Posted on 09/10/2009 3:09:56 AM PDT by naturalman1975
A Royal Marine is to be awarded a Military Cross after saving up to 30 lives by 'rugby-tackling' a suicide bomber.
Sergeant Noel Connolly was serving in Afghanistan last November when a bomber rode towards his troop on a motorbike packed with 150lb of explosives.
Sgt Connolly dived on the bomber, grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him from the bike before he was able to detonate the explosives.
But the modest 41-year-old from Manchester insisted he 'wasn't brave' and even tried to keep the feat a secret from his family.
He said: 'I was near the school when I caught a fleeting glimpse of a motorbike. I told all my lads to expect a bomber.
'The motorcyclist looked lost. He turned the bike around up the track and came back.
'I grabbed two lads and went to intercept him. I had no idea if he was the bomber. The only way of finding out was to challenge him.'
The sergeant then stepped into the road and ordered the man to stop.
'He stalled the bike and started pushing it away from us. He stopped, straddled it and turned to face us,' he said. 'As I got to within 10 metres, there was a loud crack from halfway down the bike.
'That's when I saw a small toggle switch had been fitted to his handlebars. As soon as he went for the toggle again I rushed him. I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him off.'
The motorbike's frame was found to contain 154lb of explosive. The bomber was handed to police and later jailed for 18 years.
But Sgt Connolly, who serves with 3 Commando Brigade, insisted: ''I'm not brave. Someone had to stop him
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
God Bless this brave, brave, man. Thank you for your service to the free world.
Good choice, and thanks for posting.
Now that’s a hero! God bless him & all who serve.
(The motorbike’s frame was found to contain 154lb of explosive. The bomber was handed to police and later jailed for 18 years.)
I can’t believe that even in Afghanistan, someone who tried to murder as many people as possible may possibly eventually walk free.
Socialized Medicine that Benny Hill made fun of.
Can't Carry a Weapon, let alone own one.
Have been PC'ed and ninny nannied to death by the speech police.
Have marginal tax rates through the moon, drive go-karts because of fuel taxes and live in smaller homes because of said taxes.
He helps liberate the oppressed, but is a Subject himself not a Citizen.
What is wrong with the UK, Churchill must be rolling in his grave....
I get you on most of them, but this one has always baffled me. What do you really think the difference is?
Besides anything else, the term 'British Citizen' has now been in use for decades (since 1949).
I'm a British subject, a British citizen, and an Australian citizen, personally.
Actually, I’m wrong - I’m no longer a British subject, just a British citizen and Australian citizen - British citizens haven’t been British subjects since 1981, Australian citizens since 1987.
Well, I can understand that. But many of us take great pride in our heritage. I am proud to owe allegiance to my Sovereign Lady, and have given oath to her. To me it symbolises a connection to rights and liberties that go back nearly 800 years.
My country of birth never had to fight for liberty - because of us, liberty was granted in accordance with our ancient rights and privileges under the Crown.
I certainly don’t think you’re ignorant - but the US has a different history to many of the nations that were under British rule. Americans had to fight because their rights were being ignored and infringed. Fighting because your rights are being ignored is different from the situation, for example, that has pertained in Australia, where the Crown has protected our rights from governments who tried to infringe them.
All three countries (Britain, Australia, and the USA) owe the definition of those rights and liberties to the English Common Law, which is far older than 800 years... Older than England herself.
Would that they all remembered them to be as precious as they are.
I am (allegedly) descended from one of King John’s barons, and so I tend to look back to Magna Carta myself as a convenient date, but you are certainly correct there are aspects of English common law that are older.
The first is a lie, the second is the truth.
Human beings are innately free. America is the only country that explicitly acknowledges that. Over time, we've found the distinction valuable.
Armed, we are citizens. Unarmed we are subjects.
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