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fortdixlover
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 1476
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 Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:37 am Post subject: |
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| Navy_Navy_Navy wrote: | Actually, my first response to this article was one of "Yee-friggin-HAW!!!" but I was too busy and didn't comment at the time.
When I came back to the thread, I was amazed at the turn the discussion had taken - especially since this is a military board.
So then I thought maybe it was just me - I'm not a combat vet, after all - and I will nearly always defer in my opinions to those who have been there in matters of combat situations and conditions.
But it looks like the culture of "measured response" (arguably the biggest disaster in the history of warfare, IMHO) has infiltrated even our military!
Measured response is "You kill innocent civilians, I cut off your arm."
Appropriate response is, "You kill innocent civilians, I bomb your encampment to dust, spoil your food, salt your fields, poison your water, braid your entrails for rope and stick your friggin' heads on pikes."
This SGT clearly seems to me to have learned his way around the AO and has developed means by which to make the enemy die for their cause while protecting his own men.
That's what I thought war was all about! And these guys are doing it!
I guess I've taken on a rather bloodthirsty attitude since 9-11.
The massacres at Nasiriyah, Fallujah, Mosul, Kirkuk... each has made my desire for absolute destruction of the enemy ever stronger. Our troops are delivering on that wish!
So, here's a belated war whoop and big BZ's for this SGT and for all the men and women who are over there in the middle of this danger and chaos and confusion - taking care of business. |
I could not agree more.
When you're in war, fight like you're in a war, not a peace march.
-- FDL
_________________
"Millions For Defense, Not One Cent For Tribute" - Thomas Jefferson on paying ransom to Muslim corsairs (pirates). |
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GenrXr
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 1720
Location: Houston
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| Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:51 am Post subject: |
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I will post tomorrow.
And I did not realize my website is under my name Navy.
_________________
"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy |
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Essayons
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 05 Apr 2005
Posts: 81
Location: Philadelphia area
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm. Still awaiting your "negative replies" post GenrXr.
Make your post now. You have been threatening us about your 800 pound gorilla long enough.
Maybe the old adage is true - tomorrow never comes - and your claim that you will "post tomorrow" is nothing more than a delay forever tactic.
Follow-up on your promise or at minimum state that you are bowing out due to lack of information. If you have counter information about the Ruiz article it is a simple cut-and-paste exercise.
What is your problem?
Cut to the chase now! Deliver!
_________________
Essayons - Let us try - the code of the Army Engineer. Sappers First, the code of the Combat Engineer. |
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wpage
Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:14 am Post subject: |
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Where IS that damn GORILLA? Maybe we should just call off the hunt? Seems that Yorkshire Terrier don't hunt. Did somebody go hunting on election night for the Command HQ?
| Quote: | http://209.120.136.195/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39063&sid=377988a784596041fd8774cbd9d3ec53
Need help finding 2 games COmmand HQ and Rogue
Home of the Underdogs Forum Index -> The Gamer's Corner
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GenrXr
Yorkshire Terrier
Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 1
Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:00 am Post subject: Need help finding 2 games COmmand HQ and Rogue
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Both are on the website but I keep getting an error trying to download. Any ideas on where I can go and find these games. Thanks |
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Knighthawk
Commander
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 323
Location: Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo
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| Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:11 am Post subject: |
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Just as I thought....no 800 lb Gorilla. Not even a small monkey.
_________________
Regards,
Brian
Beware of the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever.
If guns kill people, then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.
