THE RAID - Continued

Myths of the OBL raid, explored.

SEAL TEAM SIX CONDUCTED THE RAID ON OSAMA BIN LADEN's HIDEOUT

Not quite - the raid was a JSOC operation - ergo, it was a joint mission of Special Operations assets from across the services.

The SEALs were the assault element, but a raid requires more than that - who flew the helicopters, for example, and where did they come from? What about reconnaissance, sniper overwatch, and a support element to hold down blocking positions and act as a ready reserve if things went south?

The helicopters were most likely from the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment - the Nightstalkers - of Mogadushu fame.

"Night Stalkers Don't Quit".


Sniper and reconnaissance duties could have been performed by Delta, Marine Force Recon (MARSOC are recent additions to the US Special Operations Command despite the fact that they pioneered small-unit raid tactics in World War II), CIA or a combination thereof.

USMC sniper capabilities are legendary.


Outer security / blocking positions and reserve forces were most likely provided courtesy of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

75th Ranger Regiment on a recent operation in Iraq

Last but not least: who planned the raid, and who oversaw training and rehearsals of the full-blown mission profile? Not the SEALs - I guarantee you. Just ask a SEAL what are the five paragraphs of an Op Order and he'll look at you like you've got a dick growing out of the middle of your forehead.

But don't take my word for it - ask anyone who's ever worked with the SEALs and they'll tell you the same thing.




Today's Bird HERE



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THE EPITOME OF HONOR

A Marine Force Recon buddy sent this to me today; this is what the American warrior class does for it's own - we always bring them back. It might take fifty, or a hundred and fifty years, but in the end . . . we always bring them back.


This is Honor.





The Marine Raiders of World War II were the forerunners of Force Reconnaissance.

Also today, we honor Tim Hetherington, British war correspondent and photographer - killed in action, 20 April 2011 in the besieged Libyan city of Misurata.

Journalists go forward to the battle fronts as absolute volunteers - there is no requirement they go. This is guts, and they serve an important role as scribes of history. But in the end, theys rolls the dices and theys takes theys chances. Hetherington was worthy, however - he was director and producer of the film “Restrepo”

In 2007 and 2008, Hetherington spent 14 months with a platoon of 
paratroopers from the famed 173d Airborne Brigade in the Korangal Valley, Afghanistan.

I saw that documentary; it was so real for me, it sent shivers up my spine.

Timothy (Tim) Hetherington, 1970 – April 20, 2011

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BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND "OLD SLABSIDES"

This awesome tale of a very special 1911 comes to us via the worthy blog of a friend who is also a Brother and Charter Member of Team STORMBRINGER- Chasmatic's SPILLERS OF SOUP:

"One of the older technicians at work was telling me a story today about a pistol that was in his in-laws' family.

"He tells me that his wife's late father, who was a Marine in the battle of Iwo Jima, had brought back his pistol from the war. I'm thinking, OK, must be a nice old 1911 model, one that has probably seen more than a few soldiers' hands; then comes the rest of the story.

"Turns out that the guy's father in law had a camera with him in his sack, and had taken some pictures of when they raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi. He submitted his photo but it was not chosen as the one that is now famous. The family still has this picture hanging in their living room.

"A few days after the flag raising the Japanese attacked the Marines and another fight broke out. While they are in the middle of everything a Japanese sniper takes a shot at him. The bullet hits him in the right wrist and hits his gun hanging from his belt. The round, after completely disabling his right hand, penetrates his leather pistol holster and embeds itself into the slide of his 1911. Fragments from the round penetrate through the other side of the holster and into his leg, injuring him further. The Marine was able to get to the medic, where he was then evacuated to care for his injuries.

"So the technician asks me if I would like to see it. After telling him the obvious, he calls his wife's brother and asks if he could bring it up to the shop.

 
"Here are the pictures I took after listening to the same story again from the Marine's son. (it was a good story, I had no problem listening twice.)

I asked him if he would mind me posting them on here, as long as I blocked out the serial number. He said go right ahead.

