Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
This week Bruce told us about Spc. Erik Oropeza,
With Oropeza in the driver’s hatch, six U.S. soldiers headed north on a routine Stryker patrol down Main Supply Route Tampa along with another Company B Stryker.
The bullets started flying less than 500 yards later.
It was to be no ordinary day for the Manchus of Fort Lewis, Wash.
By the time Oropeza returned to his unit’s outpost hours later, two of his fellow soldiers would be dead and three more severely wounded. For his courage in a fearsome firefight, Oropeza would be declared a hero.
In February, the 22-year-old became the 21st soldier to receive the Distinguished Service Cross — the country’s second highest award for valor in combat — since the wars began in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He’s credited with preventing his vehicle and crew from being overrun by “a five man enemy ground assault force maneuvering against him,” according to his medal citation.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an incredible job with the series every week. The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-8pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.