Fort Carson’s heroes

By Michelle Malkin  •  October 8, 2009 06:32 AM

Please take time to read the profiles of the American soldiers who died in the siege at Kamdesh.

The Colorado Springs Gazette tells their stories here and here.

Many were fathers. All were patriots. They were stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. They leave behind grieving wives, girlfriends, young children, family, and friends. Remember their names. Remember their heroism:

Spc. Stephan Lee Mace, 21
Sgt. Joshua Kirk, 30
Pfc. Kevin Thomson, 22
Spc. Christopher T. Griffin
Spc. Michael P. Scusa, 22
Sgt. Vernon W. Martin
Sgt. Justin T. Gallegos, 22
Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, 24

Spc. Mace’s family is speaking out. Let’s pray the White House is listening:

Stephan Mace of the Army’s 61st Cavalry Regiment knew the Taliban would be waiting for him when he returned to eastern Afghanistan in September.

During a two-week leave in early September, the 21-year-old specialist sat on his father’s couch in Winchester, Virginia, and discussed his concerns over Forward Operating Base Keating in Kamdesh District, a region known as a Taliban stronghold.

“He talked about the village next to the base, that it had 300 Taliban, and they couldn’t do anything about it because they were in mosques hiding or with other civilians,” says his father, Larry Mace.

“They knew they were there and they couldn’t do anything about it and they killed them.”

Sgt. Gallegos is survived by a 5-year-old son and friends and family who remember his fighting spirit:

t was Gallegos’ third deployment to the Middle East. His family says he did two tours in Iraq before he went to Afghanistan.

It was only after he died that [family friend Bessie] Guadiana-Hoffman says his family learned he’d won two Purple Hearts for being wounded. Now, she says, the Army will award him a third for being killed and a Bronze Star.

Guadiana-Hoffman says, “He was an unsung hero. He was not the type of a man who touted his accolades. That’s Justin.”

The father of a 5-year-old son, Guadiana-Hoffman says he loved his country. “He would get really upset when people would put down the United States for being at war. He said we don’t choose to be at war. We choose to help end the war. Unfortunately the war ended his life.”

But, Guadiana-Hoffman says it didn’t end his memory. She says, “That’s the type of individual Justin is. I won’t say was because his sprit is still here. That’s how he is.”

***

Fort Carson lost yet another soldier yesterday in a separate incident:

One day after a firefight killed eight Fort Carson soldiers in Afghanistan, a ninth soldier from the post was killed in a separate incident, the Department of Defense announced this afternoon.

Spc. Kevin O. Hill, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died Oct. 4 at Outpost Dehanna, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms and indirect fire. He was assigned to the 576th Mobility Augmentation Company at Fort Carson.

His death marks the 279th fatality from Fort Carson since 2001, and the 24th in Afghanistan, records show.

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Comments


  1. #1
    On October 8th, 2009 at 6:39 am, malkin_fan said:

    All Heroes.

    May they RIP.

  2. #2
    On October 8th, 2009 at 6:49 am, Tennessee Dave said:

    A big salute to all these brave men & women from Ft Carson, especially these.
    I know a soldier from Ft Carson who is currently over there. In a phone call to my wife he stated they were on the verge of loading up and flying in to relieve these guys when the fighting ended. Every time I hear about a soldier from Ft Carson being killed or wounded my heart takes a leap and I pray it’s not his name I read.

  3. #3
    On October 8th, 2009 at 6:59 am, DagneyT said:

    “He talked about the village next to the base, that it had 300 Taliban, and they couldn’t do anything about it because they were in mosques hiding or with other civilians,”

    Unless or until they change the ROE’s, we will be taking casualties. To call in air cover, they must first assure that there are no “innocent citizens”. Taliban and al Qaeda are always hiding among “innocent citizens”! This is ridiculous! If a few citizens started dying, they’d start outing the bad guys! Let them do their jobs, and get the he!! out of their way, DC!

  4. #4
    On October 8th, 2009 at 7:04 am, BadIdeaGuy said:

    It’s heartbreaking to read about the loss of heroes, patriots, fathers, husbands, and sons.

    We owe these men and those who are over there more than the PC rules of engagement (per Spc Mace’s attributed statement, the taliban are hiding right where we said in June 09 that we would not go after them!), or we ought to just leave.

  5. #5
    On October 8th, 2009 at 7:10 am, radio relay said:

    May God bless and keep them all!

    May their sacrifice, and the loss to their families not be in vain.

    Amen

  6. #6
    On October 8th, 2009 at 7:28 am, trailortrash said:

    :salute:

  7. #7
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:15 am, tre said:

    Soldiers! Report to your new commander, General George Washington at your new post in Heaven.

