Since my in-laws passed, we have spend the last few Christmas Eves at my wife's cousin's house - Isabelle and her daughter Delores. Isabelle's husband, Vince, passed away about ten years ago; he and my FIL were first cousins. Vince and Isabelle immigrated from Monopoli, Italy, in the early fifties and moved to Syracuse where they could be with family. It was a big joke that Vince received a small monthly pension check from Italy for his service in the Italian Navy during WWII. Vince would shrug and grin. If the Italian Navy ever found out what he did (or didn't do), they would have shot him. Vince was a lover, not a fighter.
There is a family that Delores met while she was working as a representative for a large faucet manufacturer. For the past several years these wonderful people have also joined Isabelle and Delores for Christmas Eve and we have become friends with them. Last year their oldest son, Bill, was home from Iraq and he joined all of us in a great time of fellowship and food (Isabelle can cook like nobody's business). Like his dad, Bill is extremely tall; he has been in the Army for about four years now.
Bill is currently assigned to Alpha Company, 2-327th Infantry, 101st Combat Brigade. He is in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. At the bottom is a Global Post video that shows Bill's unit under attack. An IED explodes and the lead vehicle in a convoy is heavily damaged. There is an exchange of small arms fire. Several men are injured. By the grace of God no one lost their life.
This is NSFW due to graphic images and langauge.
You will see an American soldier get shot.
Allow me to prepare you.
There are three parts to this video. In the first segment, the IED has detonated and you are inside an armored vehicle during the small arms exchange. The soldier manning the grenade launcher is shot in the head. His helmet absorbs most of the round and he is knocked out of the weapon mount. He is concussed by the force of the hit but alive and bleeding slightly. His buddies tend to his wound.
In the second segment you are now outside the armored vehicle. You will first see a soldier wearing sunglasses and gesticulating - waving his arms while giving directions. This is Bill. Then you will see soldiers tending to the wounded who were in the lead convoy combat vehicle - heavily damaged and on fire from the IED. The driver was seriously injured.
In the third segment you will listen as one of the soldiers relives the incident with his buddies and the seriously wounded driver is evacuated by helicopter to a hospital.
This is the real deal. Our people are in constant danger. God bless and protect our soldiers.
8 comments:
Thanks for sharing, our troops are doing a fantastic job and more should know of how hard it is.
Chris, the closer our daughter gets for her deployment to Khandahar, the more real this gets for us.
It's sad our kids have to work in such a hellhole.
God Bless them all.
Kid - there is always a generation that has to. And bless God for those that do.
Sig, true Americans keep people like you and your daughter in their prayers. Others do not comprehend the sacrifices bourn by families across this nation. God bless you and yours, my friend.
Thanks Nickie, we think of the families of the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Our son is also serving with Bill. They are all heroes in our book. There IS always a generation that has to shoulder these very heavy burdens. I pray that our sons and daughters have the strength to continue to do this work and come home to a better life.
Amen Anon, amen. I wish you and your family a marvelous and blessed reunion with your son next Spring. God preserve him and all those who serve with him.
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