Honoring the heroes of Operational Detachment Alpha 3336, 3rd Special Forces Group
We are blessed to have men like these fighting for us. Ten Green Berets will receive Silver Stars today for their heroism. Give thanks and praise:
After jumping out of helicopters at daybreak onto jagged, ice-covered rocks and into water at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the 12-man Special Forces team scrambled up the steep mountainside toward its target — an insurgent stronghold in northeast Afghanistan.
“Our plan,” Capt. Kyle M. Walton recalled in an interview, “was to fight downhill.”
But as the soldiers maneuvered toward a cluster of thick-walled mud buildings constructed layer upon layer about 1,000 feet farther up the mountain, insurgents quickly manned fighting positions, readying a barrage of fire for the exposed Green Berets.
A harrowing, nearly seven-hour battle unfolded on that mountainside in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province on April 6, as Walton, his team and a few dozen Afghan commandos they had trained took fire from all directions. Outnumbered, the Green Berets fought on even after half of them were wounded — four critically — and managed to subdue an estimated 150 to 200 insurgents, according to interviews with several team members and official citations.
Today, Walton and nine of his teammates from Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group will receive the Silver Star for their heroism in that battle — the highest number of such awards given to the elite troops for a single engagement since the Vietnam War.
Here’s a vid via Soldier’s Angels – Germany:
Takeaway quote: “You can take my leg, but you can’t take my heart and you can’t take my soul. I’m a Green Beret.”
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Reminds me of our heroes @ D-Day.
God bless these soldiers!!! We can never, EVER repay them for what they do for this country. They are the very best of America.
They really are the best of the best!
Why isn’t there an emoticon for a salute?
Here’s to the men and women who keep us safe and make us great.
(Gulp!) Thank God for real men.
I’m in awe of their bravery and spirit. America is blessed to have such heroes willing to give so much to keep us safe.
Hard to type, tears and grateful heart for our wonderful military. Thank you each and every one and I pray God be with you. Thanks Michelle for a good Friday story.
L
Our troops are truly:
THE BEST OF THE BEST>>>>
A friend forwarded me the FoxNews item on this earlier today. As a former Marine who served in the 80s, I can tell you that from my perspective, this generation of Armed Forces is the absolute best in the history of the world.
My short 8 years of putting practice bombs on the F-4 Phantom pales compared to what today’s Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines do. I stand proud and salute each of them.
Militarily speaking, we are in good hands!
PS: Word to travelers: If you happen upon one or two of them in the airports, please invite them to the hoity-toity lounges as your personal guest.
http://www.entity.cc/ICONS/free-emoticons.htm
M:-) is a Salute
Rock on, guys! You are not only a Green Beret, but a hero as well. God bless the troops; past, present and future.
WTG GUYS!!!
These guys are heroes.
But what really gets me is this:
They have a 12 man force. Several of them get wounded in the process.
They still subdue 12-17 times their number in insurgents.
That is insane. God Bless the United States of America and the United States Armed Forces.
To all democrats and rinos on capital hill, if you were only a tiny bit as patriotic and skilled in what you are paid to do as these fine men/women are at what they do, our country wouldn’t be in the mess we are in today.
God bless our military. Having spent 7 years from 67-74, I salute each and everyone of you.
It’s a shame those at the Onion feel compelled to ridicule guys like these.
http://tinyurl.com/67uaqw
That is marksmanship and the American soldier. We are a warrior people and our fighting men are best in the world. Ask some of our former enemies what it’s like to fight Americans.
our military is the finest military on the face of the earth, and the teams from all branches are truly the best of the best. god speed, and best wishes to you and your families during these holiday times when they miss their loved ones even more. i remember my tour and christmes in v.c. territory was no fun.
Would that their future CINC were half the man these heros are. Hooah.
Were I there to see the ceremony , I would be humbled to give each and every one of them, my EGA emblems willingly. I salute true Americans and I thank them for their love of country and their heroism. OoooRahhh!
Yow! Cojones. A neighbor of mine who was in the Army in Iraq estimates our kill ratio is better than 30-1.
We need to send these guys in to South Central LA, Detroit, Philadelphia and elsewhere to recapture those places.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because THESE men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Like this:
Salute
Wraith: You don’t have to ask our former enemies or current ones for that matter. Our Allies are quite often overwhelmed when they see the American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines fight.
These same warriors also amaze the local populace with their tenderness toward the innocents who are swept up into war. How many times have you seen Americans “adopt” the innocents — from kids to families to schools and villages, to include the pups and kittens who always manage to find someone with a soft heart — which isn’t hard when you are talking about Americans!
However, try telling THAT to the Lame Stream Media who would much rather perpetuate the lies of John “traitor” Kerry who sold his fellow patriots down the river for some face time.
Thank You Gentleman, you are true American Heroes
Oh My Dear God in Heaven…
I had heard about this firefight…but now it has faces.
How can we all be so lucky as to have men such as these laying it on the line for us?
I love the USA and its military.
Especially our AIRBORNE QUALIFIED!
God bless them all. May one chase a thousand.
These fine men are what 200+ years of American fighting tradition has lead to. Each generation learning and improving on the skills and dedication of those who’ve fought and served in wars gone by.
God Bless America and her Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen. Through their strength and courage we will prevail has a nation.
De Oppresso Libre
If the MSM would plastered the news with stories (and victories) like these instead of killings of our troops, the public might be more behind our fighting forces.
