A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....01-03-05....Military Monday

Billie, The Mayor

[luvie]

*sigh* I cannot watch this without the tears just pouring down! God bless those sweet, brave men and women and let them come home to us safely!

[Dubya]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY.

[deadhead]

[The Mayor]

What a great, heart warming story.
Brave Americans, defending Freedom!

They know true Leadership when they see it!

[The Mayor]

Thanks Gabz, the rest of my day went pretty well.
Got home a short time ago and am going to have to catch up on pings.

[The Mayor]

Thanks Dubya!

I needed a good laugh.!

[WVNan]

WOW! Your birthday eh? If I had known this I'd have baked you a cake. This calls for a special recognition. May you have an extra super celebration and many blessings.

<---Click this

[The Mayor]

Hi Pippin!

Thank you for your kind words about me and the Mrs.
The troll seems to have disappeared..

[The Mayor]

Gabz! How exciting, I know what it's like trying to have adult time.
We have 4 and it's not very often that it happens....

[The Mayor]

OH, Thank you..

You put a big smile on my face!

[The Mayor]

AMY!

[Dubya]

By Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ORGUN-E, Afghanistan, Jan. 3, 2005 -- Before deploying
to Afghanistan in March, the soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division knew they
were in for a change of climates.

For the next year, they would have to say good-bye to the tropical paradise of
Hawaii and deal with the climate of this rugged country, including its famously
harsh winters.

Old Man Winter must have thought it funny when he dropped about a foot of snow
on this base in Paktika province that is home to several hundred Tropic
Lightning soldiers. The snow started the night of Dec. 27 and didn't stop until
early Dec. 29.

The snow was especially painful for Pfc. Noe Arce, a cannon crewmember from 3rd
Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment. The Los Angeles native said he's never
seen snow in his life. "It's the first time I've ever been in snow," he said.
"It's crazy."

Arce said he and some fellow soldiers started a snowball fight, but they got in
trouble for it, so they stopped. Instead, they decided to build a snowman.

Instead of a corncob pipe, a button nose and two eyes made out of coal, this
snowman was toting an M-16 and had buttons made out of cookies pilfered from
the chow hall.

Arce said he isn't looking forward to any more snow this winter. "It'll just be
tempting to throw snowballs, and we're not allowed to throw them any more," he
said.

Spc. Andrew Whittenberg, a medic for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd
Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, said he saw snow only twice when he was a kid
in Texas before joining the Army and being stationed at Fort Carson, Colo. And
with an assignment to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, he had again been able to
dodge snow for the past two years.

"I don't really mind the snow that much. It's just another day out here,"
Whittenberg said. "I wish it could have snowed on Christmas, though."

The snow not only brought a little holiday cheer to the base, it also
introduced a new threat to personnel here: snowball snipers.

No one was safe from these bandits, who roamed the base in packs of up to five
and launched barrages of snowballs at unsuspecting pedestrians and then fled
the scene.

Even journalists felt the wrath of these "evildoers," who were known to knock
on hooch doors and wait for the occupants to open them before launching their
stockpile of snowballs inside.

Whittenburg said the snipers hadn't ambushed him yet, but he knows it's just a
matter of time. "Fortunately, they haven't got me yet, but I have a feeling
that my time is coming," he said.

(Army Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen is assigned to Combined Task Force Thunder.)

---

By Cpl. Rich Mattingly, USMC
Special to American Forces Press Service

KORANGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan, Jan. 3, 2005 -- U.S. Marines have been operating
at the forward edge of Operation Enduring Freedom, often in isolated areas
where support for insurgency against the Afghan government and coalition forces
remains.

In late December, Marines from Company I, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment
entered the Korangal Valley in Konar province with the mission to capture or
kill terrorists suspected of conducting attacks against coalition forces while
working to win over the trust of local villagers.

"We get intelligence that lets us know where the bad guys are," explained 2nd
Lt. Roy Bechtold, commander of the unit's 2nd Platoon. "After we get grid
locations, we work with our assets to plan the best way to go in and get them."

The Korangal valley is infamous for its inaccessibility and numerous defeats
the Russians suffered there during their ill-fated campaign to control
Afghanistan.

After "vertically inserting" in CH-47 Chinook helicopters, the Marines set up
blocking positions along the roads and maneuvered into their positions.

"The best way to come in is on foot or by air," said Bechtold. "We have to
leave as small a signature as possible in order to not spook the guys we're
looking for into running. If you come in with vehicles, they'll be long gone
before you have a chance." Bechtold admitted that Marines in the past have had
difficulty getting into villages sympathetic to anti-coalition forces without
having the targets flee.

Once in place, the company's mission evolved to house-by-house searches as the
clock started ticking on how long the Marines had until it was unlikely their
targets remained.

Up and down the bluffs and rocky faces that double as paths between the
stacked-up houses of the valley, the Marines and their Afghan National Army
counterparts talked to village elders, shook hands, and searched houses from
top to bottom.

"It all goes back to attention to detail," said Sgt. Shawn Kelly, an acting
platoon sergeant. "You can't skip anything. It could be that one cache or that
one guy you miss that could help us stop an improvised-explosive-device
emplacement or attack on coalition forces."

The unit's attentiveness paid off on the second day of the operation, as Lance
Cpl. Sean Decoursey, a rifleman from Jacksonville, Fla., crawled through a
small opening in a floor to find a cache of weapons and ammunition hidden under
a pile of hay.

"I found the AK-47s and ammunition," said Decoursey, modest about the find. "I
almost didn't look in that hole either. It looked like maybe it only went back
about two or three feet until I crawled in there."

With the discovery of the weapons, the Marines held one Afghan man for
questioning and confiscated his illegal weapons and ammunition. Their find was
a good one. After being questioned, the man named several other anti-coalition
militants operating in the area.

"It feels really good to be here and to be getting something done," said
Decoursey, who has been in the Marine Corps just over a year. "It feels like
we're really making a difference when we can catch one of them."

(Marine Cpl. Rich Mattingly is a member of 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.)

[JustAmy]

Good afternoon, Dubya. Hope you are having a great Monday.

Thank you for the birthday wishes.

[Dubya]

Artificial Insemination
Stacy, a blonde city girl, marries a farmer. One morning, before he goes out to the fields, the farmer says to her, "The artificial insemination man is coming to impregnate one of our cows today. I drove a nail into the two-by-four above the cow's stall. You show him where it is, okay?"
So the farmer leaves for the fields, and a while later, the artificial insemination man arrives. Stacey takes him down the long row of cows, until she sees the nail, and tells him, "This is the one. This one, right here!"
Terribly impressed, the man asks, How did you know this is the cow to be bred?"
"By the nail over it's stall," Stacey explains. Then the man asks, "What's the nail for?"
As she walks away she tells him, "I guess it's to hang your pants on."

[MEG33]

I should hope so!...This is not a good place for her ilk to be...VKs know her name ;)

[JustAmy]

Good evening, Nan. Hope your Monday was great.

Thank you for the birthday wishes and the music.
I'll be expecting the cake next year. :)

[JustAmy]

Hello again, Mayor. I hope your day was wonderful.

Thank you for the birthday wishes.

Thank you for Military Monday.

[JustAmy]

May God Bless and Protect our Military!

Thank you for bringing us the Military Thread every Monday.

[WVNan]

LOL. I guess you will. You do know that I don't cook don't you? You don't EVEN want to eat a cake I would bake. BTW, are you still holding at 39?

[WVNan]

I sent you an e-mail Rus.