Knighthawk's Pictures! |
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Knighthawk
Commander
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 323
Location: Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo
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| Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 7:58 am Post subject: |
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| GenrXr wrote: | | I have one thing to say to Ruiz. You might be from New York, but if you went to war with someone from Houston and had to reach into your pockets...before your hand left that pocket you'd be laying on the ground wondering what hit you. |
| GenrXr wrote: | | This article is very disturbing to me in many ways. |
| GenrXr wrote: | | Ya'll have no clue as to the negative replies to this article...keep waxing on, I will drop a 800lb gorrilla on you once you have dug the dirt deep enough. |
| GenrXr wrote: | | During the early eighties there was this game called dig dug and I would have to say you have 1 quarter score so far. I love ya'll much and wish no harm, but I must drop the gorrilla soon. |
| GenrXr wrote: | | wpage, give me a few and the type will appear. |
| GenrXr wrote: | Gorilla will drop soon people  |
| GenrXr wrote: | | I will post tomorrow. |
GenXr, I am still waiting with baited breath for this "Gorilla" to drop.
| Navy_Navy_Navy wrote: |
*sigh*
You know, I'm just an ordinary peacetime vet... and I can't imagine how condescending your posts must seem to be among our combat veterans. It's offensive to me to be told that I "have no clue." |
Navy3, I couldn't let this die. This thread really got under my skin. You said that GenXr has been a solid contributer here, then he needs to contribute this 800lb gorilla.
If the 800lb gorilla exists, I will eat my words and make a public apology, if not, then I believe he owes this board a public apology.
This is just my .02¢
_________________
Regards,
Brian
Beware of the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever.
If guns kill people, then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.
Knighthawk's Pictures! |
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Bob51
Seaman
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 156
Location: Belfast
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| Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 8:20 am Post subject: Smugmug and Flickr |
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Knighthawk
Enjoyed your pics. I once rode to the Elefantreffen at Nurburgring in January (along with 60,000 other crazed bikers). Still have the badge and if you get the chance, it's well worth going. Just forget the lunatics who put themselves in hospital by playing boy racer on the track.
I use Flickr as a photo community site and wondered if you have a preference for Smugmug over Flickr and Shutterfly. Here's the link to a discussion:
http://www.flickr.com/forums/help/5468/
Any bad experiences with Smugmug?
bob51 |
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MLB
Ensign
Joined: 19 Oct 2004
Posts: 56
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 11:43 am Post subject: |
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I've been watching this thread with interest.
I grew up in the LA area being exposed to gang culture on the peripheral. Its an entirely different world than most of us know. Its a hard world where the rule of law is not the good guys versus the bad guys that most of us equate to law enforcement versus the criminal element in the protection of our society.
Gang culture is more like us versus them in the protection of neighborhood and family and so far outside of society, as most of us know it, that its almost like a world without law enforcement at all. Its entirely different than the everyday life in the typical neighborhood in the typical town. Its a culture all its own - and very often multi-generational.
On the outside we may easily see the evil of it, but gang life is all many of them have known. To most of us it would seem desirable to strip all vestiges of that life from former gang members - especially when they enter our armed forces. We want noble men of high character wearing the uniform its true - but the fact is - some of the instincts that are necessarily developed in that environment cannot be taught or instilled in a few weeks of military training.
With the kind of warfare our military is presently fighting the instincts of someone like SGT. 1st Class Ruiz have probably saved many lives. I doubt we would really want those instincts to have been stripped from him. The portrayal of Ruiz, as depicted in the article, may seem harsh, but war is harsh and ugly by nature - something we tend to want to forget when we're safe in our homes.
The article gives a snapshot into the reality of that kind of warfare - though I must admit - I can't help question the motivation behind the article. I certainly find it suspect at least.
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wpage
Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 6:33 am Post subject: |
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To be aware of what is happening in Mosul follow the links.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/05/an_embed_blogge.html
| Quote: | May 04, 2005
An Embed Blogger?