    His family are talking about how brave their son and his Band of Brothers were instead of how weak and indecisive their c-n-c (I deliberately used small letters. He doesn’t deserve the title) is.
    They’re showing more honor than Duh One ever thought about.

  8. #8
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:19 am, 30 pcs of silver said:

    All give some … Some, unfortunately give all.

    R.I.P.

  9. #9
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:24 am, pressto said:

    “They knew they were there and they couldn’t do anything about it and they killed them.”

    The media has failed to talk about the “new” rules of engagement that I first heard about last month when 4 marines died.

    http://www.military.com/news/article/ambushed-marines-aid-call-rejected.html

    The U.S. troops had to wait more than an hour for attack helicopters to come to their aid and their appeal for artillery fire was rejected, with commanders citing new rules designed to avoid civilian casualties, the report said.

    It sounds like these new rules got these soldiers killed also and will someone in the media report about what these new rules are finally?

  10. #10
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:27 am, stillontheroad said:

    I want to see all their names on the same wall as the Vietnam Memorial. All of them. That way anyone who cares can see the number of victims of the Dirty Democrats and their spineless self serving existence.And anyone who cares can look and know they died for nothing.

  11. #11
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:31 am, stevevvs said:

    And anyone who cares can look and know they died for nothing.

    Absolutely.

    http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/1053/Nation-Building-in-Afghanistan-It-Didnt-Work-the-First-Time.aspx

    When will the infidels learn?

    http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/1050/-Losing-Our-Way-to-Victory.aspx

    I doubt they will.

    Have you studied Islam? You should…

  12. #12
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:32 am, englishqueen01 said:

    Good gracious. All but one of them is younger than I am! Heroes, indeed.

    :sad:

    Lord, welcome your sons into your arms. Grant them eternal rest and comfort those who mourn them. Amen.

  13. #13
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:40 am, NJ-Aviator said:

    A terrible loss.

    What will it take before those responsible for them men and women realize the impossible life-threatening position they’ve put them in? This should never have happened.

    Either kill the bad guys where ever they are… or get our people out of there.

  14. #14
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:41 am, NJ-Aviator said:

    “these men and women”

    typo

  15. #15
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:44 am, vinny said:

    Insane rules for waging war. If an islamist changes his clothes, he cannot be touched. We establish for them safety and comfort zones, from which they kill us. I don’t understand why a mosque used to shelter terrorists is off limits. It’s just a bunker. They want to concentrate their weapons and murderers there, then bomb the place and let that become their grave.

  16. #16
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:52 am, vinny said:

    This is a cultural and religious war. They fight it on multiple fronts. One front is fought through terrorizing our population with random violence. Another front is through attacking our financial institutions and our economy. Yet another front is through population transfers and this attack turns our democratic system against us. We may be confronting them on the violent terrorism front and disrupting their efforts there, but we protecting our society from these other methods of attack. Unless we recognize the enemy and confront them, we will lose.

  17. #17
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:54 am, vinny said:

    ,but we ARE NOT protecting our society…

  18. #18
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:57 am, granite said:

    God bless these guys, and all that wear the uniform and protect us.

    Anyone else ever notice that there are certain of Michelle’s topics/threads, this one being an example, about which our trolls and socialist posters have nothing to say, and are deafeningly silent?

  19. #19
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:58 am, jangar said:

    Remember their names. Remember their heroism:

    And remember why we’re there in the first place!

  20. #20
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:08 am, Savage24 said:

    I said this before and will say it again. If WWII was fought under these rules of engagement, we would be speaking German or Japanese today.Anytime you let politicians run a war you are in deep doo doo. Just look at how they ran Korea and Vietnam, both were lost.

  21. #21
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:25 am, aero said:

    “He talked about the village next to the base, that it had 300 Taliban, and they couldn’t do anything about it

    What will it take before those responsible for them men and women realize the impossible life-threatening position they’ve put them in?

    A politician, not a warrior, writes the Rules of Engagement (ROE). The ROE tie our soldier’s hands. The One who dictates the ROE already knows exactly what he is doing. The One is engineering our defeat. WHY? The One must be pointed out.

  22. #22
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:26 am, vinny said:

    Savage,
    If WW2 was fought with the allies imposing such rules on themselves, we would exist as slaves.

  23. #23
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:33 am, conservativesRus said:

    Honestly – I don’t get this “special dirt” provision. Let me say this – unless God himself declared a piece of dirt sacred ground, then all dirt is equal (all created by God).
    At a “reverence” level, I have zero reverence for the god of islam and think such places ought to be destroyed. The earlier the better. Why does the USA give any respect to such places?

  24. #24
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:49 am, ITookTheRedPill said:

    Several other commenters have already pointed out the root cause of why these soldiers died:

    Obama changed the rules of engagement.

