LTC Erik Kurilla (front right), the moment the bullets strike.(2nd LT front-left; radioman near-left; "AH" the interpreter is near-right.)
Posted on 08/25/2005 10:35:17 AM PDT by saquin
[...]
About fifteen seconds later our ramp dropped. We ran into combat.
Folks who haven't done much urban fighting might take issue with the wild chases, and they might say that people should always "stack up" and do things this or that way, but men in Delta Force, SEALs and the like, all know that when chasing wild men into the labyrinth, soldiers enter the land of confusion. If soldiers don't go fast, the bad guys simply get away. Just a few minutes ago, these three guys were going "105 miles per hour," and outrunning a helicopter.
There were shops, alleys, doorways, windows . . .which to me screamed: death, death, death, death...
The soldiers with LTC Kurilla were searching fast, weapons at the ready, and they quickly flex-cuffed two men. But these were not the right guys. Meanwhile, SSG Konkol's men were clearing towards us, leaving the three bad-guys boxed, but free.
Shots were fired behind us but around a corner to the left.
Both the young 2nd lieutenant and the young specialist were inside a shop when a close-quarters firefight broke out, and they ran outside. Not knowing how many men they were fighting, they wanted backup. LTC Kurilla began running in the direction of the shooting. He passed by me and I chased, Kurilla leading the way.
There was a quick and heavy volume of fire. And then LTC Kurilla was shot.
LTC Erik Kurilla (front right), the moment the bullets strike.(2nd LT front-left; radioman near-left; "AH" the interpreter is near-right.)
Three bullets reach flesh: One snaps his thigh bone in half.
[...]
Kurilla was running when he was shot, but he didn't seem to miss a stride; he did a crazy judo roll and came up shooting.
The Commander fights...
About two weeks ago, word came that Nohe's case had been dismissed by a judge on 7 August. The Coalition was livid. According to American officers, solid cases are continually dismissed without apparent cause. Whatever the reason, the result was that less than two weeks after his release from Abu Ghraib, Nohe was back in Mosul shooting at American soldiers.
Holy smokes bump!
You gotta read the whole account. God bless those guys...
Must read bump - sounds like the next Joe Galloway
This kind of incredible, on-the-scene reporting just proves how utterly useless the mainstream media is these days. Sitting in their Green Zone hotels sipping latte, reading press releases and "reports" from Iraqi stringers.
The NY Times did an article a few weeks ago wondering why there are no "heroes" from this war.
Meanwhile, heroes like LTC Kurilla fight and bleed with courage and compassion every day in Iraq. And, "non-journalist" Michael Yon gets the kind of Pulitzer Prize-winning reports that will never win Pulitzers because, after all, he's not "one of them" and he's "only a blogger".
Excellent read! Thanks for the post!
To whomever moved this to the "Bloggers and Personal" forum (where no one will ever see it), a pox on your house. This is just as much "news" as any of the MSM news stories that are posted. This is not some blogger's diary about his day. This is a compelling news report from Mosul. Too bad fewer people will see it now that it's buried in the "Bloggers and Personal" forum.
Agree, must get moved out of Bloggers and Personal.
This is the most compelling first hand account of combat to appear in a long time.
LTC Erik Kurilla, not Cindy Sheehan, embodies what is great about this country and reminds us what these warriors are doing for us every day.
Michael Yon's reporting is incredible.
Agreed - out of Blogs and into News. The guy who wins the Pulitzer is going to hold it cheap compared to this reporting.
That's a loss that's going to hurt a whole lot. I pray to God that his wounds heal quickly and completely because a warrior like that is a rare being.
Michael Yon will go down in history as one of the few reporters to cover the war. Some day he will be a legand.
Michael Yon ping
He definitely should. I'd buy it in an instant.
Why are the M4 rifles so weak? Is this standard issue? Why shouldn't our troops have more firepower than the terrorists?
Does anyone have a Michael Yon pinglist? His blog is incredible.
An absolutely great story. For those interested, BlackFive has links to two memorial speeches given by LTC Kurilla--they are great: http://www.blackfive.net/main/ Scroll down to Update III for the August 23 entry about LTC Kurilla. We owe LTC Kurilla and men like him more than we can ever pay.
Did you read the part about the "catch and release" policy for terrorists? I should be really pissed off about this -- it leads to death of our people and of good Iraqis who would like a better country. But I think I'm starting to resign myself to the fact that we're simply not serious about winning in Iraq, so things like that are bugging me less and less.
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