Todd at Stryker Brigade News has a post about some great blogging from Michael Yon (some of you have sent me links of his articles). Be sure to read the "Battle for Mosul". Michael Yon is an explorer and author of a few books. He also happens to be one of the few Special Forces Soldiers to graduate from the Q Course, at 19 years old, directly after AIT (the suicidal dubbed them "SF Babies" - long story). |
| Quote: | http://www.strykernews.com/archives/2005/05/03/_michael_yon_online_magazine.html
May 03, 2005
Michael Yon - Online Magazine
Author Michael Yon is currently embedded with the 1-24 INF ("Deuce Four") in Mosul, and is filing stories on his website. Be sure to stop by, read his entries, and subscribe to his mailing list. His most recent entry, The Battle For Mosul, is a must-read.
http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/2005/05/battle-for-mosul.html
Thanks to Deuce Four officers for making us aware of his reporting. |
This is the article. However I would reccomend visiting the site as it has the photos to go along with the article. These men are doing some hard fighting. They damn well have my respect.
http://www.strykernews.com/archives/2005/05/03/_michael_yon_online_magazine.html
| Quote: | Sunday, May 01, 2005
The Battle For Mosul
The Deuce-Four Fighting for Mosul
Mosul, Northern Iraq
As the new map of Iraq unfolds, a picture of progress emerges. The Iraqis who want freedom and democracy are gaining ground. From what I hear about the news back home, this might sound unreal. Nightly tallies of roadside IEDs and suicide car bombers driving headlong into crowds, like the Vietnam body counts on the Huntley-Brinkley Report, are the main summary of events, while most of this country is peaceful.
There are seventeen provinces in Iraq, and more than ten are quiet. They are busy rebuilding the infrastructure; building a new democracy, but mostly just getting on with life.
Unfortunately, the "Sunni triangle" is a region churning with an insurgency that shows no sign of letup. But by focusing on the flames, the media does not give the world a fair or accurate representation of what's happening for most Iraqi people, or for most of the Coalition forces. I, too, have spent most of my time in Iraq in these dangerous provinces, so even these dispatches might indicate that Iraq has more problems than is actually the case.
Yet even here in the warring provinces, progress is clear. I have endured many tedious meetings with agendas focused on roadside trash, local business development, or Iraqi police training. These normalities do not make good news.
Though "the media" zooms in on the flames, viewers are equally complicit. After all, who among us is more likely to tune in or read about another successful Iraqi adopt-a-highway initiative, when the other option is dramatic footage of the fighting that our people face every day inside these jagged borders?
And so it is. I am with the 1-24th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division, whose soldiers are fighting some of the most serious insurgency battles in Iraq.
To understand the situation in Mosul today, it helps to recap events beginning last March. Just one year ago, Mosul was largely peaceful. It hardly made the news. Then, far away in Falluja, insurgents ambushed and murdered four American contractors. In a scene as savage as any captured on film, a crowd morphed into a frenzied mob, dancing and mugging for the cameras as they beat smoldering corpses. With a depravity that even in retrospect retains its power to stun any person with a soul, they stampeded through the streets, dragging the dead behind them, until finally hanging what was left of the bodies from a bridge; pausing only to pose for souvenir photos.
The Coalition responded by clearing out the entire city, killing more than one thousand enemy fighters, and dispersing thousands of others "like roaches" throughout Iraq. Displaced fighters streamed from their nests in Falluja, scuttled into hiding throughout Iraq, and began spreading the disease of violence. Many landed in Mosul.
The 25th Infantry Division assumed control of Mosul in mid-October 2004, just when those enemy fighters started arriving from Falluja, soon to be reinforced by fundamentalists streaming in from the border countries. While the Americans happened to be in the middle of reducing troops in Mosul, the enemy happened to be rushing in. This irony didn't escape the enemy, who responded to the changing odds by stepping up the violence against Americans.
According to Captain John Jodway, an intelligence officer of the 1-24th Infantry Regiment, the 1-24th tour began with American units taking hundreds of mortar rounds. When the Coalition responded by targeting mortar cells, the volleys sharply decreased. Out-gunned, the insurgents shifted from large mortar attacks on a well-defended military targets, to hacking off the heads of unarmed civilians.
