Battle buddies. U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Matthew Perry, right, Radio Operator Maintainer And Driver, 82nd Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron, and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Darryl Honick, left, Joint Fire Observer, 3rd Battalion, 159th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, walk back to their M-ATV after supporting Operation Spartan Shield in Southwest Asia. (Photo by Staff Sergeant Jonathan Snyder, 11 September 2012.) High-res

Battle buddies.

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Matthew Perry, right, Radio Operator Maintainer And Driver, 82nd Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron, and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Darryl Honick, left, Joint Fire Observer, 3rd Battalion, 159th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, walk back to their M-ATV after supporting Operation Spartan Shield in Southwest Asia.

(Photo by Staff Sergeant Jonathan Snyder, 11 September 2012.)


beac-h: The beautiful face of courage: Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter USMC Carpenter, 21, of Gilbert lost the eye, most of his teeth and use of his right arm from a grenade blast Nov. 21 near Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.Friends and family say he threw himself in front of the grenade to protect his best friend in Afghanistan, Cpl. Nick Eufrazio This deserves more notes then anything on Tumblr. It’s sad to say stupid pictures of a flower some girl takes with a Nikon D40 that her parents bought her for christmas or a picture of A Day To Remember has more notes then this. The world is fucked up. So much respect for this man. ahhh i cant even, <3 [Actually, he threw himself on the grenade to protect his battle buddy who was in the gunner’s roost with him. A piece of shrapnel struck his friend anyway, lodging in his brain and causing unrecoverable damage. Lance Corporal Carpenter had reconstructive surgery to reattach his jaw. This is one of the earlier photos of him, there are a number of posts featuring this honorable Marine in the #soldierporn archives, including one outlining a MOH petition by his fellow Marines. ETA: Full article here. -R]

beac-h:

The beautiful face of courage: Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter USMC

Carpenter, 21, of Gilbert lost the eye, most of his teeth and use of his right arm from a grenade blast Nov. 21 near Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Friends and family say he threw himself in front of the grenade to protect his best friend in Afghanistan, Cpl. Nick Eufrazio

This deserves more notes then anything on Tumblr. It’s sad to say stupid pictures of a flower some girl takes with a Nikon D40 that her parents bought her for christmas or a picture of A Day To Remember has more notes then this. The world is fucked up. So much respect for this man.

ahhh i cant even, <3

[Actually, he threw himself on the grenade to protect his battle buddy who was in the gunner’s roost with him. A piece of shrapnel struck his friend anyway, lodging in his brain and causing unrecoverable damage. Lance Corporal Carpenter had reconstructive surgery to reattach his jaw. This is one of the earlier photos of him, there are a number of posts featuring this honorable Marine in the #soldierporn archives, including one outlining a MOH petition by his fellow Marines.

ETA: Full article here. -R]

(via caffeineandcartridges)

“

Leave no man behind,

Not anywhere, not ever.

In the heat of a

Firefight, or that

Battlefield in your own mind,

You are not alone.

”

WATCH OUT FOR YOUR BATTLE BUDDY.

(Article by Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service, 10 September 2012.)

WASHINGTON - September is National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. It’s a reminder to everyone in the military community to watch out for each other, a senior defense official said.

Jacqueline Garrick, acting director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, told the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service the Defense Department’s theme for the month’s observance, “Stand By Them,” is a prompt to get involved when a friend or loved one seems distressed.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, she noted, has been adamant about encouraging people to seek help, and in stressing leaders’ responsibility to ensure their people get the counseling they need.

“I think the first key factor is to understand the signs and symptoms of suicide, and not to be afraid to ask the question,” she said. “It’s a myth that if you ask somebody, ‘Are you feeling suicidal?’ that you’ll put a thought in their head. And that’s just not going to happen. If somebody’s really in distress, … the first thing we want people to know to do is ask the questions, ‘Do you feel like you could hurt yourself,’ ‘Do you have a plan?,’ and ‘How can I help?’”

Garrick said relationship issues, legal or financial problems often are factors in the lives of people at risk for suicide. Anyone suspecting possible suicidal impulses in a friend, co-worker or loved one also should be sensitive to changes in moods or behavior patterns, she added.

Excessive risk-taking, substance abuse, giving away possessions and changes in life insurance arrangements are all possible indicators someone may be considering suicide, she said.