"Although I had to blur out the serial #, it fell into the early/mid 600,000 range. Found this Colt: S/N 450,000 to 629,500 = Oct. 24, 1918 to April 10, 1919

The Marine's name was Horace Arthur Smith "Arty". he passed away 3 years ago."

Honor

Wednesday Bird HERE


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AUSSIE MARINE DIGGER - VIETNAM

Hey StormBringer -

I saw that VC recipient story yesterday. Did you ever see this story?

Captain Ivan Cahill, Royal Australian Regiment - the only foreigner to have direct command of an American Rifle Company in Vietnam.

Retired Royal Australian Marine, Col. Ivan J. Cahill, left, presented with the title Honorary Marine by Maj. Gen. James B. Laster, commanding general, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, on Nov. 19, 2010

Photo courtesy of Col. Chuck Ikins, USMCR (Ret)


Vietnam-era photos of Capt. Cahill with U.S. Marines HERE

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RIFLE

This video was sent in by a friend who is also a Brother - filmed by some Air Force Joint Tactical Air Controllers (JTAC) in Tal Afar, west of Mosul in Iraq (date unknown):

A Marine unit was pinned down in the street. They set their video camera on the bumper of their armored HUMVEE, which they were using for cover.

Keep an eye on the opposing van parked just down the street. On the audio you can hear them shooting back and forth. The rounds you can hear are from the Marines, and the ones you hear pinging against the side of the vehicle with no accompanying pop are from the bad guys.

Listen carefully; when the Marine says they just fired the "rifle," it means an F-16 aircraft just launched a Maverick missile. You can see it strike the vehicle the bad guys were using for cover.

End of story . . . for the bad guys.



Tuesday Tart HERE


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THE MARINES ALWAYS WIN ! ! !

This one is dedicated to my good buddy Frenchy the Marine, Legionnaire and Wild Hog - S.L.


Two Arabs boarded a flight out of London. One took a window seat and the other sat next to him in the middle seat.

Just before takeoff, a Marine sat down in the aisle. After takeoff, the Marine kicked his shoes off, wiggled his toes and was settling in when the Arab in the window seat said, "I need to get up and get a Coke."

"Don't get up," said the Marine, "I'm in the aisle seat, I'll get it for you." As soon as he left, one of the Arabs picked up the Marines' shoe and spat in it.

When the Marine returned with the Coke, the other Arab said, "That looks good, I'd really like one, too."

Again, the Marine obligingly went to fetch it. While he was gone the other Arab picked up the Marines' other shoe and spat in it.

When the Marine returned, they all sat back and enjoyed the flight. As the plane was landing, the Marine slipped his feet into his shoes and knew immediately what had happened.

"Why does it have to be this way?" he asked. "How long must this go on? This fighting between our nations? This hatred? This animosity? This spitting in shoes and pissing in Cokes?"


And the moral of this story is . . .

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Top to bottom: USMC machete cut down into a Bolo configuration; Camillus fighting knife, USN Mk II machete; Sykes-Fairbairn fighting knife (used by commandos and OSS); USMC KA-BAR fighting knife - all WWII era.




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STILL A GUT WRENCHER

US Marines visit the ancient battle field, pay their respects on what is now sacred soil . . .



Mount Suribachi, overlooking Invasion Beach.


An interesting presentation (with Elvis' American Trilogy) -

IWO JIMA TODAY







(Sent in by Chas - the music didn't open on my computer - S.L.)

THE GUN IS CIVILIZATION

Today I offer this very well written piece - that places the proper perspective on what a gun means to a civilized society; timely as the Supreme Court hears arguments for and against the Chicago Gun Ban. A veritable Internet Mystery - this piece has been floating around the Internet since 2007, attributed a mythical Marine Major Caudill, but a search for source verification reveals it was actually written by a Mr. Marko Kloos, at his excellent blog Munchkin Wrangler.


The Gun is Civilization

By "Major L. Caudill, USMC(Ret)" - a.k.a. Marko Kloos


Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.






There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat -- it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force.

It removes force from the equation . . . and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.