This crescendo of cruel and capricious violence lasted two months. Iraqis who resisted the murderers were murdered. American soldiers found about 250 corpses in Mosul. The city had become an open-air prison, with the streets largely under the control of ruthless gangs. They attacked police, killing or scattering nearly all of the fledgling force, and looted their stations.
Days rolled on. Showing evidence of training, the terrorists began seizing and trying to hold entire neighborhoods in Mosul. They carefully selected terrain that would be defensible, stationed fighters with rockets and machine guns on rooftops. They lined streets with explosives, apparently believing they could keep out the Americans. The 25th Infantry would roll into the strongholds and kill dozens of fighters at a clip. One linear ambush was more than a mile long. The 1-24th was caught by surprise. But after they managed to fight through to the end of the ambush, the commander, who was in the thick of the fight, ordered his men to turn around and head back into the ambush, then led his men into the kill zone to kill more enemy. The insurgents stopped using this tactic.
On December 21st, with the Iraqi national elections just over a month away, the enemy managed to get a suicide bomber into the dining facility on an American base in Mosul, where the 1-24th and other units live. Twenty-two Coalition members were killed in the attack. Despite the pain of that loss, there was little time to mourn. They call it "soldiering on." The soldiers had a job to do and so they continued to hunt down and kill insurgents in large street battles that occurred nearly every day from mid-October through late December.
New Year's Day, 2005: Iraqi elections were looming. Every day brought the insurgents one step closer to their ultimate enemy: democracy. Every ballot cast would be a shot in the heart of despotism. The enemy showed the depth of their fear of freedom by stepping up intimidation aimed directly at election workers. Wave after wave of brutality washed away the thin veneer of courage that had barely had time to dry a first coat. The election workers quit.
With no election staff, and no police force, the insurgents resorted to attacking firefighters. Their apparent relentlessness made the possibility of Iraqi elections seem remote. After a solid month of increasing attacks, most observers had written off the idea, while cries to postpone voting began to drown out even the guns of the insurgents.
But then January 30—now one of the more remarkable days in recent world history—dawned to a scene of courageous Iraqis—men, women, old and young, whole families, taking tentative but nonetheless determined steps to freedom. The success of the elections in Mosul and throughout Iraq stunned naysayers across the continents. Millions of Iraqis voted, leaving little room for dispute about their intent to embrace democracy. Iraqis risked their lives to vote, simultaneously shaming and inspiring many who watched.
It wasn't over. Ever anxious for effect, but increasingly pressed to scale down their activities, the enemy again shifted tactics. Through most of February, the insurgency was characterized by drive-by shootings and sniper attacks. The Coalition countered in Mosul, and began killing snipers. Those attacks remarkably decreased.
This brings us to now. The latest weapon in vogue in Mosul is the car bomb or, as it is often called in Iraq, VBIED (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device). When VBIEDs are piloted by suicidal men, they are called SVBIEDs. In Mosul, the enemy tries to ram SVBIEDs into the American Stryker vehicles. There have been more than twenty such attacks in Mosul recently.
The attacks sometimes fail, or are detected just before they happen. The 1-24th saw one car that was weighted down and driving erratically, so they shot the tires. The Saudi driver refused to leave the car but tried to persuade the Americans to come to him. While the Americans used an interpreter with a bullhorn to coax him out, the bomber stayed in the car. The Americans shot the car. It caught fire and exploded.
There are about seven hundred soldiers in the 1-24th, and they have been in some of the fiercest fighting in Iraq. As they complete the first half of their tour, the statistics tell the story--about one man in every six has been wounded or killed.
Lieutenant Colonel Erik Kurilla commands the 1-24th (Deuce-Four). Kurilla's men describe him as a ferocious fighter, afraid of nothing, a man who leads from the front. I would soon witness this with my own eyes.