“Be mindful of those kinds of things,” she advised. Garrick added that mood changes in both directions can indicate a person is considering suicide.

“Sometimes it’s a euphoria, or it’s a depression,” she said. “So just be mindful. And leadership needs to know … what their service members are like, so that they can know when there have been those changes.”

Garrick said she encourages military family members concerned about a loved one’s state of mind to contact commands, chaplains’ offices, community services, or any other means of help they can reach.

“One of the key features that we’re working on right now is with the Department of Veterans Affairs,” she said. “For several years, they have been working on the Veteran’s Crisis Line, and we have been working with them to rebrand [it] as the Military Crisis Line so that our men and women in uniform know that the Military Crisis Line — the ‘1-800-273-TALK(8255) number, press 1 if you’re military’ — is for them as well.”

The Military Crisis Line is an overarching and confidential resource — “one number to call when you’re experiencing any kind of crisis, any kind of suicidal ideation, any thoughts, feelings … that you’re not sure how to deal with,” Garrick said.

The crisis line also has an online chat option at http://www.militarycrisisline.net, and a text component reachable by smartphone at 838255, she explained.

“You can access assistance any way, any time of the day, from anywhere in the world,” Garrick said, adding other options are in place or in development for troops overseas.

Any of the various means of approach to the crisis line will put military members or their families in contact with a VA mental health provider, she said. Garrick noted family members often are the first to notice a loved one’s struggles, and she encourages them, as well, to reach out through the crisis line.

“We know that family members are usually the first ones to see if somebody has had any changes in mood, personality and activity,” Garrick said. “They’re the ones that need to hear the message first.

“We want to give them a way to get involved,” she continued. “If they call the crisis line, family members can be supported as well – for their service member, and for their own issues.”

Garrick acknowledged there is a common belief among military members that seeking help for mental health issues can damage their careers.

“Not seeking help is going to harm your career even more,” she said. “So even if you have to take a medication, or you can’t deploy, or you have to go for further testing, … there are benefits to treatment. Treatment works.”

Mental health support “that we know works” is available across the services through military treatment facilities, community mental health services and chaplains’ offices, Garrick said.

“That will benefit your career in the long run,” she added. “And it will benefit your life in the long run, because this isn’t just about your military career – it’s about your family well-being, it’s about your safety, and it’s about what your long-term plan is for your future.”

Someone who calls the crisis line, Garrick said, “can expect to talk to somebody who is compassionate and competent. These are all trained clinicians [and] providers that are on the other end of the line.”

Military crisis line responders understand military culture, and many are themselves veterans, she said.

“The VA works very closely with this department to make sure that our service members are being cared for properly,” she said. “So they can expect to get the best possible assistance and competent care.”

Related Sites:
Military Crisis Line 
Veterans Crisis Line 
Army Suicide Prevention Program 
Navy Suicide Prevention Program 
Air Force Suicide Prevention Program 
Marine Corps Suicide Prevention Program 
Special Report: Suicide Prevention and Awareness 

(-A)(A-) So how many of you have a battle buddy or a friend that you are pretty much willing to help bleach a crime scene and pour the quicklime into the hole for. How have they been able to influence your life for the positive even when they get on your damn nerves? Stay Safe, Stay Real, Laugh to Heal. [Peter the PTSD Awareness Penguin.] High-res

(-A)(A-) So how many of you have a battle buddy or a friend that you are pretty much willing to help bleach a crime scene and pour the quicklime into the hole for. How have they been able to influence your life for the positive even when they get on your damn nerves? Stay Safe, Stay Real, Laugh to Heal. [Peter the PTSD Awareness Penguin.]

Excerpt from an actual recent conversation with an old Army buddy

thedogtagchronicles:

I love that I have the kind of friends that hop on a plane and help me burn Paris to the ground if anything happened to my daughter, but would also join in the police manhunt if I ever lost it because it is better to be taken out by a friend than a stranger.