    This really is shaping up to become another Vietnam. Why? Because a Socialist acting as Commander-in-Chief is setting rules of engagement that make it nearly impossible for our troops to win.

  25. #25
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:54 am, sonofdy said:

    I looked at the place they put that fob on a map, on google earth, and in pictures. It was a death trap waiting to happen.

    They literaly put it in a place where there were high ridges all arround it so that no covered movement in the fob was possiable. Imagine living in a bowl with the enemy on the top all the way arround and you in the lowest part of the bottom of the bowl.

    Custer would have thought twice about this placement.

  26. #26
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:56 am, sonofdy said:

    Under international law, any protected site loses that protection if used for military purposes. So If ST Peters was used as an ammo dump, it would become a legitimate military target.

    Obama is SUPPOSED to be a lawyer…

  27. #27
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:57 am, no2pcbs1 said:

    RIP Hero Warriors, you will not be forgotten. I will keep your loved ones in my prayers.

  28. #28
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:59 am, ITookTheRedPill said:

    There has never been a more important time to question the Constitutional eligibility of the Commander-in-Chief.

    Obama is ineligible because he was born a natural born British subject, via jus sanguinis, becuase his father was a British subject, not a U.S. citizen.

    Obama may also be ineligible for a second reason. He has yet to conclusively prove he was born with jus soli U.S. citizenship. Obama has yet to release, directly from the state of Hawaii, an initial birth certificate proving he was born there.

    And gues what?

    Which Government Organization Was The First To Say, “Obama was born in Hawaii”?

    Is your answer, “The Hawaii State Department of Health”?

    Sorry, that answer is not a winner.

  29. #29
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:00 am, sonofdy said:

    BTW if it had been a us force attacking such an exposed position, It would have been over in less than a hour with no causalities on our side. This shows how badly trained the attackers were. The base should have been completely wiped out. Good job guys.

  30. #30
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:02 am, cabrerski said:

    I firmly believe in the overall control of the military by elected civilian leaders. Having said that, I find these leaders appalling when they burden our troops with rules of engagement that make little sense and cause great risks to our fighting forces.

    Bottom line…engage the enemy or withdraw back to our borders and establish the appropriate security for our country here. If the adversary hides in a mosque, no more mosque. Better yet, start to seek out the “holy” men that create this problem and destroy them. Offer a bounty on every radical mullah that encourages the jihad.

    We should always allow for religious freedom, but not at the cost of others’ lives.

  31. #31
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:03 am, happyscrapper said:

    I know we will lose the war if we bring our troops home. But at least we will stop losing our troops. They are in a NO WIN situation anyway. This POS leading the military (the POTUS) has distain for the troops. He has practically told us, in so many words. Why would anyone sign up for the military only to be under the command of a socialist/marxist POS who has put in place such restrictions that war CANNOT POSSIBLY be won. Obama is a muslum and he wants them to win. Simple as that. And as for the mosques, they are simply buildings that are used by a cult going under the name of “religion”. They deserve NO respect.

  32. #32
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:06 am, happyscrapper said:

    P.S. I respect RELIGIOUS freedom. It’s just that I don’t consider Islam a religion. Good grief, their prophet, Mohammed was a pedophile/murderer. Nice guy. That is what they worship. They might just as well worship Phil Spector.

  33. #33
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:08 am, Roland said:

    The real Powell Doctrine: “If you break it, you have to fix it.”

    What the doctrine really means in practice is the only legitimate reason for invasion is to ’save’ the civilians in the invaded country.

    That is not stupid. It is stark, raving lunacy.

    War is about forcing a hostile society to submit to your society’s will. Period. It is not about winning the hostile population’s hearts and minds. That does not work. It never has. It never will.

    The Afghan peasant is not a multiculti nutjob. When the chips are down he will always side with the people ‘like him,’ unless doing so is going to get him and his family and his tribe killed.

    The way we are working it, the peasant will get killed if he does not side with the people like him.

    GET. OUT. NOW.

  34. #34
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:17 am, Laree said:
  35. #35
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:22 am, Roland said:

    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:03 am, happyscrapper said:
    I know we will lose the war if we bring our troops home.

    No. You are accepting the wrong paradigm. The war we should be fighting is the war to stop terrorist attacks against the West.

    Fighting to try to change the hearts and minds of the people in Afghanistan (a war we cannot win) does nothing to further our goals in that war. It just bleeds us while distracting us from the real danger.

    The real danger is jihad. The real danger is sharia. The real danger is mullahs in mosques across the globe, including right here in the United States, preaching conquest and subjugation of the West.

  36. #36
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:24 am, NJ-Aviator said:

    sonofdy said:

    I looked at the place they put that fob on a map, on google earth, and in pictures. It was a death trap waiting to happen.

