A Day With A Hero

[Bama Red]

This morning started out cool (upper 70’s) and dry, but I knew I’d be facing The Beast later in the day. About thirty of us PGR members met in a parking lot a few miles away from Maple Hill Cemetery, in Huntsville, Al, and made our run to the cemetery. The usual dignitaries (congressman, mayor, CG of Redstone Arsenal, various ministers, a rabbi) were there, most of them looking for face time on local TV.

But amongst all these folks, there was a true hero, Warrant Officer Mike Durant, US Army (Ret.) was there to talk about Blackhawk Down, as well as the role of his former unit, the160th Special Operations Group, in the recent killing of bin Laden.

http://www.mikedurant.com/

He talked movingly of the two Delta operators who volunteered to jump in when his Blackhawk was shot down and were killed during a raging gun battle in Mogadishu. Only Durant survived, and he became a POW when the crash site was overrun. Both Delta operators were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

http://www.snipercentral.com/gordon.htm

It’s a good thing that the heat and humidity (96*, Heat Index 100*) had everyone sweating like crazy, or you might have thought that all us PGR riders were crying by the time he was done. Noticed a lot of other folks “sweating”, too.

Prayers up for all our servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice, so we might enjoy the sweet fruits of freedom.

[Sludge]

Sadly, I chalk those deaths up to inter-service rivalry.  The Marines had the situation in hand and the Army came in and took over.  Not that the Rangers werent capable.  They were just small.  The MEU commander ask if they wanted them to stick around.  Like they had anwhere else to be.  Your on a MEU det your out there.  They said Nope, we got it.  That was 31 aircraft and about 5,000 Marines that they turned down.  They sailed away and BAM.  Bet they wished they had ask them to stay.  A friend of mine was flying helos on that deployment.  He still has sour grapes over how that all went down and that ugly part of the story doesnt get told.