"So the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced."

GOD IS BUSY

It is Sunday; this is appropriate - S.L.



A United States Marine was attending some college courses after doing his bit in Iraq and Afghanistan and getting out. One of the courses had a professor
who was an avowed atheist, and a member of the ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "GOD!! If You are real then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes!"

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am GOD, I'm still waiting . . ."

It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold.

The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently.

The other students were shocked and stunned, and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What in the world is the matter with you? Why did you do that?"

The Marine calmly replied, "God is too busy today protecting American warriors who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff like that and act like an idiot. So He sent me."







The preceding anecdote illustrates to me, better than ever before, the meaning of the Serenity Prayer; guidance I use to help keep me from driving myself insane at the stupidity and illogic of the world around me - Sean Linnane


The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.






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RATTLESNAKES

The Timber Rattlesnake, a uniquely American creature, has been symbolic of America even before the Bald Eagle was adopted as our national symbol.



The use of the timber rattlesnake as a symbol of the American colonies can be traced back to Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette in 1751. Writing of the British policy to send convicted criminals to America, Franklin suggested sending rattlesnakes to England.

















In 1754, during the French and Indian War, Franklin published his famous woodcut of a snake cut into eight sections. It represented the colonies, with New England joined together as the head and South Carolina as the tail, following their order along the coast. Under the snake was the message "Join, or Die". This was the first political cartoon published in an American newspaper.
















The Gadsden flag - also known as the Rattlesnake Flag - is a historical American flag depicting a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Positioned below the snake is the legend "Don't Tread on Me". The flag was designed by American general and statesman Christopher Gadsden. It was also used by the United States Marine Corps as an early motto flag.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, unofficial usage of the Gadsden flag by the U.S. Government has been seen, most notably by Customs and harbor patrol boats in U.S. ports and individuals serving abroad in the U.S. Military.








The motto "This We’ll Defend" on a scroll held by the rattlesnake is depicted on the official seal of the United States Army. It signifies the Army’s constant readiness to defend and preserve the United States.














The rattlesnake is also depicted on the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Identification Badge.




















The First Navy Jack, directly related to the Gadsden flag.
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 the First Navy Jack been officially flown by the U.S. Navy on all active naval ships.









The Gadsden Rattlesnake insignia, featured by the National Rifle Association.





The Rattlesnake logo in use by RANGER UP on their gear.

SGT WILLIAM J. CAHIR, USMC, KIA

ARLINGTON, Va. — Marine Sgt. William J. Cahir, a former news reporter and congressional candidate, was laid to rest with full military honors Monday at Arlington National Cemetery.


Cahir, 40, died Aug. 13 of an enemy gunshot wound while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. - Associated Press, August 31, 2009

I did not know Sgt Cahir but I respect him. When I joined the US Army at age 23, I was considered the Old Man in my platoon. When I retired at the age of 49 I was considered a living fossil. I have nothing but respect for a man who signs up during wartime, at the age of 35. -Sean Linnane


The Death of Sgt Cahir
by John Guardiano

I didn’t know Sergeant Cahir personally; in fact, we never met. But I certainly knew of him. We were both enlisted Marine Corps Reservists who had served with the 4th Civil Affairs Group (CAG) in Iraq. I had returned from my one and only deployment (in 2003) when Sergeant Cahir was preparing for his first deployment with the CAG (in 2004). With great warmth, enthusiasm and affection, several of the Marines had told me about him. “There’s another journalist in our unit!” they exclaimed. “And like you, he asks a lot of questions! He’s also old, too! I think he’s like thirty-five!” For a lot of the younger Marines, Sergeant Cahir’s enlistment was the confirmation that they sought and needed — especially as they were about to go to war. Confirmation that their decision to enlist was a smart and wise decision. Confirmation that there was nobility and wisdom in that decision. Confirmation that even older, better educated, and more professionally accomplished men and women join the Marine Corps and serve in the Marines’ enlisted ranks.