LTC Erik Kurilla and SFC Robert Bowman in Mosul
At FOB Marez, home of the Deuce-Four, the morale crackles in the air like gunfire. The heavy losses have not dampened the fight in these men. One young soldier told me, "This is my family. Colonel Kurilla is like my dad. He would die for me." These are not the youthful proclamations of inexperienced troops who haven't seen enough combat to know what bullets and bombs mean.
At midnight on my first day at Marez, I go to the gym. The place is packed. At seven the next morning, I go back to the gym. It's packed again, this time with many of the officers and senior NCOs I met the day before. Some are just coming in from missions, others will soon be going out. Without saying a word, every move telegraphs that these are serious soldiers.
On my first mission with the Deuce-Four, I rode with LTC Kurilla in his Stryker vehicle. Several officers and men told me it's the most dangerous vehicle in Mosul because anytime Kurilla's soldiers get into trouble, he comes to help. We rolled off the base and into the streets of Mosul. The mission was simple: the soldiers make rounds to the Iraqi Police and Army, checking on how things are going.
Various elements of the Deuce-Four patrol around Mosul in Strykers, searching for suicide attackers, looking to spot them before they strap themselves into their moving bombs and take aim at a Stryker. The plan is extremely dangerous. The enemy has major advantages in this scenario. Strykers can be positively identified at a glance from a mile away. Traffic can be heavy in Mosul, another sign of the gradual improvement in security. Car bombs can be tough to spot at any range. Every soldier knows the consequences of every call. Shoot the wrong car, kill innocent people. Let the wrong car slip through, everybody in the Stryker might die. In some ways, life is simple here. Simple, not easy. Simple, but mined with danger. Seven days a week, in addition to conducting raids, and a full spectrum of offensive military operations, the Deuce-Four rolls out the gate.
It was afternoon when LTC Kurilla started his rounds in Mosul. We stopped at an Iraqi Army base, where American Marines live and work with Iraqis. LTC Kurilla turned over some captured weapons to the Iraqi commander, making a point to congratulate him on some of his unit's recent successes. Among the weapons is a Russian sniper rifle that had been used to shoot an American Marine Captain in the head. Luckily, the Marine's helmet stopped the bullet. When I met that Marine Captain, still on duty at the same station, he politely recounted the story of getting shot in the head. He was not hurt, although the impact had knocked him cold, but one of his friends was seriously wounded in the same attack.
The Deuce-Four departed the Iraqi garrison and headed to a police station where only a few months back the insurgents owned the real estate. The area around the station is pocked with bullet holes and scarred from explosions. Dozens of policemen armed with AKs stand about, waiting for something to happen, while LTC Kurilla discusses administrative matters with their chief.
As I started shooting video of the police, two deep thuds came from the distance. Deep enough for Air Force Staff Sergeant Will Shockley to remark, "Holy ****." I've heard many car bombs since coming to Iraq. "That sounded like a VBIED," I said, "Or a big IED." The sounds hadn't fully registered when LTC Kurilla walked out and asked "Where was that at?" Several Americans pointed in the direction where a mushroom cloud was rolling into the sky. We ran for the Strykers a couple hundred yards away.
Americans came onto the radio saying that a car bomb hit a Deuce-Four Stryker. We loaded the four Strykers, closed the ramps, and rolled. The attack site was three minutes away. The radio chattered that American helicopters and jets were inbound to provide cover, but the ground situation was tenuous; the initial blast might be the enemy's first move, but not the main attack. There might be follow-on suicide attacks, or IEDs planted on target, or perhaps dozens of insurgents with machine guns and rockets might be waiting to ambush us.
SVBIED attack on 23 April
When a soldier on the radio announced that the Stryker was burning with men trapped inside, the troops inside our Stryker began un-strapping fire extinguishers. We stopped and the ramp opened. The soldiers burst out running. Fires burned in several locations. Most of the tires were blown off the Stryker, while smoke poured from the hatches. The Stryker was filled with ammunition, but the back ramp had been jammed shut in the initial explosion. Four injured soldiers had gotten out, while two were trapped inside.
