Letter from the Afghan Front [The Afghan Rambo and his big red pipe]

Strategypage.com ^ | 2/4/2007 | CPT. John, US Army

[Bozworth]

Hi everyone.

I'm still alive but freezing my tail off. We got 8 inches of snow last week and it reached 5 degrees below zero that night. That's not why I'm e-mailing though.

You may have heard about a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul last Thursday. It was at one of our FOB's (Forward Observation Bases) about 27 miles from here.

But the real story is why no one was killed.

We employ several thousand Afghans on our various bases. Not to mention the economy that is fed by the money these locals are making. Some are laborers and builders, but some are skilled workers. We even have one Afghan that just became OSHA qualified, the first ever. Some are skilled HVAC workers.

Anyway, there is this one Afghan that we call Rambo. We have actually given him a couple of sets of the new ACU uniforms (the new Army digital camouflage) with the name tag RAMBO on it. His entire family was killed by the Taliban and his home was where our base currently resides. So this guy really had nowhere else to go. He has reached such a level of trust with US Forces that his job is to stand at the front gate and basically be the first security screening. Since he can't have a weapon, he found a big red pipe. So he stands there at the front gate in his US Army ACU uniform with his red pipe. If a vehicle approaches the gate too fast or fails to stop he slams his pipe down on their hood. Then once the gate is lifted the vehicle moves on the 2nd gate where the US Army MP's are. So he's like the first line of defense...

[Bozworth]

We have to get some video of this guy in action :)

[Slings and Arrows]

Rambo-And-His-Big-Red-Pipe ping!

[SShultz460]

That's an amazing act of bravery

[neverhillorat]

This can`t be true, Hillorat says we are losing in Afganistan.

[TUAN_JIM]

This guy has been doing this for years. I can't believe that he's still alive.

[zot]

Great story of a genuine hero. Thanks for posting it.

[Chgogal]

Yup, my contact wrote me about our Afghani Rambo January 16th. The FOB is mighty proud of Rambo. He did Afghanistan proud. He did America proud. Every now and then an event happens that gives us pause and then hope.

[LibWhacker]

Sounds more like Buford Pusser than Rambo. Definitely deserves to be rewarded in some way.

[Thunder90]

He should at least have an AK rifle...

[Thunder90]

Hillocrat preaches different ideas about Afghanistan to different groups. When she showed up at a Democratic meeting filled with mostly antiwar people, she promised a pullout of not only Iraq, but also Afghaninstan.

[neverhillorat]

If I was running her campaign, I`d announce tomorrow that she had a rare throat disease and could speak until after the election. Seriously, I do think that she is not half as smart as she thinks she is. If I was running the Republican Party, I`d look at prime time airtime I could give to her.

[Uriah_lost]

Only pictures I've seen of him. On the right sidebar scroll down to the pictures, he's fifth from the top.
http://www.bucksargent.net/

This one leads the story:
http://miserabledonuts.blogspot.com/2005/08/gratuitous-afghanistan-photo-of.html

[ARE SOLE]

I heard of Rambo a few years ago. He is a fixture at the front gate and lead pipe in hand, apparently fearless. Our troopers have fixed him up and his hootch by the gate has a TV and a small AC unit.

Regards

[SShultz460]

Embrace the Suck

[Titan Magroyne]

Awesome! Thanks for the ping.

[gotribe]

Good grief. Give him a .45 at least.

[norwaypinesavage]

"I want people to know that it's working over here. They have tasted freedom.

Nothing more needs to be said.

[Slings and Arrows]

You're welcome. Look out, Taliban - the Big Red Pipe is coming!

[68skylark]

This is a great story. This guy should get U.S. citizenship for the American lives he saved at huge risk to himself.

[Chgogal]

:)