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| Afghanistan |
| A Story: That Day at that Forward Base in the Stan |
| 2008-07-20 |
| Everything was on fire. The trucks. The bazaar. The grass. It looked surreal. It looked like a movie. That was what Spc. Tyler Stafford remembered thinking as he stepped onto the medical evacuation helicopter. The 23-year-old soldier would have been loaded onto the bird, but the poncho that was hastily employed as his stretcher broke. His body speckled with grenade and RPG shrapnel, the Vicenza, Italy, infantryman walked the last few feet to the waiting Black Hawk. That was July 13. That was when Stafford was blown out of a fighting position by an RPG, survived a grenade blast and had the tail of an RPG strike his helmet. That was the day nine Chosen Company soldiers died. It was just days before the unit was scheduled to leave the base. The first RPG and machine gun fire came at dawn, strategically striking the forward operating base's mortar pit. The insurgents next sighted their RPGs on the tow truck inside the combat outpost, taking it out. That was around 4:30 a.m. This was not a haphazard attack. The reportedly 200 insurgents fought from several positions. They aimed to overrun the new base. The U.S. soldiers knew it and fought like hell. They knew their lives were on the line. "I just hope these guys' wives and their children understand how courageous their husbands and dads were," said Sgt. Jacob Walker. "They fought like warriors." The next target was the FOB's observation post, where nine soldiers were positioned on a tiny hill about 50 to 75 meters from the base. Of those nine, five died, and at least three others -- Stafford among them -- were wounded. When the attack began, Stafford grabbed his M-240 machine gun off a north-facing sandbag wall and moved it to an east-facing sandbag wall. Moments later, RPGs struck the north-facing wall, knocking Stafford out of the fighting position and wounding another soldier. Stafford thought he was on fire so he rolled around, regaining his senses. Nearby, Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling, who later died in the fight, had a stunned look on his face. Immediately, a grenade exploded by Stafford, blowing him down to a lower terrace at the observation post and knocking his helmet off. Stafford put his helmet back on and noticed how badly he was bleeding. Cpl. Matthew Phillips was close by, so Stafford called to him for help. Phillips was preparing to throw a grenade and shot a look at Stafford that said, "Give me a second. I gotta go kill these guys first." This was only about 30 to 60 seconds into the attack. Support our troops and read this first hand account of that day in the Stan |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #12 Kunar has been a favoured spot of insurgent groups. Its impenetrable terrain, extensive cave networks and border with the semi-autonomous Pakistani Northwest Frontier Province provides several advantages for militant groups. The province is informally known as "Enemy Central" by American troops. Like many of the mountainous eastern provinces of Afghanistan, the groups involved in armed conflict vary greatly in strength and purpose. Native Taliban forces mingle with foreign Al-Qaeda fighters, while mujahadeen militias, such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, continue to operate as they did in the chaotic post-Soviet years. Another strong militia in the region is the Hezbi Islami faction of the late Mulavi Younas Khalis, who had his headquarters in neighbouring Nurestan Province. Compounding the problems of the province is an extensive criminal trade in smuggled lumber and other natural resources. This criminal activity is often organized along tribal lines, and has led to intense deforestation in some areas. Hunt for Bin Laden Osama bin Laden has often been rumoured to be in the province, or close by. In an intensive military operation in summer 2005, called Operation Red Wing, American forces undertook a massive hunt for bin Laden and other senior Al-Qaeda leaders. While attempting to rescue four stranded Navy SEALS during the operation, 19 American Forces were killed when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down, representing the single biggest loss of American forces since their invasion of the country. |
| Posted by: a yankee 2008-07-20 20:47 |
| #11 From the looks of this map, I think these guys were right on top of Osama Bin Laden's turf. |
| Posted by: a yankee 2008-07-20 20:43 |
| #10 John Q, another Tennessee Volunteer doing what he believed in. No football reference intended. I spent 2 years in Oak Ridge and the families there are pure Gold. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-07-20 19:28 |
| #9 Oldspook, Flatten the village would be appropriate. The troops kept recalling how there were many RPGs. That place was an arsenal, and they did not want the newly arrived troops to uncover that arsenal, so they got the manpower together to use it on our troops, IMHO. Also, the troops may have stumbled unto the location of a major AQ or Taliban figure. So, yep, flatten the place. |
| Posted by: a yankee 2008-07-20 19:21 |
| #8 I would think that since the locals in the village stayed and helped the talib, the village should have been napalmed and then bulldozed. To clear the field of fire for the COP, of course. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-07-20 18:24 |
| #7 They died true heroes, although they probably wouldn't have thought of themselves as such. May their memory bring comfort to those they left behind. Good catch, a yankee. As our troops become more aggressive, no doubt there will be more of these battles in Afghanistan until the jihadis and their Afghan supporters realize they've lost and run off to a temporarily safer battlefield. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-07-20 17:57 |
| #6 Clinton, TN is nearby as is Lake City, TN. Our paper reported the following about Jason Dean Hovater: Hovater leaves his wife of 19 months, Jenna Hovater of Anderson County. They only had six weeks together before Hovater was deployed. He was the son of Gerald and Kathy Hovater of Lake City and one of their four children. It's a close-knit, highly religious family. All have musical talents. The parents have written and published compact discs of spiritual songs that feature their other sons, Joe, 23, of Oak Ridge on drums and Jesse, 21, of Lake City on guitar. Jason Hovater was an accomplished keyboard player. The parents learned of their son's death when Army officers knocked on the door of their home at 2 a.m. Monday, Jessica Davis (sister) said. They are devastated by the loss, she said. Jason Hovater enlisted in the Army both out of a sense of duty and because "he wanted to have some discipline in his life," she said. "He was dedicated to it, and he believed in it," Davis said. "He said he wanted to be a part of it. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-07-20 16:42 |
| #5 From the OP, Pitts got on the radio and told his comrades he was alone. At least three soldiers went to the OP to rescue Pitts, but they suffered wounds after encountering RPG and small-arms fire. Pitts fought the Taliban and survived the attack at the OP. The Observation Point was never taken by the Taliban. The top officer of the US troops, 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, was killed at the Obserbation Point in hand to hand combat after he and two others came up to personaly reinforce the OP. Killed were: 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii. Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, Calif. Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga. Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash. Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tenn. Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Ga. Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C. Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Mo. Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky. |
| Posted by: a yankee 2008-07-20 15:24 |
| #4 45 US troops and 24 Afghan troops under attack by 600. 100 taliban coming from one direction, 100 taliban coming from another direction, with 400 in the village laying down cover fire for the taliban. |
| Posted by: a yankee 2008-07-20 15:12 |
| #3 #2 More like it was a case of using the air assets that were available. Posted by: Pappy That may be true, Pappy, but we're still fighting this damned war with boxing gloves on our hands and a foot in a bucket. I'm sure a little napalm would go a long way on stopping the talibunnies from forming into large groups. We own the night. We need to find groups like this when they're gathering, and napalm them. Let them know we can not only kill them, but do so in a way that will GUARANTEE they never make it into "heaven". Remember those "burned" bodies several years ago? The taliban would be TERRIFIED of burning to death. They must be properly buried to get into "heaven" and get their "virgins". Napalm would be an extremely potent weapon against these nutcases. Our not using it is a crime against our fighting forces. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-07-20 14:37 |
| #2 More like it was a case of using the air assets that were available. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-07-20 11:19 |
| #1 I have to say it: if Vietnam War conditions were permitted, incoming rounds would have been suppressed with air launched Napalm. Somebody wants this enemy to live. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2008-07-20 07:20 |