LTC Kurilla ran to the burning Stryker, threw off his protective gear and helmet, leading a swarm of soldiers atop and over the burning hulk, in a determined push to get their buddies out. Kurilla dropped himself down a top hatch, to get into the burning Stryker, while men passed up fire extinguishers and even bottles of water. Major Mark Bieger and others were also atop the vehicle, alongside one gutsy Private First Class that everyone calls "Q."
"Get them out!"
The taste of toxic smoke combined with heat of the fires were overwhelming sensations. Rescuers and the men trapped inside were choking to death on that smoke. Attention was split between the urgent rescue at hand and the threat of follow-on attacks. Within minutes of our arrival, the men had wrestled out their severely injured friends and were climbing off the burning Stryker, separating into teams that shored up defensive positions while others scoured the area searching for other IEDs.
The officers worked alongside the men, collecting every large piece of the damaged Stryker; nothing would be left behind for the enemy. Here in the heat of mid-day, with burning debris spread up and down the road, the men carried heavy twisted chunks of metal, tossing them atop the mangled hulk. A recovery vehicle was on the way.
Meanwhile, American sniper teams had found perches around the blast site, and Army attack helicopters circled low overhead, at times so close that I could practically see the patches on the pilots' uniforms, while fast-moving jets roared low to the ground in a show of force. In just minutes, Deuce-Four had extracted their friends while preparing to unleash a devastating response if the enemy came out in force.
As the road cleared, someone made out the blackened hand and foot of the suicide attacker, smoke still curling off them. A lieutenant muted from smoke inhalation grabbed me, motioning for water; but he never stopped picking up debris. The men managing defenses continually assessed battlefield conditions, improving their posture. When the Iraqi translator heatedly ran off with no backup to question some Iraqis, I thought he might be shot down, but he came back to the road angrily cursing the attackers.
Once the recovery vehicle arrived and dragged the smoldering Stryker away, we needed to roll. But the Deuce-Four all know what comes next. The gloating posse descends, camera crews at the ready, to shoot video that gets posted to the web and beamed around the world, of them in full celebratory dance, as if they had scored a major victory against "infidels."
Just a few weeks earlier, when another of Kurilla's Strykers was hit by an SVBIED, a camera crew arrived on scene. As a man pumped an AK, an American sniper killed him, wounding the cameraman in the process. When it was later learned that the cameraman was a stringer for CBS who had close ties with the enemy, CBS apologized on the air.
Just as we pulled out, people arrived with cameras and began shooting footage of the scene. One of the men, whom we later learned was an Associated Press correspondent with known ties to the enemy, is dead now. The associate scavenging with him was seriously wounded.
Deuce-Four drove back to base, heading straight for the hospital, where they waited for word of their friends. Six had been wounded, all were serious. I was certain that the presence of all their buddies in the waiting room was helping those men somehow. On some levels, at least, it was. When a medical person came out to say they were short of A-Negative blood, a soldier was found with the right type in his veins. The battle had shifted to an operating room, but these men were still in the fight together.
After some hours, LTC Kurilla knew there was nothing more his men could do at the hospital--this was going to be a long night. So, as much for the good of his men as for the demands of the clock, he ordered them back to duty. But Kurilla didn't leave. He stayed at the hospital with his wounded men. Sometime that night, Sergeant Anthony Davis, one of the men who had been trapped in the Stryker, died from his injuries. He was 22.
The news brought a fog of sadness to the men that rolled with them on their missions back into Mosul that night. And the next day, when Kurilla was back with his men, they rolled out again, this time talking with shop owners and others who might have information about attacks, past or pending.
A mission or two later, riding along with B Company on a raid, we picked up a couple of prisoners at the first target location. One of the prisoners started spilling information, so they took him along to ID another target house when, Blam! A Stryker in front of us hit an IED. It was a large explosion, but only one of the eight tires blew out, so we drove on, hitting another house, getting another prisoner, and coming back home to FOB Marez.
