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 Sean P. McQuade of York, ME. From his Silver Star citation,
Once again, despite heavy enemy fire, Captain McQuade quickly verified the location of all of his troops, and ordered the A-10 to drop ordnance on the enemy fighting positions. The fighting continued throughout the day. Around dusk the sniper, along with a heavy volume of small arms fire, began to accurately reengage the platoon. Captain McQuade then vectored a B-1 onto the new enemy targets. After dark an AC-l30 arrived, Captain McQuade identified enemy locations for the AC-l30 and with his Commander’s approval engaged the enemy positions and personnel that were attempting to exfil. Captain McQuade’s element soon gained fire superiority over the fleeting enemy forces. His ability to remain calm under fire and direct the CAS onto targets eliminated over 80 percent of the contact the platoon was taking during the 17-hour fight. Captain McQuade’s total disregard for his own personal safety, in order to suppress enemy fighting positions with the use of multiple CAS platforms, exemplifies what it means to be a combat leader. His valorous actions under intense enemy fire display his personal courage, his dedication to duty and his men. Captain McQuade’s actions were directly responsible for killing a key ACM Sub commander Habib Jan, whom Coalition Forces had been targeting for three years and had been responsible for multiple Coalition Force casualties. His actions also led to the destruction of Habib Jan’s ACM cell killing over 20 ACM fighters.
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 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.