USO Canteen FReeper Style....Night Stalkers Don't Quit.. ..October 9,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

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The USO Canteen FReeper Style
Delivering a Touch of Home

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A Touch of Home

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This is how I think of the USO Canteen 
Freeper Style. It is like a cottage down a road,
a place where a weary veteran can spend the night. 

Since it opened, it is magical how so many
Freepers who post here, feel it too. 
It has been so dear how the Freepers
kept making it a cottage - a home-type of 
place that had a huge living room
for them to visit in and a dance floor, 
a library, etc. 

Many Veterans have written to me, 
saying that the Canteen is like home
to them for the first time since they 
served. 

This is your Canteen -
a respite from our busy 
and sometimes troubling world. 
Make yourself at home.

Snow Bunny

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If you know a Veteran, someone in your family, 
friend of the family, neighbor, who served their  
country, take a brief moment of your day to thank 
them. 

Thank them for the sacrifice they made
for the better good of their country.

We at Free Republic, and the USO Canteen FReeper 
Style, are thankful for every service member 
in our military, who has served our great nation.

So, to the men and women who answered the call,
in both times of war and peace, thank you.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 

John McCrae 

Night Stalkers

160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)
"Night Stalkers Don't Quit"
Regiment motto

Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
 whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
 Then said I, here am I; send me.
 Isaiah 6:8

The 160th SOAR (Airborne) provides helicopter
support to Special Operations Forces worldwide.
The members are experts at night missions.

Operation Enduring Freedom
"They and all who are participating in
Operation Enduring Freedom are heroes.
They put their lives on the line on behalf
of freedom and on behalf of America,
and they do it each and every day. I’m
so very proud of them and their
comrades in arms."
General Richard B. Myers

Night Stalkers:The Army's 160th Special
Operations Aviation Regiment ,whose motto
is "Death waits in the dark" gets its nickname
from its focus on operations requiring nighttime,
low-level flying. The Night Stalkers fly aircraft such
as a version of the Army's Blackhawk helicopter,
customized with infrared imaging gear and high-tech
weaponry.

The Army owes its modern night fighting
aviation capabilities to the
160th Special Operations Aviation
Regiment (Airborne) who pioneered
night flight techniques, shared in
the development of equipment,
and proved that…….
"Night Stalkers Don't Quit"
a motto the Regiment lives by.

The unit originally was formed from
attachments from the 101st Aviation
Battalion, 158th Aviation Battalion,
229th Aviation Battalion and the
159th Aviation Battalion, immediately
entered into a period of intensive night
flying and quickly became the Army's
premier night fighting aviation force
and the Army's only Special Operations
Aviation force.

Task Force 160 was officially recognized
as a Unit on 16 October 1981 when it
was designated as the 160th Aviation
Battalion. Since that time, the 160th
has become known as the
"Night Stalkers," because of their
capability to strike undetected
during darkness, and their
distinguished performance around the world.

It is often difficult to describe the many varied
reasons why certain individuals elect to join in
military service to their country. Life in the United
States Army can be arduous and demanding.

It is a lifestyle in which much, often beyond
comprehension, is asked. Rewards, for the most part,
can be no more than a feeling of have done a good days
job, all the while finding yourself sleeping alone in a cold,
dark, dreary foreign land with no more to eat than a 5 year
old dried out MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat), and the fleeting
memory of your wife and kids. Why a handful of select
individuals would desire this life time pursuit is inexplicable.

However, the following photograph may shed some light.

Ceremony marks return of wings

A pair of well-traveled wings found its
final destination Tuesday after serving
a role in America's war on terrorism. The
wings represented the spirit of American
Airlines flight attendant Sara Low, who lost
her life on Sept. 11 when Flight 11 crashed
into the World Trade Center.

The flight attendant wings were given to
Sara's father, Mike Low, by Karyn Ramsey,
Sara's friend and co-worker, as a remembrance
of his daughter. The same wingspan medallion
took flight on more than 20 combat missions with
a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment
flight crew in Afghanistan. A Tuesday ceremony,
attended by about 500 people, embodied a father's
fight to keep his daughter's memory alive in the hearts
of family, friends and American aviators.

The event to return the symbolic memento was the
first time a large number of media and television
cameras were allowed onto the heavily guarded
special ops compound at Fort Campbell.

"As Americans we are so thankful
for what you have done for us,"
Mike Low told the flight crew. "
After 9/11 my family and I struggled
to focus on positive things. You are heroes
in the purest definition of the word. You
have given us a great gift of brightness in
very dark times."

The 160th SOAR (Airborne) provides helicopter
support to Special Operations Forces worldwide. <>br> The members are experts at night missions. Flight
engineer Staff Sgt. Mark Baker, 27, volunteered to
wear the gold-colored wings above his heart during
every mission when he heard about the father's request.

He and the MH-47E Chinook helicopter flight crew
returned from their mission about mid-March.

"If my daughter died that way,
I would want someone to step up
and do the same thing," said Baker
who's been with the "Night Stalkers"
for six years.

The look of gratitude was sincere in Low's eyes
as he transferred a necklace with Sara's photo
and an Army coin to Baker. The ceremony also>br> solemnly reflected on the nine 160th soldiers
who lost their lives fighting terrorists since
Sept. 11.

"This is a great healing process for everyone,"
said 160th commander Col. Richard L. Polczynski.
"We had this ceremony because we want to show
that U.S. soldiers are doing something good. I've
got 1,600 people that are Night Stalkers and every
one is proud to have done this
~ to have payback for the nation."

Thursday, 7 March 2002, soldiers hurry to load
ammunition onto a waiting CH-47D Chinook
helicopter at Bagram Air Base.

