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| Home Front: WoT |
| Heroes Week |
| 2005-08-07 |
| Today's NY Times carries an article asking where all the heroes are from the Iraqi War. Well, from August 71-14, they'll be at my blog. I've been maintaining a web site called AMERICAN HEROES for some time, highlighting the America's heroes in the War on Terror. All this week I'll be posting some of these stories on my blog, along with others that I haven't added to the site yet. Read about Rick Rescorla, hero of Vietnam, and hero again as he saved thousands of his co-workers during the horrific events of 9/11. And he sang, doing it. Read about Mark Mitchell. He borrowed a turban to scale a prison wall to rescure a CIA officer in Afghanistan. Teresa Broadwell is a small woman. But standing on tip toe, she managed to use her weapon to hold off an ambush until help arrived. Leigh Ann Hester, manager of a small shoe store, charged entrenched enemy with her squad leader, and the two of them killed or routed a determined enemy. Unfortunately, far too many of these stories exist only in military press releases. This week I hope to show as many people as I can what heroes we have defending us. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #1 Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester of the 617th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit out of Richmond, Ky., received the Silver Star, along with two other members of her unit, Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein and Spc. Jason Mike, for their actions during an enemy ambush on their convoy. Other members of the unit also received awards. Hester's squad was shadowing a supply convoy March 20 when anti-Iraqi fighters ambushed the convoy. The squad moved to the side of the road, flanking the insurgents and cutting off their escape route. Hester led her team through the "kill zone" and into a flanking position, where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 grenade-launcher rounds. She and Nein, her squad leader, then cleared two trenches, at which time she killed three insurgents with her rifle. When the fight was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and one was captured. Hester, 23, who was born in Bowling Green, Ky., and later moved to Nashville, Tenn., said she was surprised when she heard she was being considered for the Silver Star. "I'm honored to even be considered, much less awarded, the medal," she said. Being the first woman soldier since World War II to receive the medal is significant to Hester. But, she said, she doesn't dwell on the fact. "It really doesn't have anything to do with being a female," she said. "It's about the duties I performed that day as a soldier." Yes, Sergeant... You kicked some serious butt... Thanks! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-08-07 20:26 |