Stranded Marines Fight To Last Bullets

London Times ^ | April 16, 2004 | James Hider

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

It was in my head, we just got to go. Whoever makes it back, makes it back, those who fall, fall; said Staff Sergeant Ismail Sagredo,

OK you Devil Dogs, do we journalistic embellishment here or what?

[Dog Anchor]

If we have unmanned predator drones, why can't we have unmanned armoured vehicles.

Send one in and let the insurrgents clamor for it by the dozens. Then ac-130 them or 500 lb bomb.

[Dog Anchor]

And I'm reading this from the London Times and not an American newspaper because...????


"These newspapers, owned and edited by these men, although free from the repulsive vulgarity of the yellow press, were susceptible to influence by the priviledged interests, and were almost or quite as hostile to manliness as they were to unrefined vice...they favored the removal of tariff on works of art; they favored all the proper (and even more strongly all the improper) movements for international peace and arbitration; in short, they favored all good, and many goody-goody, measures so long as they did not cut deep into social wrong or make demands on National and individual virility. They opposed, or were lukewarm about, efforts to build up the army and the navy, for they were not sensitive concerning National honor; and, above all, they opposed every non-milk-and-water effort, however sane, to change our social and economic system in such a fashion as to substitute the ideal justice towards all for the ideal of kindly charity from the favored few to the possibly grateful many."
- Theodore Roosevelt

[Dog Anchor]

And anyway, you didn`t scratch your finger like John Kerry.


Din't Kerry get another Purple Heart for his recent skiing accident?

[antceecee]

Are these the same "innocent Iraqis" our marines are murdering... as per lib press...

[IYAS9YAS]

I'm a former squid. We always were at odds with the jar heads, but we always respected them.

But that is our thing. We can fight amongst ourselves, and do often, but outsiders will wind up fighting against all of us as a team.

[dimk]

Soviet era BMP was lighter armored so the back doors(they open sideways) were easy to open without mechanical assistance. In case of a much heavier door maybe something like blast caps on the hinges that hold the door? There should be a solution or after any hit that disables engines this APC will turn into a death trap. Marines were lucky engine didnt give out right after RPG hit or they would all die. It just seems like there should be a better design.

[IYAS9YAS]

Your solution is?

How about a manual jack with the same pump to lift ratio as a NASCAR jack? Two pumps on the sucker'd be enough to get out. Let's get some jack companies/NASCAR mechanics involved.

[infowarrior]

The Cold-war era M113A1 also had a way to lower the rear door in a hurry, without power. The drawback was, you played merry hell getting it back up again, if you needed to. What I was trying to say was that there are no easy answers, and design engineers often have to make tradeoffs. These tradeoffs aren't great but are a fact of life...

the infowarrior

[infowarrior]

A plausible idea, there. That works along the same lines as manual extension of aircraft landing gear, in the event of hydraulic/electrical failure of the regular system. Design engineers, take note...

the infowarrior

[IYAS9YAS]

Plus as a pumping handle receiver, use something, that if the handle is lost or damaged, could accept just about anything as a handle. shovel handle, pipe, weapon barrel. Or, simpler, allow for the hinges to be released from the inside. One pull on each side and the hinge separates allowing the door to fall open from the top.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Sergeant Sagredo does not want a medal for saving his men. “A decoration would only remind me of what happened. This is something I want to forget. Unfortunately, if it doesn’t affect me now, I know it will haunt me later.”

These guys epitomize the words "courage" and "America's finest". I hope he changes his mind about the medal. Because he deserves it. His kids and grandkids deserve it. One day when he looks back it will be a badge of "honor", today it only represents the horrors of war, but that will change.

I know this about these men, they won't be coming home telling LIES about their brothers or sisters while their dying on foriegn soil. There is far too much honor in this group. These troops are a different breed than the Democrat running for President. You won't see them asking to go home in four months from scrap wounds.

Reading what they went through, their bravery under fire in extreme conditions and their unwavering determination to succeed, just proves our belief that we will succeed in Iraq. How could we not with troops like these?

God Bless our Military!

[kellynla]

It took an hour for the tanks to hook up with the burnt-out vehicle, but they were determined not to leave a dead Marine behind inside it.
One of the main reasons I joined the Marines in 1968 was because of the reputation the Corps had for "never leaving anyone behind." And that belief was engraved in our minds from the first day of boot camp. On every daily run, if anyone fell out of formation, the entire platoon would turn around and go get them. Semper Fi, Kelly

[TEXOKIE]

WOW!!

[HiJinx]

That's my thought, nearly.

They're going to take RPG fire, that's how the Somalis downed the two blackhawks...

But with a target-rich environment such as these Marines found themselves in, I almost believe it's worth the risk.

Oh, Hell, wait a minute!! UAVs!!! Where the Hell are the UAVs? Recon with them, then blast the square to smithereens with Hornets or Harriers...or a Warthog, for crying out loud!!!!

[GATOR NAVY]

Here's a view of an AAV ramp and the hatch mentioned.

[SandRat]

Yep they fit their nick name of Bull Dogs.

[opbuzz]

They all deserve the Congressional Medal of Honor

No such thing.

Just a personal peeve.

[opbuzz]

Had that been J F Kerry in that situation, he would have demanded a Congressional Medal of Honor!

No such thing.

You have it confused wth the Medal of Honor.