Since that day, six days ago, four more Americans and an interpreter have died from suicide strikes in the AO. Yesterday there were multiple large IED attacks here, two SVBIEDs downtown, and the men of Deuce Four keep soldiering on.
[For information not available to visitors, please join the free email list by emailing to: MichaelYon@aol.com. Please type "List" in the subject heading.] |
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Bob51
Seaman
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 156
Location: Belfast
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| Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 7:53 am Post subject: |
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wpage,
thanks for the link. Is there a webpage anywhere that collects valuable links like this one.
bob51 |
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Bob51
Seaman
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 156
Location: Belfast
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Knighthawk
Commander
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 323
Location: Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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I guess GenXr feels he does not have to respond. You, sir, have lost all credibility as far as I am concerned.
_________________
Regards,
Brian
Beware of the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever.
If guns kill people, then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.
Knighthawk's Pictures! |
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Essayons
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 05 Apr 2005
Posts: 81
Location: Philadelphia area
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| Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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GenrXr
Do us all a favor and respond. It takes a big man to admit he carried an 800 pound gorilla out on the preverbal limb and the limb cracked under the weight.
I am not here to try and crucify you but your reluctance to follow-up you big words does diminish your credibility. You were shocked and dismayed by the original article about Ruis. Let me tell you in no uncertain terms that the Ruis article was tame when it comes to combat. There are many on this forum who have experienced combat at a level far beyond my meager exposure. Combat is not pretty and should not be glorified since soldiers die and not in the sterile way that Hollywood would want us to believe - there are some exceptions but I believe many are turned off by reality. Yes, they do call for their momma when they know they are dying and it tears your heart out.
You play video games for enjoyment. We played war and did not enjoy it. We live with the reality of combat and pay a price (mostly at night) about which you have no understanding. I have been told by my wife that I would rant and rave during my sleep but I have no memory of those occurrences. I guess I blanked them out. But I am brought to tears when I hear the Star Spangled Banner or even have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Should you ask most of the people I know they would say I am one tough hombre – but they would be wrong. It is just a façade to hide my frail mental state for I know full well that but for the grace of God my name would be on the Wall. Who decides? I live and another does not. Where is the balance? Am I better than one who died? Am I better than one who lived but has lost linbs?
No, I am not better than anyone else. By the grace of God I survived unscathed. I still ask the question: Why?
Ruis will have these same problems. He fought for your freedom but you reject him. Shame on you.
Regards,
Dick
_________________
Essayons - Let us try - the code of the Army Engineer. Sappers First, the code of the Combat Engineer. |
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wpage
Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Well put Essaysons. I was going to drop my posting on this thread, but still feel there needs to be a response. Our Americans should note that there are mixture of all types in the combat arms. I have fought alongside several who were not even U.S. citizens when fighting for our precious country. There are those similar today. I correspond with a former warrior friend who is still not a citizen nor occupant of the U.S. and has to get a translator to reply. He receives no benefits. Not that I'm on a crusade about this subject, but do believe people should think through their responses before making post. Please note that I have been guilty of similar quick draw responses also, however I have mostly gone back and either corrected, edited or explained them. |
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Me#1You#10
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Joined: 06 May 2004
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| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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The following reply was posted by genrXr in a new topic which has been locked...
For those who responded, please copy/paste your comments here.
Thanks
| genrXr wrote: | I decided to post a new topic so everyone would know I responded to my controversial post.
This relates to the http://www.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18989 post.
| Quote: | The March 12 attack -- swift and brutally violent -- bore the hallmarks of operations that have made Ruiz, 39, a former Brooklyn gang member, renowned among U.S. troops in Mosul and, in many ways, a symbol of the optimism that has pervaded the military since Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.