They wouldn’t enjoy taking me out, but they would do it. True friends don’t help you commit horrible crimes, they stop you from becoming the kind of monster that we are supposed to fight.

conorkenway:

“You know, they say the World War II guys were the ‘Best Generation’. Well, those who have fought every war since were the best of their generation. They went, they served, they sacrificed, and they fought like tigers. They were noble.” — Joe Galloway

(via do-or-die-ydg)

SOLDIER STORIES: Georgia Marine Awarded Silver Star for Heroic Action in Afghanistan

[Top] Marines apply a tourniquet and pressure dressing to Woodstock, Ga., native, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole (center) after he was shot twice in the left arm. This photo was taken during a firefight in Marjah Afghanistan after a patrol came under fire from enemy insurgents. Six of the 10 service members on the patrol were wounded, yet Cole continued to provide suppressing fire toward enemy positions to ensure the safety of his fellow Marines.

(Photographer unknown, 17 August 2010.)

[Bottom] The nation’s third highest award for valor, the Silver Star Medal, lies in wait, ready to be presented to Woodstock, Ga., native, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole. Cole was awarded the medal July 10 for his selfless actions when his patrol came under enemy fire in Marjah, Afghanistan in August 2010.

(Photo and Article by Corporal Jeff Drew, 11 July 2012 via DVIDS.)

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – He watched as five Marines beside him dropped, struck by the sheer force of insurgent machine gun fire. Within seconds, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole joined his brothers as a three-round burst lifted his 200-pound frame and 80 pounds of gear completely off the ground, moved him five feet in the air, and slammed him into the dirt– all in less than half a second. 

The Woodstock, Ga., native had taken three rounds into the ceramic plates protecting his body from small-arms fire. He was down, but not wounded. The injured Marines made their way into a nearby canal for cover as Cole provided suppressive fire with his rifle. With half of the Marines on the patrol wounded, they tried calling for extraction on the radio, but couldn’t reach anyone. No help was on the way and approximately 20 insurgents entrenched only 30 meters from their position were headed in their direction and they were out for blood. 

The morning of August 17, 2010 started early for Cole. He woke at 4 a.m. to stand four hours of guard duty. As he finished his time on post, an early morning patrol returned and he helped cook food for them before cleaning his rifle and restocking on water. He heard through the grapevine about another patrol going out soon and he wanted in on the action. In the three and a half weeks that his unit, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, had been in country, Cole had already been on 46 missions, luckily without incident. 

The patrol that changed his life indefinitely consisted of six Marines from his squad as well as a Navy corpsman and three Marines from a Professional Mentor Team, a group primarily responsible for training and working with Afghan National Security Forces. It was a reconnaissance mission – to photograph the local landscape and populace and learn as much as they could about the area. At 1:30 p.m., the patrol made their way to a location they had been just the night before. They spoke with local Afghans and searched mud compounds. Around 3:30 p.m., they left the final compound; a crack of gunfire filled the air and they found themselves in the fight for their lives. The patrol was pinned down by heavy enemy fire; five Marines were wounded and they were unable to contact anyone on the radio. 

“Thirty minutes into the firefight, I heard screams that the enemy was advancing toward us,” Cole said as he recounted his actions that day. “I took a machine gun from my buddy who was shot and gave him my rifle. I put the machine gun in my shoulder and started firing. Then I got up on the road and shot from my hip in a sweeping motion from left to right. I shot 150 rounds off, and as I did, I was shot three more times. A round hit my plates again and two rounds went through my arm.” 

“This time it felt like a sunburn,” Cole said as he remembered the feeling of the rounds penetrating his arm. “My bone vibrated and severed my nerve and blew out the inside of my upper arm, I couldn’t feel anything. It spun me around and threw me into the ditch.”

Immediately the Marines put a tourniquet on the wounded Cole in an effort to stop the bleeding. As the sixth injured service member, the Marines knew they had to move – quickly. They made their way into a nearby compound as enemy fire dug into the mud walls. The enemy was advancing and all Cole could hear were the calls over the radio. 

“All channels, anywhere, anything around us that can receive us – we need help now!”

Another tourniquet and a pressure dressing were applied to his arm, but he was still losing blood – time was running out. Despite his grievous wounds, Cole continued to provide accurate suppressive fire on the enemy making sure the Marines on patrol remained covered and safe. 

As if by some miracle, the sound of attack helicopters broke through the cloud of gunfire. The Marines, running low on ammunition and badly wounded, continued to return fire as their air support offered protection for a medical evacuation. A British CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter landed under heavy fire from the nearby insurgents. The Marines, supporting one another, staggered toward the rescue helicopter in the midst of enemy fire and climbed aboard.

