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[...] 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,...

Media Release 256th Brigade Combat Team Camp Tigerland Baghdad, Iraq APO, AE 09326 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 5, 2005 RELEASE 20050705-01 256th BCT Soldier survives sniper attack Spc. Chris Foster 256th Brigade Combat Team PAO BAGHDAD -- Being able to react to and maintain control of a situation in a combat environment can be a difficult task for Soldiers. They must be able to quickly react and assess a situation, in order to ensure their survival and the safety of those around them. “Stay alert, stay alive” is the reminder that is driven into the minds of Soldiers since the...

Bronze Star Recipient Led Stunning Victory Strategic battle in Iraq was won with no deaths of U.S. troops June 14, 2005 By Terry Boyd Stars and Stripes European edition BAUMHOLDER, Germany — It was a hell of a show, and Lt. Col. T.C. Williams had a front-row seat. From his Bradley fighting vehicle, Williams had the perfect view as he directed the battle of Kut during which 1st Armored Division Task Force soldiers fought to retake Kut, south of Baghdad, from Mahdi Army militia. “I could see who was shooting whom. Streams of colors coming across the river — both...

I got the following in an email today and thought that I'd pass it on.This will make you proud! Those of you who might not know, the man on the left is the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and he is proud to know the man on the right. Maybe you'd like to hear about a real American, somebody who honored  the uniform he wears. Meet Brian Chontosh. Churchville-Chili Central School class of 1991. Proud graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Husband and about-to-be father. First lieutenant (now Captain) in the United States Marine Corps. And a genuine hero....

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - When his platoon was ambushed in an attack by insurgents in Iraq last year, Marine Sgt. Willie L. Copeland III took charge. He led five Marines out of the heaviest fire, found cover and killed 10 of the enemy in close combat. When his commanding officer fell wounded, Copeland used his body to shield the officer as he administered first aid. For his leadership and dedication to duty, the 26-year-old from Utah on Thursday received the Navy Cross, the Navy's second-highest honor. Seven Marines have received the Navy Cross for Operation Iraqi Freedom through Jan. 10,...

As the convoy approached Mosul, an Iraqi man looked toward Tech. Sgt. Bob Busse and slid his hand across his throat. A short while later, the assemblage of about 70 gun trucks, armored Stryker vehicles, tractor trailers and heavy equipment transporters entered a section of Mosul that only a few days prior was the scene of a bustling outdoor market. On this day, however, “it was eerily quiet,” said Tech. Sgt. Robert Weis, who viewed the abandoned setting from the driver's seat of a 5-ton Air Force gun truck. “We looked at each other and said, ‘this is not good.'”...

It was all over by 5:30 a.m. April 3, 2003. Lt. Col. Ernest P. "Rock" Marcone's Task Force 3-69th Armor had defeated three Iraqi brigades and captured the key bridge over the Euphrates 20 miles south of Baghdad known as Objective Peach. At the tip of the 3rd Infantry Division's spear pointing towards victory, they had what its leader called "the best armor mission in the world — lead the attack, blow a big hole in the enemy's defenses, get the rest of the division and V Corps in position to finish off Baghdad." Seizing that objective, the Al Kaed...

The Kentucky National Guardsmen were outnumbered and under heavy gunfire when they counterattacked Iraqi insurgents who ambushed a coalition convoy southeast of Baghdad. A 30-minute firefight ensued on a Sunday morning, pitting 10 guardsmen against dozens of insurgents. When the shooting ended, 26 guerrillas lay dead and another was mortally wounded, while six others were wounded and another was captured unharmed. The guardsmen didn't go unscathed. Three members of the military police unit were wounded and later transported for medical treatment in Germany, where they are recovering. "It was crazy," recalled Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester. "Adrenaline pumping, you didn't have...

Soldier wins VC for Iraq bravery A British soldier serving in Iraq who saved 30 members of his unit from an ambush has been awarded the first Victoria Cross for more than 20 years. Pte Johnson Beharry, 25, was struck by enemy fire as he guided a convoy of Warrior fighting vehicles through the town of Al Amarah last May. A month later he saved more lives in an attack which left him in a coma. He was one of 140 soldiers honoured for tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia and Africa. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said: "These honours...

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Two Green Berets who carried wounded comrades out of danger as gunfire continued around them during separate incidents in Iraq were awarded Silver Star medals Thursday. The Silver Stars - the Army's third highest award for actions in combat - were pinned on Master Sgt. David Miles, 37, of Powellton, W.Va., and Master Sgt. Kelly Mahon, 40, of Virgil, Kan., during a ceremony at Fort Campbell. Miles killed or directed the killing of up to 20 Saddam loyalists on April 7, 2003, at a bridge overpass south of Baghdad where they had set up fighting positions...

It was in the third week of the Iraq war, as U.S. troops barreled toward Baghdad, that Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith's band of combat engineers found themselves on the wrong end of 10-to-1 odds. In a walled courtyard not far from Baghdad's airport, Smith and his 15 lightly armed soldiers were trying to hold off 100 Special Republican Guard fighters wielding rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 assault rifles. When wounds downed the U.S. crew of the armored vehicle bearing the Americans' sole heavy machine gun, Smith scrambled into the breach. In the gunner's hatch of that personnel carrier, with...

