A Thread To Honor Our Military In Iraq

[bornright]

I hope that others can truely show some respect and pride in our military. My 1st story is of an earlier event, to which there have been many, in Iraq. Many on this board will look negatively on these great heros and I personally don't care.

The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not
covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world
is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are
doing.
Oh, sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have
fallen. And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out. And
we're almost on a first-name basis with the pukes who abused the Iraqi
prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and how we
lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and how
the world hates us.
We get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom.
But we don't hear about the heroes.
The incredibly brave GIs who honorably do their duty. The ones our
grandparents would have carried on their shoulders down Fifth Avenue.
The ones we completely ignore.
Like Brian Chontosh.
It was a year ago on the march into Baghdad. Brian Chontosh was a
platoon leader rolling up Highway 1 in a humvee.
When all hell broke loose.
Ambush city.
The young Marines were being cut to ribbons. Mortars, machine
guns, rocket propelled grenades. And the kid out of Churchville was in
charge. It was do or die and it was up to him.
So he moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead
his men to safety. As he tried to poke a hole through the Iraqi line his
humvee came under direct enemy machine gun fire.
It was fish in a barrel and the Marines were the fish.
And Brian Chontosh gave the order to attack. He told his driver to
floor the humvee directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing
at them. And he had the guy on top with the .50 cal unload on them.
Within moments there were Iraqis slumped across the machine gun
and Chontosh was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the
humvee directly into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his Marines.
Over into the battlement the humvee went and out the door Brian Chontosh
bailed, carrying an M16 and a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps
pride.
And he ran down the trench.
With its mortars and riflemen, machineguns and grenadiers.
And he killed them all.
He fought with the M16 until he was out of ammo. Then he fought
with the Beretta until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up a dead
man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. Then he picked
up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of
ammo.
At one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy
cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion.
When he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of
entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20
and wounded at least as many more.
But that's probably not how he would tell it.
He would probably merely say that his Marines were in trouble, and
he got them out of trouble. Hoo-ah, and drive on.
"By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited
courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty,
1st Lt. Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the
highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval
Service."
That's what the citation says.
And that's what nobody will hear.
That's what doesn't seem to be making the evening news. Accounts
of American valor are dismissed by the press as propaganda, yet accounts
of American difficulties are heralded as objectivity. It makes you
wonder if the role of the media is to inform, or to depress - to report
or to deride. To tell the truth, or to feed us lies.
But I guess it doesn't matter.
We're going to turn out all right.
As long as men like Brian Chontosh wear our uniform.
- by Bob Lonsberry C 2004

[neptune]

We're going to turn out all right.
As long as men like Brian Chontosh wear our uniform.

We'll turn out all right as long as we never again blunder along following a failed strategic policy, as we have for Bush's criminal war in Iraq.

The war in Iraq has largely been sanitized from American media coverage. This is policy, set by the Bush Crime family, and enforced by the command in Iraq.

We should honor the troops -- and we should not squander the effort in places that are not related to eliminating the threat of other attacks from the AQ leadership -- currently hiding in Waziristan.

[Noob920]

Originally Posted by bornright

I hope that others can truely show some respect and pride in our military. My 1st story is of an earlier event, to which there have been many, in Iraq. Many on this board will look negatively on these great heros and I personally don't care.

The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not
covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world
is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are
doing.
Oh, sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have
fallen. And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out. And
we're almost on a first-name basis with the pukes who abused the Iraqi
prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and how we
lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and how
the world hates us.
We get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom.
But we don't hear about the heroes.
The incredibly brave GIs who honorably do their duty. The ones our
grandparents would have carried on their shoulders down Fifth Avenue.
The ones we completely ignore.
Like Brian Chontosh.
It was a year ago on the march into Baghdad. Brian Chontosh was a
platoon leader rolling up Highway 1 in a humvee.
When all hell broke loose.
Ambush city.
The young Marines were being cut to ribbons. Mortars, machine
guns, rocket propelled grenades. And the kid out of Churchville was in
charge. It was do or die and it was up to him.
So he moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead
his men to safety. As he tried to poke a hole through the Iraqi line his
humvee came under direct enemy machine gun fire.
It was fish in a barrel and the Marines were the fish.
And Brian Chontosh gave the order to attack. He told his driver to
floor the humvee directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing
at them. And he had the guy on top with the .50 cal unload on them.
Within moments there were Iraqis slumped across the machine gun
and Chontosh was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the
humvee directly into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his Marines.
Over into the battlement the humvee went and out the door Brian Chontosh
bailed, carrying an M16 and a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps
pride.
And he ran down the trench.
With its mortars and riflemen, machineguns and grenadiers.
And he killed them all.
He fought with the M16 until he was out of ammo. Then he fought
with the Beretta until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up a dead
man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. Then he picked
up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of
ammo.
At one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy
cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion.
When he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of
entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20
and wounded at least as many more.
But that's probably not how he would tell it.
He would probably merely say that his Marines were in trouble, and
he got them out of trouble. Hoo-ah, and drive on.
"By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited
courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty,
1st Lt. Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the
highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval
Service."
That's what the citation says.
And that's what nobody will hear.
That's what doesn't seem to be making the evening news. Accounts
of American valor are dismissed by the press as propaganda, yet accounts
of American difficulties are heralded as objectivity. It makes you
wonder if the role of the media is to inform, or to depress - to report
or to deride. To tell the truth, or to feed us lies.
But I guess it doesn't matter.
We're going to turn out all right.
As long as men like Brian Chontosh wear our uniform.
- by Bob Lonsberry C 2004