I, for one, am truly thankful for our fighting forces and thank these great AMERICANS!
I am so proud of my boys. A recently discharged Navy Corpsman and his brother the Navy Aviation Electronics Tech. Miles away…but always so close.
Fair winds and following seas.
The US military is at a point where we’ve achieved what’s described as “breakout capability:” about the only other armed forces that can keep up with us on the battlefield are the British and the Australians — and they can’t hang for long, either, before they, too fall irretrievably behind in the “OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) Loop.”
In terms of overall-force “elite” status, about the only historical comparisons I can think of to today’s US military are:
- Alexander the Great’s Macedonian phalanxes and Companion cavalry during his conquest of the Persian Empire;
- The Roman Legions during their peak in the 1st and 2nd Centuries AD;
- Napoleon’s La Grande Armee just before he wasted it by invading Russia;
- The British Expeditionary Force right before it got decimated at Mons in 1914;
- Japanese naval aviators on December 7, 1941; and
- The German Wehrmacht in June, 1941, right before Hitler wasted it by invading Russia.
I mean, we’ve reached a point where even our reserves typically have at least one year of recent combat experience.
About the only thing we have to worry about is found in the historical comparisons above: getting ourselves into a war of attrition that would incur mass casualties.
As long as we can avoid that Achilles’ Heel, we can put our forces into battle at 1:10 or even worse numerical odds, and still be confident of coming out victorious.
Invading Russia appears to be a historically recurring bad idea as well.
Read the whole thing. I imagine a lot of insurgent casualties were caused by the Air Force bombs. Even still, keeping 10 out of 12 of your force alive is good, all things considered. Especially from how brutal those descriptions were.
Hey Alpha 3336. I’ve still got two attractive, bright conservative daughters that aren’t married yet. They really admire brave patriotic men.
May God Bless our Troops!!!
Thank you Michelle for posting this. It is truely amazing how our soldiers act in combat and out of it.
God Bless all of them.
These guys are heroes and the idiots who planned the mission should be court marshalled. There should have been an air strike of imbalanced and exaggerated proportions to eliminate, if not to soften the target.
This mission had what kind of intelligence? No more politeness. No more concern about collateral damage. Are we fighting a war or performing surgery.
These are my brothers. I am so lucky to have them on my side. And so lucky that I am on their side!!
I have been in a l.o.n.g. time and seen the highs and lows in the US Armed Forces. I have seen the bad times when we did not have people or money, and our senior leadership was floundering.
I feel good about the people I have trained and the people in the mid levels now, for they know the price and cost of freedom. We live it every day. We see it (thankfully less more recently) in ceremonies at Arlington and other Fields of Stone.
When I travel in uniform, I am inundated with “thank you”s and “God Bless You”s. I am humbled by it, and honored that I am allowed to serve the people of the greatest nation on Earth. I only hope that I continue to remain worthy and that I will not fail in thought, action or deed.
Sir W.S. Churchill (my political hero) once said: “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
This must be our mantra as Americans (although not in France, hopefully.)
I know the people who work for me will do their part. I know I speak for my people, and many others in the Armed Forces in asking only for your support and prayers. We will not let you down.
V/R
KGP
I sense ire on your part. I have to tell you that intel in AF is shaky at best. We don’t have the humint resources, and the other methods are pretty ineffective. What good is electronic surveillance if messages go by hand courier?
One of the first lessons I learned when I became an officer was that no plan survives first contact with the opposing force. After that it is all improvise, adapt and overcome if you are going to suceed.
On that basis, these troopers are “Numbah 1.” The AAR’s will flow and assign blame. No doubt some Speedy 4 will get nailed and ArCOMs will flow for E5 and above. It always is thus (except in my unit, of course!) I am very judicious in awards, because I do not want to cheapen the value of any recognition given. I don’t even let Bronze Stars slide by when an AAM is more appropriate….old meanie that I am.
R/
CW4
God bless these men for doing the unthinkable. They dared, they won.
A Soviet General once said his greatest fear would be to actually have had to face the US in armed combat. When asked why he responed that the American Military trains one way and when that does work they will keep fighting until they find a way…
These mean exemplify that sediment exactly!
I can’t wait to read the book!
By GOD, there are still PATRIOTS out there… What a STORY Michelle… Gotta stop eating these TAMALES for breakfast, they make my EYES WATER…
CW4_KGP #38
Absolutely, I am . . . to say it in polite company, disenchanted. Human intelligence, or not, electronic surveillance, or not. How often does this sort of thing happen?
I have more questions than answers. Why did it take so long for support to arrive? OK, drop in some troops, but support should be no less than five minutes away. It is about planning. It is not just about having intelligence on the enemy but the intelligence of those who planned the action.
Yep, what was expected was not the reality. There was more resistance than expected. How often does that happen? How difficult is it to plan for contigencies? Why weren’t contigencies planned for?
Agreed. Yet, the plan was incomplete. Being an officer I am certain you understand the concept of using overwhelming force to attack. What was known, and what is known, is not always fact, especially in Afghanistan. This is a ‘lesson learned.’ Why forget it?
I suspect an answer will be limited resources. Horse hockey. A single troop is a resource that I do not want to loose.
I feel that I am repeating myself, and I am not taking issue with you. Simply put, a better plan that encompasses lessons learned, demostrates that the planners are intelligent.
This is an AMAZING video – a must watch – about the growing threat of Islam and immigration.
http://apathetic-usa.com/
PLEASE post link.