I love you Mikey hugs & kisses

thank you for serving our Country You mighty Man of Valor

We are in The Land of the Free because of the Very Brave


let us not ever forget that for one second of our lives


I feel very inspired to post this The story of a very great Man


I received an email from another great Man & Veteran Friend of mine



and i am not sure if he minds me mentioning his name, so i won't




http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3229/benavidez-roy-p.php



BENAVIDEZ, ROY P.Rank: Master SergeantOrganization: U.S. ArmyCompany: Detachment B-56Division: 5th Special Forces GroupBorn: 5 August 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, TexasDeparted: YesEntered Service At: Houston, Texas June 1955G.O. Number: Date of Issue: Accredited To: Place / Date: West of Loc Ninh on 2 May 1968

Citation
Master Sergeant (then Staff Sergeant) Roy P. Benavidez United States Army, who distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 2 May 1968, a 12-man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters in a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large-scale enemy activity. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. After a short period of time on the ground, the team met heavy enemy resistance, and requested emergency extraction. Three helicopters attempted extraction, but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti-aircraft fire. Sergeant Benavidez was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters returned to off-load wounded crewmembers and to assess aircraft damage. Sergeant Benavidez voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt. Realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter, and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team. Prior to reaching the team's position he was wounded in his right leg, face, and head. Despite these painful injuries, he took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft, and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team's position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy's fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader. When he reached the leader's body, Sergeant Benavidez was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant Benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team, Sergeant Benavidez mustered his strength, began calling in tactical air strikes and directed the fire from supporting gunships to suppress the enemy's fire and so permit another extraction attempt. He was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed from additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary. He then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter. Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed, and to bring in the remaining wounded. Only then, in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood, did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft. Sergeant Benavidez' gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men.


His fearless personal leadership, tenacious devotion to duty, and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.

<> AMEN BOONE DOG <> <> ...In God we Trust... <>


thank you for service in Vietnam & for your constant moral support

I want to thank you all for your sincere attitude toward the Armed Forces. I was in the military for six and a half years (SF hua!) but was burned by an RPG and was let out on a medical. I would have been proud, even happy, to have died for my country. I know everone that posted here would do the same. I am sad that there are not more people like like you guys. We were made fun of, had sh*t thrown at us, and a whole lot worse.

The other day John Kerry said, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq"

So I wrote him a letter:

I am a Sergeant in the United States Air Force. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few. You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid Senator Kerry, we might have believed you.

I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is my Commander and Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serve you just as faithfully. I serve America Senator Kerry, and I am also providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My role is a simple one, but important. You see Senator Kerry, like it or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the middle of the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another one doesn't take his place. The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a terrible government and it's going to take some time to help them recover from that. We can't treat this conflict like a microwave dinner and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like it's taking too long.

Senator Kerry, you don't have to agree with this war. You don't have to say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled to it. But please Senator Kerry, if you're going to call me a stupid murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don't tell me that I misunderstood or that you would never insult a veteran because you're one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass to insult me.

My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to write down what you want to say before you say it, maybe have somebody look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear. Remember that we can't read your mind, if there are any misinterpretations in what you say, it's because you didn't communicate clearly.

Good luck to you Senator Kerry, if nothing else it's always entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig for yourself.

Sincerely,
Somebody who is watching his son grow up in photographs so that you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.

thank you Sergeant Travis


Ohhhhhhh... Honey...


it is for amazing noble people like you that i post threads like these


I am so very sorry that you have been watching your Son grow up in pictures





what a flipping horrible cold callous and unfair thing

for John Kerry to say ..what total nerve & such audacity


I cannot understand how people like that can live with themselves


I am glad you wrote him a letter.. .He deserved all of what you wrote

i hope many others read this thread

and the poignant message included here from Sergeant Travis

THANK YOU :

Right on Sister .. ..thank you Jersey Girl

Thanks for the heads-up, Nessa. I'm gonna try my hand at writing something right now to post here.

oh, thank you very much Mr. Military Man <<< Elwood Sully >>>

i left the door open for you in case you wanted to add something to the story

and now that we were visited by Sergeant Travis,


i really wanted you to read what he wrote here


for if anyone can offer support & encouragement to a Soldier


it is another Noble Military Man. .a Mighty Veteran who has gone before him

Love and prayers and thanks for all of our unsung Heroes

I volunteered for my country when I was just a young punk of 17 winters.
They took me in, cut me bald, fed me well, and became my Brothers.

Just as in any family, there are those that you get along with better than others.

In my child-man mind of 17, I still saw that there was a major difference between the Army, and the Corps, the Navy, and the Air Force.

I did my first 3 down in Texas, where it was safe.

I married a Texas gurl, and when the Army said they wanted me to do a solo 13 month tour in Korea within a year of getting married, I said Goodbye to my Brothers.

I worked odd jobs down in Texas, trying to keep food on the table, a roof over our heads, and keep the vehicles that you can't be without in the Lone Star State.

I lasted 15 months on the "Outside".

When it looked the bleakest, I went back to my family, my Brothers, and asked if I could rejoin the "Family".

Without any hesitation, my Brother said "HUA, Welcome Home, Brother".

I rejoined my family, able to keep my place at the Beta Dog table.

I spent the next two years learning an exciting new trade, one that only my Brothers can do.

There is nothing that corresponds in the civilian world to the job my government, and my Brothers, trained me to do.

They taught me stealth, even though I was in a 70 TON vehichle.

They taught me how to hide something as big as a bus in the middle of NOTHING.

Most of all, they taught me that even though my Brother is Latino Black, Native, Asian, White, or What-have-you, they'll have my back when the SH!T gets the deepest.

I was sent from Germany to the sands of Arabia, landing on Christmas Eve.

When our vehicles finally got there, there was no time for us to repaint them from the "Woodland" camo we had in Europe, so we all said "WTF, leave 'em brown, we'll just have to fight harder to remain hidden".

And we did.





The history of what we did in Iraq can be found at www.3ad.org


John Sullivan
Former Sgt.
HHT 4th Sq, 8th U.S. Armored Cavalry
3rd Armored Divison

Thank you, Sully, and all others for all that you have done. The price you have paid is far beyond any that can be repaid to you.

Again, thank you.