Thank you for this. The reality (which is lost on the media) is that there are more Brian Chontosh's than we would be led to believe.

The dead deserve to be honored. The living deserve to be revered. People seem to forget that these brave young men and women are there because they CHOSE to serve. Granted, there may not have been war when they enlisted, but they had to KNOW it could happen anytime, anywhere. Yet, they enlisted.

May Chontosh and all like him be eternally blessed.

[julia]

Fine tightie righties, keep loving the troops to death.

[Kanadesaga]

What a shame that Brian Chontosh had to perform his heroism in an immoral and illegal war for profit for Haliburton and Bechtel and Blackwater instead of against our real enemies in Afghaniatan where Usama and al Qaeda was. What a shame that an appointed president had to put him in such a perilous situation for all his cronies portfolios. What a shame that fine young americans like him die every day so Retard could be a "war president" as he bragged of being on his very first day in office. What a shame that so many lives have been ruined by the hubris of this administration.

[W.M.DEEEZ]

Originally Posted by bornright

I hope that others can truely show some respect and pride in our military. My 1st story is of an earlier event, to which there have been many, in Iraq. Many on this board will look negatively on these great heros and I personally don't care.

Truly....
One of the problems with this statement, is that like your heroes...Bush Cheney Rumsfeld...you seem to think that separating feelings about this war, from feelings about our kids over there, simply isn't possible.

Find one post in these archives where anyone denounces those who were ripped from their family life, after serving their tours years earlier.


Find one post where anyone denounces those who signed up for the National Guard, or the Reserves, and are now on the front lines without proper equipment.

Stop referring to our military as a group that volunteered for this heinous disaster. They do what is now their job, regardless of the fact that the real mission is in the mountains of Afghanistan.


If you are proud of the fact that we attempt to spread Democracy at gunpoint, then that is your prerogative. Bask in the glory that is knowledge that we have murdered tens of thousands of innocent Iraquis on our quest for cheap oil.


Don't judge those who can't join in your celebration.








Jomo



You're out!!!! Did you get the cigarettes I sent?

[Kanadesaga]

Originally Posted by W.M.DEEEZ

Don't judge those who can't join in your celebration.








Jomo



You're out!!!! Did you get the cigarettes I sent?

Yes I did and they came it quite handy.

[W.M.DEEEZ]

Originally Posted by Kanadesaga

Yes I did and they came it quite handy.

Why you still wearing your prison jumpsuit?

(It says banned under your name)

[Kanadesaga]

Originally Posted by W.M.DEEEZ

Why you still wearing your prison jumpsuit?

(It says banned under your name)

Making another one of my useless, senseless political statements. I feel I am a political prisoner.

[bornright]

Iraqi war hero returns to King County Sheriff’s Office

After two tours of Iraq, a Purple Heart and a few medals, Deputy Cameron Lefler has returned to the King County Sheriff's Office. He received the Oath of Office on July 21st.
Several deputies from the Sheriff's Office were called to active duty over the last several years. But Deputy Lefler's story is different. He wasn't in the Reserves; he joined up after 9-11.



Cam Lefler became a deputy in March of 1993. But after September 11th, he was moved by patriotism and the need of the military for soldiers to fight the war on terrorism. So he took military leave and enlisted in the Marines in December of 2001…with a four-year commitment!

Fully expecting to be deployed to Afghanistan, he ended up in Iraq attached to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. He was in one of the first infantry units into Iraq. Cam was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal with a Combat V for valor.

Lefler's unit returned to the US in July 2003. He met and married his wife, and they have since had a son. Cameron was sent back to Iraq for a second tour, and spent time in Fallujah in April of 2004. He earned another Combat V for valor in combat, and the Purple Heart after he was nicked by an enemy's bullet.

He was sworn in again as a sheriff's deputy and was given the same badge he wore before he went to war. The badge was kept safe and sound for the last 3½ years, and the King County Sheriff's Department was very pleased Cameron returned, safe and sound, to wear it again!

The Oath of Office took place in the Sheriff's Office at the King County Courthouse. Deputy Lefler's wife and new son were in attendance. Cam is 36 years old.

I appreciate and respect Cameron Lefler.