Posted on 10/28/2014 8:35:03 PM PDT by Hojczyk
Afghanistan: President Obama's abrupt order to withdraw U.S. Marines from Helmand province with zero fanfare was an ill-fitting exit for U.S. forces after 13 years of sacrifice in the war's bloodiest theater. Is this the thanks they get?
No public acknowledgment from the White House. No official statements. No praise for extraordinary dedication or heroism. No proclamations of valor. And certainly nothing about victory.
Just a surprise order to abandon the two largest and most dangerous outposts of America's longest war, Camp Leatherneck and British-led Camp Bastion, side-by-side bases that at one time housed 40,000. The order came so fast that the Marines who had been there 13 years, and who put so much into it, didn't have "time to digest it," as one told the Wall Street Journal.
Because over the years, as the rest of us went about our daily lives, these courageous men and women were out on patrols in the baking sun over desolate badlands, suffering long separations from loved ones and enduring the alternating boredom and terror of combat with a depraved, Dark Age enemy and its drug lord allies.
Some of the bloodiest battles were waged in Helmand. The U.S. lost more than 350 in combat there and the British about 450, nearly a fifth of the war's total losses. Meanwhile, the injured returned home to bureaucratic insult, as they sought help from a behemoth Veterans Administration that Obama vowed to reform but didn't.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Unfortunately, I give it about a year before it's destroyed.
We went to Iraq for oil.
We went to Afganistan for their rare and precious elements.
In both cases for profit. I
It is home to The Big Red 1. I guess there are others their too. It’s a big place.
Would love to see a compilation of these type of writings in print.
well that was interesting as well....thanks for posting the link.
The Taliban is relentless at taking down all that was built there....I doubt it will last for long if the Taliban overtake the area.
Unfortunately some cultures may covet being free but once within their grasp they don’t have the capability to know what to do with it. Especially when they see “comfort” in the familiar” even if it’s brutal. Being a “victim” of a harsh leadership affords one numerous “excuses” for not doing the hard work to overcome, and that includes fighting for your own freedom and laying down your own life if need be.
Apfganistan has many old war Lords who basked in their positions by compromising with the Taliban and they’ll like regaining the power and comforts they once knew......added to that much of the population is high doesn’t give me a lot of hope for the nation.
It’s kind of like India’s nation.....there brains get fried via the religious practices and rituals there, not to mention the teachings. So they have little “ambition”...most of the advances happening in India are those accomplished by mostly foreign workers and leadership.
We’re constantly attempting to “rebuild” nations and cultures to something they’re not....most become debtor nations for that. Heck Obama’s trying to do that here and look where we are!
Good idea! why don’t you attempt that?
My father served in the US 7th Army in WWII. They landed in southern France and drove north up the Rhone to link with Eisenhower.
There were several Free French divisions attached to 7th Army including a couple of armored ones. He speaks highly of the French who fought alongside him. At some points the French armor were the main force preventing the Germans from overrunning their lines.
...”He speaks highly of the French who fought alongside him. At some points the French armor were the main force preventing the Germans from overrunning their lines”...
Not long ago I was watching videos of the WWII and very surprised how much went on I wasn’t aware of. It was very interesting seeing how they landed and prepertion before this as well.
I think, in typical "journalist" fashion, they couldn't get the most basic facts right in their story. I believe the unit they are referring to is the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment. I found a story about a soldier from that unit who was KIA in afghanistan in 2011 and that unit was based in Ft. Riley.
” It was very interesting seeing how they landed and prepertion before this as well.”
Preparation and logistics is the name of the game.
7th Army has never received much attention. Their CO was General Alexander Patch who didn’t seek out publicity like his pal George Patton. Patton had commanded the 7th prior to Patch.
7th Army fought in North Africa, Sicily, Corsica, and then invaded southern France in August, 1944. They were veteran soldiers when they landed in France unlike the largely green troops at Normandy two months earlier. Patch, Truscott and de Lattre were very aggressive commanders who routed the German defenders preventing their panzers from putting up an effective defense. 7th’s biggest problem was that they were moving so fast their fuel and ammunition couldn’t keep pace.
7th linked up with Eisenhower’s Normandy troops in northern France before the push into Germany. Some of Audie Murphy’s famous exploits took place while they were taking northern France.
My dad’s unit was an anti-aircraft battalion that was deployed as fire support for infantry and armor. They had some close calls but nothing like the infantry. They once were assigned a replacement soldier who had been fighting continuously in the infantry since landing at Normandy. The guy’s nerves were completely shot. Every time he heard the big guns fire he would flinch or dive for cover. He would pace all night, never sleep and had the thousand yard stare. Somebody finally had the sense to ship him home.
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