Iowa Marine may be candidate for Medal of Honor Associated Press Saturday, February 26, 2005, 2:59:02 PM DES MOINES -- An Iowa Marine is receiving widespread praise for his bravery after leading a daring rescue mission in Iraq last fall. Sgt. Brad Kasal, of Afton, said he learned three fellow Marines were wounded inside an enemy-controlled house during house-to-house battles with insurgents in Fallujah on Nov. 13. "The insurgents would kill them, or worse -- torture them and then kill them, so time was essential," Kasal said. "So I gathered up a bunch of young Marines and tried to enter...

A Sanford man was honored Friday with the Distinguished Flying Cross for helping rescue a downed fighter pilot behind enemy lines more than 50 years ago. Elmer Davis receives the Distinguished Flying Cross from Air Force Gen. John W. Handy, left, Friday at Pope Air Force Base. Davis put his life on the line to help rescue a pilot in 1952. (Staff photo by Marc Hall ) Elmer Davis was a 19-year-old Air Force medic when he volunteered to join helicopter pilot Owen Clark on a rescue mission near Chongdan, North Korea, on Nov. 13, 1952. Davis, now 71, never...

Military officials on Sunday decorated a Marine reserve sergeant who braved a hail of bullets during a street battle in Baghdad and helped four Marines and a civilian to safety. Sgt. Scott C. Montoya, 35, a reservist and scout-sniper with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, received the Marine Corps' second-highest award for valor, the Navy Cross, from Lt. Gen. Dennis McCarthy, who commands Marine Forces Reserve, during a short ceremony in the courtyard at the Marine Corps Reserve Center, Encino, California. The Orange County sheriff's deputy received the award in front of 200 friends, family members and several officials, including...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Dec. 16, 2004 -- In a mountain range in the barren, poverty-stricken country of Afghanistan, automatic-weapons fire and grenade explosions fill the air with soot and rock debris. The high altitude and polluted air choke the Marines and local military forces as enemy tracer rounds whiz past, forcing them to hunker behind whatever cover they may find. Amid all the chaos and destruction, one man returns fire, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Maintaining his composure and exhibiting poise under fire, he shouts out orders, directing his men to continue firing. After almost 45 minutes...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Dec. 9, 2004) -- He had nothing but a 9 mm pistol in one hand and a wounded Marine in the other as he struggled his way to the evacuation vehicle against assault weapon fire aimed at him. Ideally, a Navy corpsman or "doc" whisking a casualty out harms way will have plenty of cover fire. But Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason R. Duty - aptly named for such a precarious mission and recently awarded for his exploits with a Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device - had little such support on his...

BAGHDAD -- Two U.S. Army sergeants were awarded one of the highest medals for heroism following fierce fighting against insurgents in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, the U.S. command said Saturday. Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Swope and Staff Sgt. Robert Miltenberger received Silver Star medals for "exceptional valor in combat during Operation Lancer Fury" in April in the Shiite slum. Both men are with the 1st Cavalry Division and were awarded their medals at a ceremony on Thursday. Swope, a platoon sergeant from Richmond, Va., hastily organized a defense as rebels ambushed his unit on April 4. Despite orders...

Two Marines awarded Bronze Star for counter-ambush Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton Story Identification #: 2004923193850 Story by Lance Cpl. Samuel B. Valliere MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Sept. 23, 2004) -- One Marine carried on a relentless, one-armed fight. Another is credited with spearheading a counterattack that left an estimated 30 insurgents dead. Their tenacious response to an enemy ambush last spring near Fallujah, Iraq, earned them the Bronze Star Medal, awarded Friday in a ceremony at Camp Margarita. According to command accounts, Sgt. Eric Kocher and Staff Sgt. Dan Lalota fought valiantly enough to merit the U.S....

Courage amid chaos: How one Iraq battle unfolded The information in this story is largely based on an after-action report filed by 1st Lt. Lamar Breshears. Such reports are filed after military operations. This story also includes information from letters written to Sgt. Yadir Reynoso's family by Marines in his platoon. Interviews with Breshears' father, Larry, and John Pike, a military analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, offered additional background information. By Hal Bernton Seattle Times staff reporter LUCIAN M. READ / WORLDPICTURENEWS Marine Sgt. Yadir Reynoso, crouching, far right, and members of his platoon tend to the wounded during the Aug. 5...

NORFOLK — Outnumbered, low on ammo, perched on a rooftop for hours in a battle against Iraqi insurgents, Lonnie Young figured his number was up. It was April 4, 2004, and the war had entered its deadliest month for Americans. Days earlier, four contractors passing through Fallujah had been ambushed, killed, and strung from a bridge. At least half a dozen other men from their firm – Blackwater USA , based in Moyock – handled security at the Coalition Provisional Authority’s base in Najaf, where Young, a 25-year-old Norfolk-based Marine Corps corporal, was working that day. After installing an antenna...