A self-described "greaser," Ruiz wears a pencil-thin mustache and slicks back the dark hair on the top of his head with Rebound Activator Gel. The lower half of his scalp is shaved.
Overhearing a staff sergeant describe him as "ghetto," Ruiz joked: "I'm urban." |
Ok we have established Ruiz as a greaser ghetto Brooklyn gang member.
| Quote: | Although Ruiz is not the highest-ranking soldier in the unit, his command over the 4th Platoon is absolute. Last fall, commanders transferred a platoon leader just 48 hours after he tangled with Ruiz.
When another young platoon leader, Lt. Colin Keating, 23, of Clinton, Md., arrived Feb. 6, Ruiz greeted him warmly and introduced him to every soldier in the platoon, but told him: "Just let me fight my war."
It is a war that Ruiz said reminds him of his youth as a member of the Coney Island Cobras, a Brooklyn street gang. He said he applies many of the principles he learned in the rough neighborhoods where he grew up: Bay Ridge and, later, the projects in Caguas, Puerto Rico, where he moved with his mother as a teenager.
"What I see here, I saw a long time ago," he said. "It's the same patterns." |
Ok we have now established that Ruiz is in control of the military units he is associated with, rank be damned. Ruiz is after all a Brooklyn Cobra, which overrides any military code of conduct.
| Quote: | Staff Sgt. John Garrison, 36, of Manhattan, who referred to Ruiz as "ghetto," said: "People hear the word 'ghetto' and they think of that as a bad thing. But it's not a thing, it's a place. And it gives you certain advantages over other people that don't come up from there."
Ruiz recalled fighting turf battles in New York with "whatever you had in your pocket." In Mosul, he presides over an infantry unit that Born built from scratch for maximum lethality. |
You go Cobras! Damn when will I hear about the training he received as a G.I.
| Quote: | | Born said Ruiz, like comic book hero Spider-Man, seems to possess "a spidey-sense that starts tingling when bad stuff is going on." |
Are they now teaching hero-worship to West Point students?
| Quote: | | Ruiz said the decision to pick up the skull fragment and take it back to the base was a "sarcastic" gesture to confirm the kill to the battalion. Born, who was not present during the attack, said the soldiers picked up the fragment not as a trophy, which is prohibited under military regulations, but to confirm "that we had the remains of a terrorist." |
I want to ask Captain Born directly. Did they not teach you in West Point about the sensitivities of carrying on your person the body parts of the enemy in war not for trophy purpose, but rather a eager beaver reporter purpose?
In summation, this article was written by a communist reporter aligned with the enemy by way of his relativist approach. This reporter through the naïve complicit support of Ruiz and Born is able to show how war happens through the lens of a former gang member. This is crucial to his purpose, because he knows that he can make the gang member and the terrorist equals and thus both fighting for the same moral principle. By dragging Ruiz down to his former life of banging he is able to equate and elevate the terrorist. This is leftist propaganda and hopefully by my refutation will enlighten and widen some of your myopic views.
Ruiz and Born although subject to my refutation are to be revered and honored for their service. My problem is with the reporter and how this article was framed and both Ruiz and Born’s naïve complicit support of it.
Our enemy is very weak as evidenced by our capture and democratization of 2 countries and 50 million people with less then 2,000 dead. Keep in mind we have not had a US soldier taken hostage since the Jessica Lynch supply convoy was taken hostage. The enemy is nothing more then the gang members the reporter is trying to highlight. They are group-think animals not capable of anything without the direct and constant washing of the mind by their leaders. This enemy knows it is losing and uses the press to fight the battle it cannot win. Nowhere in the article did it discuss how the military made Ruiz a great soldier, but rather his gang roots. Nowhere in the article did Ruiz say how the military has made him a great man as opposed to his former pointless existance.
Nowhere in the article did it say that the reason Ruiz and Born and their unit succeeds in Iraq is because of their belief in good as opposed to the nihilistic view of their enemy.
Ok take aim at me. |
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