    They literaly put it in a place where there were high ridges all arround it so that no covered movement in the fob was possiable. Imagine living in a bowl with the enemy on the top all the way arround and you in the lowest part of the bottom of the bowl.

    Custer would have thought twice about this placement.

    Yes, I recall reading that the enemy had elevated firing positions around the base.

    sonofdy said:
    Under international law, any protected site loses that protection if used for military purposes. So If ST Peters was used as an ammo dump, it would become a legitimate military target.

    …and should leveled.

    The enemy should be on notice that any attempts to conceal weapons, fighters or any sort of base of operations in a civilian locations will likely bring harm to any civilians in or near the site and as such, the enemy is responsible for this situation. Not us.

  37. #37
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:26 am, Auggie Dog said:

    This just pisses me off! Another dumb ass ROE war. WTF! Odumbo! Get more troops over there and squash these maggots.

    My heart goes out to the family of Spc. Stephan Lee Mace.

  38. #38
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:31 am, Roland said:

    Odumbo! Get more troops over there and squash these maggots.

    Put more Americans into a shooting gallery with ridiculous ROE and a Commander in Chief who loathes them? Bad idea.

  39. #39
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:31 am, NJ-Aviator said:

    Roland said:

    Yeah, enough of this “hearts and minds” crap. We don’t need to build a new Afghanistan. We just need to kill off the bad guys.

    Soldiers and Marines are not diplomats and playmates. They’re soldiers and marines. They blow stuff up, kill bad guys and in general make life miserable for our enemies.

    That’s what they do. They need to be doing that in A’stan or they need to be back here on leave or training for their next mission.

  40. #40
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:40 am, cheapseat said:

    viet nam deja vu all over again. the enemy gets to hide in churches, homes, wear civillian clothes so they can say they are civillians, and you the army, you have to march in the middle of the streets, never bomb a known enemy fortress because it MIGHT harm a civillian, or upset the politically correct state department and u.n. iraq 2 would never have been necessary if we had not listened to colin powell and stopped bombing the iraqis on the road out of kuwait, but had kept killing them all the way to baghdad and bombed the hell out of saddam’s military command and control facilities.

  41. #41
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:50 am, TigerLady said:

    These young men are America’s finest. Obama should hang his head in shame that he is such a spineless coward.
    He should be on the front line with these heroes. They could show him the definition of honor.

  42. #42
    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:57 am, flmom said:

    My deepest sympathies to the families of these brave young men. I feel like weeping, my son celebrates his 24th birthday today and four of those young men will not have that opportunity.

  43. #43
    On October 8th, 2009 at 11:01 am, scrubjay said:

    Troop morale is flagging because of the indecisiveness and indirection from the White House. Who wants to fight when your leader has no idea what he is doing.

  44. #44
    On October 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am, FirstSkirt said:

    Obeyme has no concept of honor, of valor. He is a disgrace to this country with the blood of these fine heroes on his hands. He is not fit to be in the same room with our military men and women. His indeciseveness spells trouble for them. Here is Colorado, we are praying for the grieving families. RIP, brave warriors.

  45. #45
    On October 8th, 2009 at 11:31 am, Lindsay said:

    May these warriors and heroes of the USA RIP. Prayers for their family and friends.

    It is time for the Obama administration to step up and either win this war or bring our brave men and women home. The USA needs to win, but not under these rules of engagement I am reading.

    Pressure needs to be made on the waffle in the White House, and he needs to somehow grow a spine against terrorism, which is radical Islam.

    This is LBJ and Vietnam all over again–there is no room for bureaucracy and war. They need to listen to the men with boots on the ground.

  46. #46
    On October 8th, 2009 at 11:42 am, right_on said:

    I wish we could send all the congressional leaders to these FOB’s, giving them the same support they gave these brave soldiers…and make them live there for a month.

  47. #48
    On October 8th, 2009 at 12:08 pm, BlackFlag55 said:

    I know I’m going to get slammed for this … but who on earth sited and approved the site for this FOB in a declivity underneath a ring of peaks??? From the graphics I’ve seen of FOB Keating this was a shooting gallery in a barrel. The miracle is that our guys are so well trained so courageous and so good at what they do that they only lost eight.

    Somebody screwed the pooch making our guys fish in a barrel.

  48. #49
    On October 8th, 2009 at 12:18 pm, BlackFlag55 said:

    And BTW – conflict in Afghanistan is never about politics, global this or that it’s solely and only about the underground economy of drugs. If for any reason you think it’s something else you haven’t paid attention to 150 years of drug culture, the underground economy, the rise of scion families on the backs of drug addicts and how drug money is the fuel of political change.

    DARPA has, right now, a genetic herbicide that targets specifically and only Papaver somniferum in an aerosol application that can be aerial sprayed from any airframe.

