Posted on 05/15/2011 4:27:33 PM PDT by traumer
t’s not surprising that Jon Morris has nightmares.
An Army Ranger in Central America in the 1980s, he rejoined the military after an 18-year break because he felt compelled to serve in Iraq.
And that’s where he ended up, in a town called Anah in the Anbar province.
What happened there is the source of his nightmares.
The police chief of the town had been beheaded by the Islamic Army of Iraq, his head mounted on a stick as a warning from the extremist faction that was controlling the town with strict Taliban rule. Women could not be outside without the veil, and men could be arrested for simply smoking outside.
Jon, who was a staff sergeant and squad leader, says he “came in with an iron fist” in order to restore order and clean up the town — which did not sit well with the extremists.
He was so successful at his mission that a bounty was put on his head by the Islamic Army of Iran, suggesting he would meet the same fate the police chief had suffered.
On March 3, 2007, Jon and some of his men had set up an observation post. After about three hours, they decided there was nothing going on, so they went back into the street.
They were met immediately with heavy machine gun fire. Jon, the only Ranger there, was out in front. “Rangers lead the way,” he says.
Jon was hit three times, but his armor prevented the bullets from wounding him. The impact, however, knocked him to the ground and caused serious injury to his back. He later discovered he’d broken four vertebrae and blown out two discs, he says.
But it wasn’t over yet.
(Excerpt) Read more at salisburypost.com ...
Ping!
One photo, two heroes...Only in America....
Thanks for your service Ranger!
A wonderful story. I watched a documentary on Dogs behind Bars. It not only helps people like this man, but also the inmates that train the dogs. It also changes their lives...Wonderful program to have been started with inmates...And our military are full of HEROS...and their families...bless them all...they keep us free...
One of our dogs is a “rescue dog.” We saw a bumper sticker referring to rescue dogs which read, “Do we rescue them or do they rescue us?”
TBI, spinal injury, and a stress disorder are a combination that makes for hell on earth. I’m very glad that this Ranger and four legged pal found each other. My little trooper has made a huge difference for me; but I have to comfort her after a nightmare, it shakes her up pretty bad. The strange thing is doing that helps, too, maybe more than if the other way around.
Pretty cool that his dog is trained to ‘watch his back’.
This has made me smile.
Thanks for posting this; a very impressive story.
Thanks for the post. Dogs are awesome.
Thanks for the post. Dogs are awesome.
I second that.
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