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 Major (Infantry) Christopher B. Wells, who earned a Silver Star in Afghanistan,
Exposed to heavy enemy fire, Captain Wells without regard for his own personal safety continually gave direction to each maneuvering element in the clearing compounds. Throughout the battle, Captain Wells continued to fight from his vehicle and on the ground, repeatedly exposing himself to hostile enemy fire. Once fixed wing ECAS arrived on station, Captain Wells began air to ground coordination to drop ordinance on the enemy, while avoiding friendly locations. At this point in the battle his vehicle began receiving heavy SPG-9, KPM, and mortar fire from the western ridgeline yet he continued to maintain his position in order to continue directions CAS. AH-64 support arrived on station and he immediately coordinated with the Apaches to destroy the source of the rocket fire. He then began to talk the on station air support onto targets in the town, placing devastating fires on the enemy to include one Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) used to destroy insurgents firing from a cave complex. Captain Wells then moved from his position, again exposing himself to enemy machinegun fire in order to retrieve a wounded Afghan soldier.
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 SYSK archive can be found here and The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
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.