    This time next week the Afghan conflict can be over, permanently.

    Let me repeat that as we mourn the loss of our best and brightest dying for a Cause but who are actually dying to preserve the war over Distribution Rights to heroin. The War Can be Over This Time Next Week.

    GWB did not authorize its use. Neither will Obeyme. Since Yale, Harvard and Princeton were originally funded with profits from the opium trade in the Far East by wealthy scion New England families, do you really imagine those families would give up a trade where their money literally does grow on trees?

    Don’t be that naive. This war is internal and our best young men and women pay the price in blood and horror to ensure that trade does not cease and the “wrong people” do not get the upper hand in controlling that trade.

    This war is an internal war inside our borders. Afghanistan is just where the shooting part is taking place. That, and the south side of LA and Chicago.

  49. #50
    On October 8th, 2009 at 12:24 pm, cabrerski said:

    On October 8th, 2009 at 10:40 am, cheapseat said:
    viet nam deja vu all over again.

    No, this is worse. We should have learned that lesson by now.

  50. #51
    On October 8th, 2009 at 12:28 pm, Laree said:

    Still, put troops in – take troops out a decision would be nice. We have allies we aren’t in Afghanistan all by ourselves. We got people counting on us…per usual.

    They need to make plans too.

  51. #52
    On October 8th, 2009 at 12:57 pm, Regulus said:

    What concerns me the more I learn about what happened at FOB Keating is not so much that we took casualties. That’s an occupational hazard. It’s whether their sacrifice will have meaning.

    Put another way, in 1988 — less than a year before he was murdered by terrorists in Manila — I had the honor to meet Colonel Nick Rowe, who was studying Tagalog at the Defense Language Institute while I was studying Japanese there. I remember him saying that every time he put on his Army tan t-shirt in the morning, as far as he was concerned the word “Expendable” was written on it.

    What gave Colonel Rowe death meaning, in at least one sense, is that the “New People’s Army” he was helping the Philippines to resist did not prevail and that country remains free today.

    Similarly, whenever I read of our servicemembers being killed or wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq, I wonder: Will it be worth it? Ten, twenty years from now on that patch of ground where they fell, what will be their legacy? A viable country, able to hold its own against the New Barbarians who would drag it back into the Dark Ages?

    Or something else?

    The problem I have with the current occupant of the White House is that I think “something else” is going to be the answer. I don’t care if he’s called Afghanistan “the necessary war”; everything he says has an expiration date, and his minions in Congress are already wavering.

    If we’re going to use Vietnam Redux comparisons, what I’m worried about isn’t “Johnson’s War,” but Nixon’s: Are we going to find ourselves in the same position we were in in 1970-73, when everybody knew that we were ceding the field to the enemy and morale was what you’d expect given such knowledge?

    I hope not. And I hope that I’m not hoping against hope.


    The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone
    In the ranks of death you will find him;
    His father’s sword he hath girded on,
    And his wild harp slung behind him.
    “Land of Song!” said the warrior bard,
    “Tho’ all the world betrays thee,
    One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
    One faithful harp shall praise thee!”

    The Minstrel fell! But the foeman’s chain
    Could not bring that proud soul under.
    The harp he lov’d ne’er spoke again,
    For he tore its chords asunder.
    And said “No chains shall sully thee,
    Thou soul of love and brav’ry!
    Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
    They shall never sound in slavery!”

    “The Minstrel Boy”
    Thomas Moore

  52. #53
    On October 8th, 2009 at 1:00 pm, greenfairie said:

    Turn the Hindu Kush into a flat parking lot and kill the poppy crop. Anything less than that will result in a Soviet-style defeat.

    In that part of the world, they only understand strength and weakness. Anything less than the best of our arsenal is considered “weakness.” The Russkies blew it because they were disorganized and didn’t have the money or what-have-you to pull it off. We could blow it because we have the means but not the will.

  53. #54
    On October 8th, 2009 at 1:10 pm, rocketman said:

    ***
    May God bless the souls of the brave men and women who defend and protect us. And may He comfort the families who have lost their loved ones.
    ***
    I was a U.S. Army draftee from 1964–1966. An engineering degree sent me to White Sands, NM, to work on missiles and radars rather than into he Vietnam hellhole.
    ***
    I could not believe what I was seeing on TV and hearing from fellow soldiers who had been in the shooting part of the war. I could not believe that President Johnson and our high level military would not send in everyone (me included) and USE ALL AVAILABLE MILITARY POWER (with nukes if needed) to win this war in a few months. And I got tired of being lied to monthly by my “Commander” in Chief as he threw away hundreds of our soldiers lives every week.
    ***
    The President should be required to lead the troops into combat–like El Cid did in Spain long ago–against the Islamic Moors. Sitting back safe in Washington clouds his vision into what is needed–if he cares at all.
    ***
    POLITICAL “CORRECTNESS” KILLS OUR SOLDIERS. Use more on call “high tech” to kill the jihadis at long range. To hell with “collateral damage”–General Sherman and General Patton didn’t worry too much about killing those who support and enable the enemy.
    ***
    Fight it and win it–or pull out now. No more Koreas, Vietnams, Gulf War I’s, Fallujas, etc. War is hell–make it so for our enemies. One of our soldiers lives is worth more than a hundred of our enemies–and their enablers–lives.
    ***
    John Bibb
    ***