The tarmac at Bagram Air Base, 65 km (40 miles) north
of Kabul, Friday, 8 March 2002, near CH-47D Chinook
helicopters belonging to A Company, 7th Battalion, 101st
Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, that are
ready to take off for Gardez to participate in the campaign to
flush out Taliban and al-Qaeda holdouts in the mountains
of eastern Afghanistan

At least 9 people, 7 of which were
U.S. troops, were killed 4 March 2002
when an American Army special forces
MH-47E helicopter was shot down in
Afghanistan as Afghan and Western
forces pressed their biggest attack of the
war against regrouping al-Qaeda and
Taliban fighters. The map shows a
perspective view of the area of eastern
Afghanistan where the offensive was concentrated.

The nine people were killed in ferocious
exchanges with al-Qaeda and Taliban
fighters in the mountains of eastern
Afghanistan

10th Mountain Division load into a Chinook helicopter
as they prepare to return to Bagram Air Base on Sunday,
10 March 2002, from fighting near the villages of Sherkhankheyl,
Marzak and Bobelkiel, Afghanistan. The towns were an al-Qaeda
and Taliban stronghold which came under intense bombing and
firefights as the coalition forces battled to root them out. As there
we not enough seats available, soldiers climbed aboard and sat
down anywhere they could.

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battalion
prepare to get on a Chinook helicopter Sunday, 17 March 2002,
in the Shahikot valley region of eastern Afghanistan. The helicopter
is one of the many operated by B Company - "Hercules", 159th
Aviation Regiment, from Hunter Army Airfield, near Savannah, Georgia.

A lone U.S. Army MH-47E Chinook, assigned to the
160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment
(SOAR) – "Nightstalkers", Fort Campbell,
Kentucky, patiently
awaits the next assignment in the back
country of Afghanistan
while ground crews check the security
of the camp perimeter.

A CH-47 Chinook prepares to land for the extraction
of Canadian ground security forces from 1st Platoon, A
Company3rd Battalion Princess Patrichas Canadian Light
Infantry, as well as U.S. personnel on 11 April 11 2002.

[Kathy in Alaska]

I have a number of Hollywood Stars who`s income I will not ever willingly or knowingly contribute to.

Me too, Radix.

These people make a living by pretending to be someone that they are not! Considering that they are professional fakes, why on Earth would anyone listen to anything that they had to say?

My favorite lines!

[LaDivaLoca]

oooohhhhh! That transportation is way too cool. Thanks,Tonkin!

[Victoria Delsoul]

I will never have a Barbara Streisand CD in my home, no reruns of Lou Grant, and no Alec Baldwin anything. It’s my way of “doing my part” in this battle.

OH for sure! I try to stay away from the TV and every Hollywood crap I can. Those people don't deserve my time or my money.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Victoria. Beautiful cat picture. I hope you had a good teaching day. The first thing I do when I get to work is play Bless This House and repeat the Prayer of Protection. They start the day off just right.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Sam. I have a song for ya.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Kathy! Good to see you.

There is nothing like a prayer to start a day the right way.

[SAMWolf]

What happened to "Babe" and thumbs up?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Evenin' Sam. You were going to get the tubes question later tonight. But AF saved me from asking. LOL!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi AFCATMRet. Nice to see you.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Nice to see you visiting here at the Canteen.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Love the graphic, Sam.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hiya Radu. And special song for you.

[Kathy in Alaska]

We are all proud of him too. Whenever he goes wherever he goes, please let him know about the USO Canteen FReeper Style. We honor, daily, our troops, our veterans, their families (that would be you) and our allies. We know his free time will be precious, but we are here 24/7 if he just needs to see others, besides Mom, who thank him every single day for his service to our country. And he can have a few laughs too! LOL! Any Mail Call Monday shows us all that the Canteen is a piece of home.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL! C

[Kathy in Alaska]

LaDiva, welcome!. You sure have some of the cutest pictures.

[LaDivaLoca]

This is so sad - my condolences and prayers to the family.

[Terry's Take]

bttt!

[LaDivaLoca]

Thanks for posting these, SAMWolf! Glad to know our troops are kicking butts out there. I am so proud of them!

[LaDivaLoca]

(choke) and we are proud of Bartt and the rest of the men and women who put their lives on the line, fighting so that we can live free. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

[Senator_Palpatine]

LEST WE FORGET

Operation Enduring Freedom

With the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the 160th went to war and began one of their most intensive and largest operations ever.

March 2, 2002 was a black day for the 160th and American special operations in general. Two MH-47E's from 2nd Bat were inserting observation teams in the southern end of the Shah-e-Kot Valley. incomplete

The next morning two more MH-47E's, Razors 1 and 2 approached the mountaintop with members of a Ranger Quick-Reaction Force. Dawn was just begning to break as Razor 1 began it's landing from the south. Immediately heavy small-arms peppered the aircraft and the door gunners began to return fire. Suddenly a RPG round hit the side of the aircraft, but unlike Razor 3 the night before Razor 1 was too badly damaged to limp away and crashed on the mountain top, badly wounding many Rangers and both pilots. To make matters worse the right hand door gunner, Sgt Phil Svitak had been hit by AK-47 fire just before the crash and died soon thereafter. One member of the Ranger QRF was hit and killed inside the aircraft and two more died as they tried to exit and set up fighting positions. Only air support and the supreme effort of the other members of the QRF who'd advanced 2,000 vertical feet under fire after having been dropped off in a safer position below saved the crew and passengers of Razor 1.

"The Lord knows the way I take, and when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" JOB 23:10

NSDQ