Cole was flown to Camp Bastion where he immediately went into surgery. Nearly 18 hours later he was stabilized. The call that he was injured went out to his family and his brother was grateful that his older sibling hadn’t been more seriously wounded. 

“My mom called me at work and told me I needed to come home,” said 20-year-old Perris Cole. “The first thing I asked was, ‘Is he alive?’ she said, ‘Yeah,” and then we had to wait six or seven days for him to get back to the states. We were just impatient, waiting. I was scared, but I was just happy he was alive.” 

After a short stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Cole joined the Wounded Warrior Battalion – East on Camp Lejeune and began the journey to recovery. 

Cole was awarded the Silver Star, the Nation’s third highest award for valor July 10 for his actions that day. He adamantly admits that he is not a hero and that when he decided to stand up on that road, he was just doing his job.

“I don’t think I deserve it,” Cole mentioned. “Nothing I did comes close to the Marines I was with. Pinned down in a ditch, wounded, they fought for an hour against an enemy that got within 30 meters. Not once did they waiver. This award isn’t my award. It’s their award and all the guys who we lost who can’t wear it now, I’ll wear it for them since they can’t.”

SOLDIER STORIES: Kamdesh Veteran Holds True to Promise

[This video appeared on #soldierporn at some point last fall. If you don’t recall Rodriguez’s story, watch it again. He made a promise to his battle buddy that he’d play football again. His battle buddy was KIA.

Today, thanks to a link on Michael Yon’s facebook page (don’t judge) I found the following blogpost and article.

Never make a promise you don’t intend to give your last breath to keep. -R]

Kamdesh Veteran Plays Football For Clemson

(Blogpost by HERSCHEL SMITH, 2 August 2012)

For some time now I have observed High School and College age kids to try to determine the degree to which they appreciate and understand the sacrifice that the men in uniform have made, especially combat veterans.  Frankly, it’s a disturbing practice that has led in no small part to a sort of loss of hope in this generation.  Many are consumed with video games, comfort, and their own well being.

Occasionally though, something like this comes along.  A combat veteran of the Battle of Kamdesh is going to play football for my alma mater, Clemson University.

Clemson adds Army Purple Heart recipient Daniel Rodriguez to its roster.

(Article by Graham Watson, 2 August 2012.)

It’s always been Daniel Rodriguez’s dream to play college football, but that dream had to be deferred when he decided to join the Army after high school.

Six years after the decision, Clemson is finally making Rodriguez’s dream come true.

On Wednesday, the school announced Rodriguez, a 24-year-old, 5-foot-8 receiver, was cleared by the ACC to join the Tigers.

“I am very happy for Daniel,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in a release. “He is getting the opportunity to follow his dream. We are excited to have him join our program. I have no doubt that he will become a great leader for us. His background and story is an inspiration to us all.”

Rodriguez served as an Army infantryman in both Iraq and Afghanistan from 2006-10. In October 2009, Rodriguez was wounded in the battle of Kamdesh after more than 400 Taliban insurgents stormed a small American base. Rodriguez took shrapnel in his legs and neck, and a bullet fragment in his shoulder. He was awarded a Bronze Star of Valor and Purple Heart for his bravery in the fight.

Rodriguez was honorably discharged in 2010, and when he left the Army he did so intending on following through on a promise he made to his good friend Pfc. Kevin Thompson, who was killed in the battle. That promise was to find a way to play college football.

Rodriguez, who hasn’t played football since high school, first shared his story and his workouts on a YouTube video that ultimately went viral. He has since been featured on the cover of USA Today, and has been profiled on CNN and “Dan Rather Reports.”

Rodriguez understands that he’s not going to come into Clemson and be some sort of world-beater on the field, but he’s grateful for the opportunity and hopes his leadership will become an asset. Watch the above video, it will make you want to root for Rodriguez to do well.

“I’m not this high-scouted athlete expected to change this program,” Rodriguez said. “I’m just a cog on the wheel that’s going to play my role and better the team from an individual standpoint and give insight from what I’ve been through as a person. If I can help mold some of these guys in the locker room to have the same perspective on life I have, that’s a benefit.”