Wordless Wednesday - Twins

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Military Monday - Soldier Gets Silver Star for Afghan Battle

With blood gushing from his head and covering his legs, Staff Sgt. Sean Samaroo thought he was going to die.

So Samaroo said "good-bye to my wife and son" out loud.

But Thursday, 11 months after that searing battle in Afghanistan, the Army paratrooper, flanked by his wife, Natasha, and 13-year-old son, Dylan, received the Silver Star medal for heroism.

"There were a lot of heroes out there and some of them didn't get recognized as much as me," Samaroo said following a ceremony at Fort Jackson. "But I'm pretty thankful and honored."

The amiable 35-year-old Oklahoma native received the nation's third-highest award for his heroism during an early morning attack July 13 at Wanat, Afghanistan.

Badly outnumbered, Samaroo and some 50 U.S. soldiers stopped 200 Taliban fighters from overtaking their patrol base during a four-hour fight in the Waygul River Valley of Konar province.

The unit from Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, suffered nearly 75 percent casualties. When the fighting ended, nine soldiers were dead and 27 were wounded. An estimated 40 Taliban were killed and a comparable number wounded.

Samaroo is one of 11 soldiers who fought at Wanat to receive a Silver Star. Two soldiers were awarded the medal posthumously.

Congratulations fo Staff Sgt Samaroo and the rest of the 11 brave soldiers. Thank you all for your service.

Read the rest of the story here.

Gotta Love Mudpuppy

Mudpuppy is a soldier in Afghanistan that used to blog but decided to make his blog private. He still stays in touch with his adopted Mom Airman Mom. That way his followers still get a chance to hear about him. Airman Mom put up a post from Mudpuppy today.

Go here and read it right now.

 

See. Gotta love him.

Wordless Wednesday - US Army 234th Birthday 14 June 1775

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Pink is the New Camo

A soldier sleeping on his post in Afghanistan  was awakened by Taliban terrorists attacking the post. He rushed out to help his fellow soldiers defend the post. Not so unusual but there is a twist. He was wearing pink boxer shorts, a red t-shirt and flip-flops.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised Army Specialist Zachery Boyd on Thursday and said he would like to meet the young soldier who is only 19 years old.

Secretary Gates said, "Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage." He added, "I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban. Just imagine seeing that: a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his cross-hairs. What an incredible innovation in psychological warfare."

Read the full story here.

Just another example of courage under fire. It takes quite a man to run out in pink boxers to defend our country. Thank you Spc. Boyd!

I just love this country!