  54. #56
    On October 8th, 2009 at 1:47 pm, sonofdy said:

    The quickest way to ensure defeat in Afganistan is to think we are defeated. Lets not fall into that trap.

  55. #57
    On October 8th, 2009 at 1:54 pm, publiuswarmac9999 said:

    When the “Rules of Engagement” are so hostile to one’s own forces that known terrorists can simply strut about as long as they are in the company of a supposed innocent, then no war can be won. American citizens were able to settle the West in spite of the Apache, Sioux, and others, because a single Indian incident would trigger a mass annihilation of the tribe involved. Today, such a policy is looked at with great horror – but it is the only real policy that can stop the eventual loss of the war in Afghanistan.

  56. #58
    On October 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm, iamgman said:

    Politicians should have exactly 3 responsibilities with regard to executing a war plan. They should give the order to go to war, give the order to stop the war, and give the order to release the nukes. Other than that, once the order to go to war is given, they should have no say in how its executed. Leave that to the pros.

  57. #59
    On October 8th, 2009 at 2:10 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    On October 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm, iamgman said:

    Politicians should have exactly 3 responsibilities with regard to executing a war plan. They should give the order to go to war, give the order to stop the war, and give the order to release the nukes. Other than that, once the order to go to war is given, they should have no say in how its executed. Leave that to the pros.

    In future elections, we would be wise to put all presidential candidates on the record regarding this topic. They desire to be Commander-in-Chief. We, as voters, need to know how they intend to perform those responsibilities.

  58. #60
    On October 8th, 2009 at 2:16 pm, TiminPhx said:

    I expect the average Democrat to be a traitor.

    And don’t buy the stuff about a Blue Dog Democrat or anything like that. If you belong to the party of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid you are slime. Just because now and then they give you permission to vote from a conservative stance (say Pro Gun Rights) at the end of the day, you support those who risk our nation’s safety and that of our brave troops.

    But where in the name of everything right is the Republican leader making this the purpose of his life?

    Where is the GOP politican who should be saying the White House idiotic ROEs are getting troops killed? And they also shouldn’t be afraid to call out the past administration for doing the same thing?

    Where is the damn politican who cares enought to fight a tenth as much for our troops, as those troops fight for us?

  59. #61
    On October 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pm, Regulus said:

    Saw this over at HotAir. Disturbing.

  60. #62
    On October 8th, 2009 at 2:30 pm, tiredofit08 said:

    I’ll be making a trip next month and will ensure that I take a few seconds to greet and thank every single person in uniform for their service and sacrifice!!! I suggest you all do the same if traveling not just around the holiday’s but anytime you see a member of the armed forces!!

  61. #63
    On October 8th, 2009 at 2:50 pm, emjem24 said:

    I am just overwhelmed with sadness right now. Such losses not only affect the families, but the overall state of both the military and military families. We, too, are watching the news and reading the newspapers. I am having a lot of trouble with this right now. This incident is playing in my mind, increasing my fears of what my husband might confront if he is deployed to Afghanistan.

    At least I’ll have the holidays with my husband. We’ll know if he gets deployed by January I’m told.

    The media, and the media overseas, think the US military is a joke. They look down on our military and can get away with writing scathing testimonies like The Times Online article linked at Drudge. The Europeans look down on us because they are too lazy to fight for their civilization… they’d rather just say that the Afghanis are just an agrarian society that should be overrun by savages, just like what Europe is now allowing to happen in their own neck of the woods.

    I am beyond anger at politicians in Congress, The White House, and The Pentagon. If we don’t make some kind of trackable progress soon in Afghanistan, and more wasteful incidents in Kamdeysh are allowed to happen, I want Gates, McChrystal, and even Petreus to resign. None of these people understand the pain of these families… they just add to it with their ceaseless social tinkering and ROE creation and revising.

    I’m sickened, as should every single American who cares about the welfare and safety of our troops. :mad:

  62. #64
    On October 8th, 2009 at 3:30 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Apparently Obama now wants the Taliban as allies.

  63. #65
    On October 8th, 2009 at 3:47 pm, happy2behere said:

    REAL Heros, not media made.

