On 29 Apr 1975, during the Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind: The last US citizens begin evacuation from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover. In 19 hours, 81 helicopters carried more than 1,000 Americans and almost 6,000...
Let’s see. The best general in the Army, General Petreaus, is leaving command in Afghanistan to go and head the CIA. The no real-world-experienced head of the CIA will be our new Secty of Defense. And in Afghanistan the security problem that...
On 30 Jan 1968, I was a rifle company commander in the 101st Airborne Div in Vietnam when the Tet Offensive began. It was the most intensive fighting I ever experienced. In coordinated attacks all across South Vietnam, communist forces launch their...
My first Christmas in a combat zone was in 1965 in Vietnam when I was a member of the First Infantry Division, the Big Red One. I appreciated this story from the Big Red One in Afghanistan: The party at Camp Taji included live music, food, and...
Marine Brian Roach of California was fighting in Afghanistan when he missed a couple of payments on his Bank of America credit card. Roach asked Bank of America to help him fix the bad mark on his credit report–he wasn’t asking for...
For the last two months, 12,000 NATO troops along with 7,000 Afghan soldiers and police, have been swarming all over Kandahar province, taking down Taliban bases, safe houses, headquarters, and bomb workshops. This op was concluded with the recent...
On a moonlit Afghan ridge on 25 Oct 2007, Specialist 4th Class Salvatore Giunta, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ran alone through a barrage of gunfire to rescue his injured sergeant who was being dragged off by terrorists who had ambushed the squad. Now a...
On 6 Oct Staff Sgt. Robert Miller will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor for sacrificing himself to save the lives of his Special Forces teammates and Afghan Army soldiers Miller “displayed immeasurable courage and uncommon valor”...
In Afghanistan one of the things we are doing is to help the local elders (leaders) read and understand their nation’s constitution. One of the purposes is to focus on the role of local government and the elder’s role in promoting security and...
A recent training exercise held for medics in the 1st Armored Division in Afghanistan involved suturing pigs’ feet. A typical response was that the training was really beneficial as the medic had little prior experience in suturing. Since the better...