I had been there myself once not too long ago. Indeed, like Sergeant Cahir, I was 34 when I enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve after September 11, 2001. I, too, had worked on Capitol Hill (at the Heritage Foundation) and as a journalist, and had labored in other capacities within the Washington, D.C. policy arena. But whereas I completed just one modest deployment before reluctantly leaving the Marine Corps to earn my commission as a Naval Reserve Officer, Sergeant Cahir remained with the CAG for three full deployments.


His first two deployments were to Iraq, where Sergeant Cahir earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Navy Meritorious Commendation Medal, among other awards. This civic-minded Marine (there is no other kind of Marine really) left his job as a journalist in 2008 to run for Congress in his hometown in Pennsylvania’s 5th District. Cahir narrowly lost the Democratic Party primary, but captured 35% of the vote in a seat that was ultimately won by the Republican Party candidate, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson. Sergeant Cahir was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He graduated with honors from Penn State before moving to Washington, D.C. where he would build his career. Cahir’s first job was as a staffer for Senator Kennedy on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He then worked as a legislative assistant for Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford. Last spring, Cahir embarked on his third deployment in six years, this time to Afghanistan.

The funeral was both sad and uplifting. Sad because you mourn the loss of such a great and noble spirit in the prime of his life. Your heart cries out to his wife and to their two unborn children (the couple’s first) who will never know their father. And you cannot help but think, “There but for the grace of God go I.” And you realize that life isn’t fair, and that war takes from us the best we have. You want to call for a do-over, like you did so often as a kid playing ball with the neighbors in your backyard. You want to call for a do-over so that you can restore Sergeant Cahir’s life: because his life was that good and that important — to his family, to his friends, and to his fellow Marines, his comrades-in-arms. And to his country. But then you realize that in matters of life and death, war and peace, there really are no do-overs. War consumes a country and a people, and especially the warriors who fight it. And a Marine once dead cannot be resurrected (at least not here on earth), no matter how much we wish that it were so.

I left Sergeant Cahir’s funeral with a deeper appreciation for the fragility of life and the relatively short time that we all have here. You don’t remember the last article that you wrote (at last not for very long), or the last report that you prepared, or the last work project that you completed. You do remember, though, the last joke that made you laugh, the last good conversation that you had, and the last good story that someone told you. You remember the people — their strengths and their weaknesses, their virtues and their failings, their kindness and their grace, their quirks and their idiosyncrasies. Their decency. Their camaraderie. Their humanity.

Sergeant Cahir’s death is a tragedy, but his life was heroic and inspiring. And it is his life that we celebrate and must not forget: because by remembering Sergeant Cahir’s life, we ennoble and better our own.


Semper Fidelis, William J. Cahir, Sergeant, United States Marine Corps.

Note: readers can contribute to the Bill Cahir Memorial Fund here. All donations will be used for the education and care of Mr. and Mrs. Cahir’s two children, who are expected to be born in December. Checks and money orders also can be sent to:

Burk and Herbert Bank
c/o Mark Ragland
P.O. Box 268
Alexandria, Va., 22313

He was a United States Marine, killed in action defending Freedom and our American way of life. Honor him. - STORMBRINGER SENDS


This story ran today in NewMajority, posted here with permission. There is a tremendous thirst for news from the combat zones; part of the mission of Blog STORMBRINGER is to help deliver that information.

PATRIOTIC PAINT JOB

Check out the awesome paint job on this truck. Does anybody know the detailed information behind this incredible work? - if so, please comment below.





















"No matter what the Liberals would have you believe, Patriotism never goes out of style."

Can you imagine the NEXT President of the United States driving around in this magnificent chariot and telling all those pissant countries we liberated over the past century: "We ain't apologizing for sh*t ! ! !" - Sean Linnane

- photo imagery contributed by VA Shepard.

US MARINES IN COMBAT

Infil.

Contact.

Movement under fire.

Marines "stack on the door" as they prepare to search a compound. These Marines are from Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, part of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

M240 MG support.

We will be think of these brave men as we enjoy the Independence Day weekend. Be sure to mention them in your prayers, and as you say grace over your Fourth of July cookout meal.