their attention, I just walked out. They confronted me, and I didn’t say anything – I just walked out,” Williamson recalled. “I closed the door, and the guy was still saying whatever he was saying – curse words, whatever – and then I just stood there, and that really irritated him. And I wouldn’t let him out.”

Williamson said the suspect got angry and started kicking the door. Then, the second suspect, who had the gun, jumped back over the counter, came over to the door and shot through the glass, striking Williamson in the shoulder.

“The bullet went in and out. I didn’t notice at the time, but it’s nothing compared to what happens in the military,” Williamson said.

Americans are lucky that such people live among us.

Bill Krisoff lost his son, Nathan, in the war against terror and his immediate reaction was to petition President Bush for a commission as a Navy doctor at the age of 60.

Here’s an article from 2007 when he was first commissioned;

In August, the surgeon seized an opportunity when he and his wife, Christine, were invited to meet President Bush in Reno along with the families of other fallen soldiers from the area.

“He asked if there was anything he could do,” Krissoff said. “I said, ‘Well, there is one thing. I’d like to join the Navy Medical Corps. Is there any way you could help me with this process?’ And Karl Rove was in the room and he asked me to fax my papers to him in the White House.”

Within days, Krissoff received a call from Navy Medical recruiter Lt. Cmdr. Ken Hopkins, who said Krissoff had been granted an age waiver and had a stack of papers to sign to become a military doctor.

Thanks to BooRadley for the video.

COB6 wrote to tell us that James Arness has died at the ripe age of 88.

Arness was wounded at the Anzio beach head as an infantryman in 2/7 Infantry in the 3rd Infantry Division – a Cottonbaler and a Marne Man, so he was awarded the Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

According to Wikipedia, his battle injuries bothered him for the rest of his life to the point that he could no longer ride a horse.

There’s a goodbye letter to his fans on his website.

Another fine American has gone on ahead.