Asymmetric Military

I just posted about my time at FOB Speicher yesterday and today they found Scott Speicher's remains. RIP. Thank you.

When I attended Army Engineering school (BOLC 3-formerly known as OBC) for the Army in 2007, a colonel with the 130th EN Brigade came to class to speak about his experiences. He was one of the most interesting, certainly amongst the smartest, people I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. His explanation of the situation in Iraq, and remember that Bush had just announced the Surge strategy, was riveting.

Most of the points he made are moot now, but he did mention that the soldiers with whom he deployed during OIF I- that is, the first group of soldiers to enter Iraq, the ones who fought against Saddam's Army, were the best trained and most highly motivated soldiers he's ever worked with.

I don't know if I saw Engineering the Victory the same day the colonel gave his speech, but I remember liking it enough to have it transferred to my thumb drive for future use on Asymmetric. It's a photographic diary of the 130th's adventure in Iraq. It's OK as far as these things go.

I knew that when the people who made the video say, "victory," they were referring to their success in liberating Iraq, but it still seemed a little inappropriate at the time, and I never used it.

Well, now with the agreement between the Iraqi and American governments on a glide path for American troop withdrawal almost assuring a second (no comma) legitimate "mission accomplished," I think it's safe to broadcast. Enjoy.

I was wondering about this battle, in which nine brave (overused sometimes, I'm sure, but not here) Americans lost their lives defending an outpost, after I heard it in the news. Here is its recounting. The last paragraph, first and then the rest under the fold:

"It was some of the bravest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life, and I will never see it again because those guys," Stafford said, then paused. "Normal humans wouldn’t do that. You’re not supposed to do that — getting up and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in over your head … It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ’ em off."

Stafford offered a guess as to why his fellow soldiers fought so hard.

"Just hardcoreness I guess," he said. "Just guys kicking ass, basically. Just making sure that we look scary enough that you don’t want to come in and try to get us."

Read more »

R.I.P.

Official citation.

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to

Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis
United States Army

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an M2 .50-caliber Machine Gunner, 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Adhamiyah, Northeast Baghdad, Iraq, on 4 December 2006.

That afternoon his platoon was conducting combat control operations in an effort to reduce and control sectarian violence in the area. While Private McGinnis was manning the M2 .50-caliber Machine Gun, a fragmentation grenade thrown by an insurgent fell through the gunner's hatch into the vehicle. Reacting quickly, he yelled "grenade," allowing all four members of his crew to prepare for the grenade's blast. Then, rather than leaping from the gunner's hatch to safety, Private McGinnis made the courageous decision to protect his crew. In a selfless act of bravery, in which he was mortally wounded, Private McGinnis covered the live grenade, pinning it between his body and the vehicle and absorbing most of the explosion.

Private McGinnis' gallant action directly saved four men from certain serious injury or death. Private First Class McGinnis' extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

I was settling in for a nice afternoon of surfing and listening to music when my conscience panged. "It was Memorial Day and I should do something besides blog about it, action being twice as valuable as thought (unless you're Plato or something). Besides, I have my paternal responsibilities, examples to give, etc.."

I looked on the internet and saw that Canoga Park in the Valley above Los Angeles was having a parade and decided to attend.

It's nice to see that a couple thousand of my fellow citizens and another couple thousand potential citizens (Both the crowd and the marchers were demographically representative of Los Angeles.) out of 10,000,000 can make it to one of these events. It was a good effort by those involved and I appreciate that people take time to plan these things.

Mexican cowboys with the American flag on parade.

I forgive Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa his ineffectiveness on this day as he extends his hand to me.

American Cowboys

With Wikipedia, it's now impossible not to know something, but at first look, I wondered what Shriners were all about.

I planned on paying tribute to all of my comrades from the 63rd who have died while on deployment, but I didn't finish. It seems as though their tribute pages aren't available outside of the unit either. Anyways, better some than none, right? I apologize to those missing. Go here for some 63rd's (and some others') best.

My blogging buddy, Flag Gazer, lost a friend of hers last week, SGT James Craig, in Mosul Iraq. R.I.P. God keep him.