    Tried to donate to a charity that helps the Ft.Carson families and could not find anything helpful on the links provided. Maybe I missed it. Any suggestions?

  64. #66
    On October 8th, 2009 at 3:53 pm, Leatherneck said:

    It makes you wonder if orders were lawful. Hiding in a Mosque, milling around the village. You can not touch them.

    Perhaps, the Mosques are being used just like in Iraq to hide weapons, C-4, and warriors for the moon god. Ya think?

    Makes me want to Puke!

    G-d’s speed to our fallen troops, and troops in the field. With PC military brass, it appears they will need it.

  65. #67
    On October 8th, 2009 at 4:05 pm, Sichiban said:

    Obama isn’t listening. None of the Democrats or most of the news media (but I probably repeat myself) are listening, or really care unless they can use the events to bash the opposition and the American people. (Do I repeat myself again?)

    I despair for my country. If we can’t reverse this situation in 2010, it will be too late.

  66. #68
    On October 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm, Big Hammer and Anvil said:

    Lord bless these souls and lend support to their grieving families.

    The current abysmal level of support for our troops is indicative of statist politics. There should be one goal in warfare, and that is to WIN. Anything of lesser value is defeat.

    Why settle for losing, why settle for the degradation of throwing the lives of our valuable patriotic sons and daughters for nothing?

    During the U.S. Civil War (the War of Northern Agression for all our Southerners) Lincoln changed commanders frequently until he found a fighting General in the form of U.S. Grant. Yes, remove the half hearted political generals/admirals and even the political elite. Let the professionals do the jobs and disciplines they were trained to do. Unfetter the chains that constrain our fine military professionals and let them succeed.

    Lift the ROE and replace with LEADERS ready and willing to take the fight to our enemy and not be satisfied with a supporting policing role.

    During the time of my two decades of military service of this nation, I witnessed firthand officers and NCOs with the fighting spirit which unfortunatlety were marked down by not being Politically Correct. Where are the Grants, the Halseys, the Pattons, the Shermans of today?

    Take off the kid gloves and let our military do their respective jobs. We should be in it to win it. Forget the actions of half measures and half heartedness. War is ugly by its very nature, but necessary. Take the fight to the heathen in terms that even they understand. Do not stop until they are beaten using their own tactics while they laugh at our nation.

    Fight the Total War, Punish the Sedition, the Malingerers, the Traitors. Support the troop and support the mission.

    Bless our nation, bless our troops and let nothing stop our stride for total victory.

  67. #69
    On October 8th, 2009 at 4:36 pm, prendad said:

    WOW WOW WOW!!!
    Bob Barker (The Price is Right) is on TV right now and he just gave $3 Million Bucks to help build a new hospital in Bethesda Maryland to help out our troops with severe brain injuries.
    GO BOB BARKER! YOU ARE THE MAN!

  68. #70
    On October 8th, 2009 at 4:37 pm, NJ-Aviator said:

    Big Hammer and Anvil said:

    well said Big Hammer.

  69. #71
    On October 8th, 2009 at 5:01 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Lift the ROE and replace with LEADERS ready and willing to take the fight to our enemy and not be satisfied with a supporting policing role.

    Someone explain to me again how there is no difference between McCain and Obama.

  70. #72
    On October 8th, 2009 at 5:12 pm, sunshinerbray said:

    I’m a registered user for michellemalkin.com, but a friend of mine is not, and her son is fighting in Afghanistan right now. Here’s what she had to say:

    Obama has a complete disregard for the men he sends in to die. He is forcing our sons to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. I received information that my son and his battalion are being forced to take the birdcages off their combat vehicles. The birdcage is what keeps an RPG from ripping right through the vehicle. The reason…? A lighter vehicle will be less disruptive to the environment. This coming off the bloodiest weekend in Afghanistan is a little too much for this military mom to take. God help our boys.

  71. #73
    On October 8th, 2009 at 5:28 pm, ThunderHawkk said:

    sunshinerbray – Oh,come on now. You can’t be serious. Come on, is that really true? It can’t be… How could that be true?

    obama. What the hell is an obama anyway? Beyond contempt is what I feel for that bastard. A community organizer? Really?

  72. #74
    On October 8th, 2009 at 5:31 pm, stacman said:

    spc Stephan Mace knew all too well that our rules of engagement during wartime are as outdated as the Geneva Convention. The enemy has no rules, which is why we will always lose this battle no matter where it takes place. His commanders failed him and cost all of them their lives. If they weren’t to engage the enemy, they shouldn’t have been there. How convenient it is for them to hide in plain sight in a mosque. If the war were here does anyone believe a church would stop them? Level the mosques and everyone in them.

  73. #76
    On October 8th, 2009 at 7:44 pm, CrazyFool said:

    On October 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm, iamgman said:
    Politicians should have exactly 3 responsibilities with regard to executing a war plan. They should give the order to go to war, give the order to stop the war, and give the order to release the nukes. Other than that, once the order to go to war is given, they should have no say in how its executed. Leave that to the pros.

    Damn rights. I will however add that the politican’s **RESPONSIBILITY** is to define the mission and goals. Then get the hell out of the way. The current cic refuses, even when challenged by one of the Generals in charge, to do either.

    Heres some ROE for ya:

    Mosque housing terrorists == Bunker – level it and then bounce the rubble.

    Civilian housing terrorist == Bunker – level it and then bounce the rubble.

  74. #77
    On October 8th, 2009 at 7:50 pm, 24Klady said:

    Our exalted CNC needs to man up and either admit he wants to lose this war or give them the tools and men they need. Good Lord, it’s genocide of American young men/women to send them into a combat zone with those kinds of restrictions – all sanctioned and endorsed by the anointed one…or, more likely, SanFran Nan. Bring them home if you intend to lose. I don’t want another Wall in D.C. with the insane and obscene number of names on it that stands there today.

  75. #78
    On October 8th, 2009 at 7:57 pm, ssnark said:

    These are the names of the heroes of the battle of Kamdesh, Afghanistan. These men gave their last full measure that others might live in freedom.

    Spc. Stephan Lee Mace, 21
    Sgt. Joshua Kirk, 30
    Pfc. Kevin Thomson, 22
    Spc. Christopher T. Griffin
    Spc. Michael P. Scusa, 22
    Sgt. Vernon W. Martin
    Sgt. Justin T. Gallegos, 22
    Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, 24

    To quote a certain Republican President,
    “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ”

    That is or should be our prayer as a nation.

  76. #80
    On October 8th, 2009 at 8:36 pm, Atlas Shrugged said:

    We need to ban precision guided weapons except within 200 yds of friendlies. I am worried about the deficit and if we cut there usage we can have more money for health care. Dumb bombs will do just fine. Carpet bomb the rest. Hamburg, Dresden, Berlin, Tokyo etc. It seemed to work in the last war we won.

  77. #81
    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:30 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    Too too young heroes. (sniff)

  78. #82
    On October 8th, 2009 at 11:44 pm, Member-VRWC said:

    On October 8th, 2009 at 9:56 am, sonofdy said:

    Obama is SUPPOSED to be a lawyer…

    Obama is supposed to be the POTUS, too, and we all know how well that’s working out.

  79. #83
    On October 9th, 2009 at 1:55 am, simcoe said:

    Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in South Lake Tahoe, California. She was 11 at the time of her abduction, and was missing for over 18 years.

    Jaycee Lee Dugard and the Afghan Islamists.

    Jaycee had 11 years of freedom before she was abducted and yet she still came to a place in her psyche that no longer allowed her to think to or try to run away to regain that freedom. She eventually even got to a point where she was working along side of and helping her captors.

    Why should we think that in a hellish Islamic society where women and children are captives from birth and have never known any kind of freedom, that they would be any different from Jaycee Dugard in not trying to get away?

    And knowing Jaycee’s relationship to her captors, does anyone believe it would have been acceptable, if she was located in that house, for the police swat team to storm the place and risk her life or the lives of her children in order to liberate her from her captors?

    Does anyone remember watching the attempted rescue of Patty Hearst in real time on live TV?

  80. #84
    On October 9th, 2009 at 8:23 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    On October 8th, 2009 at 5:12 pm, sunshinerbray said:
    I received information that my son and his battalion are being forced to take the birdcages off their combat vehicles. The birdcage is what keeps an RPG from ripping right through the vehicle. The reason…? A lighter vehicle will be less disruptive to the environment.

    Yet ANOTHER you have got to be #*^@%#&! me moment.

    Me thinks O’Dumbo will replace the birdcages with this:

    TARGET

  81. #85
    On October 9th, 2009 at 10:43 am, sunshinerbray said:

    I am as serious as a heart attack. I don’t want to divulge his branch of the military or the vehicle in question, but rest assured, it’s happened.

  82. #86
    On October 9th, 2009 at 9:05 pm, Lindsay said:

    sunshinerbray, sadly, I am sure this is true. I am furious.

    We need to burn the faxes and emails of Congress to wake up and do something about our troops in Afghanistan, as the
    “Commander in Chief” is too busy flying To Europe in Air Force One to be bothered.

  83. #87
    On October 13th, 2009 at 3:42 pm, FirstSkirt said:

    If you can think of no other reason to sincerely hate Obeyme’s policies, the deaths of these military men should make you a believer—he’s evil incarnate in my opinion.

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