Someone You Should Know: Lance Cpl. Mina Salama

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 Lance Cpl. Mina Salama. We had a bad connection for about a minute but then he came in clear and told us another amazing story. This summary is from Stars and Stripes,

“They told me there were people inside,” said Salama, 22, a Jersey City, N.J., native.

That was all he needed to hear. He immediately headed for a small gap in the rubble.

…In a deposition, Sgt. Shane R. Bertrand called it “one of the bravest and most unselfish acts I have witnessed in three combat deployments.”

Once they pulled the Iraqi man out, Salama continued talking with bystanders to see if additional aid was needed. From them, he learned of a young girl injured in a nearby building and coordinated medical evacuation for her as well.

For his actions, Salama, currently deployed to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit on Okinawa, received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.

According to the Navy, the medal is awarded to servicemembers who risk their lives to save others in actions not involving actual conflict with an enemy. President John F. Kennedy was awarded the medal for his World War II actions in saving crewmembers of his Navy patrol boat — PT-109 — after a Japanese destroyer sliced through it in the Solomon Islands.

Though others call Salama heroic, the Marine says otherwise:

“I’m not a hero. I was just doing what I had to do.”

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 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Someone You Should Know update: Maj. Jim Gant

On June 24, 2007 Bruce McQuain joined us for another edition of Someone You Should Know. He told us about an Army Major who was doing incredible work training and leading army and police forces in Balad, Iraq.

MAJ James “Jim” Gant,

This eventually led to two of the most amazing comments we have received in ten years of blogging.

Jim Gant says:
December 22, 2007 at 6:34 pm

Sir,

Just listened to this on your website. I enjoyed it very much. I am honored and humbled. My Iraqi interpreter who fought with me on this day and was with me for over a year is now living with me at Fort Bragg, NC. Once again, thank you.

Major Jim Gant
United States Army Special Forces

James Karl Gant Sr. says:
December 23, 2007 at 8:37 pm

My son … with whom I am well pleased!!

Jim Gant Sr ( Major Gant is no Jr. )

The excellent milblog Op-For has a post about a recent Washington Post story and the headline grabbed my attention:

Jim Gant, the Green Beret who could win the war in Afghanistan

In recent months, Gant, now a major, has won praise at the highest levels for his effort to radically deepen the U.S. military’s involvement with Afghan tribes — and is being sent back to Afghanistan to do just that. His 45-page paper, “One Tribe at a Time,” published online last fall and circulating widely within the U.S. military, the Pentagon and Congress, lays out a strategy focused on empowering Afghanistan’s ancient tribal system. Gant believes that with the central government still weak and corrupt, the tribes are the only enduring source of local authority and security in the country.

“We will be totally unable to protect the ‘civilians’ in the rural areas of Afghanistan until we partner with the tribes for the long haul,” Gant wrote.

A decorated war veteran and Pashto speaker with multiple tours in Afghanistan, Gant had been assigned by the Army to deploy to Iraq in November. But with senior military and civilian leaders — including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates; Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan; and Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command — expressing support for Gant’s views, he was ordered instead to return to Afghanistan later this year to work on tribal issues.

“Maj. Jim Gant’s paper is very impressive — so impressive, in fact, that I shared it widely,” Petraeus said, while McChrystal distributed it to all commanders in Afghanistan. One senior military official went so far as to call Gant “Lawrence of Afghanistan.”

How lucky are we to have men like this on our side?

Someone You Should Know: Sgt. Aubrey McDade Jr.

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 Marine Corps Sgt. Aubrey McDade Jr. Here is an account from Marine Corps Times,

JACKSONVILLE, N.C.–These days, drill instructor Sgt. Aubrey McDade Jr. is making Marines to win battles, but two years ago he was saving Marines during battle.

His actions on Nov. 11, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, have earned him the Navy Cross, the Navy’s second highest award for valor. The medal was presented to him during a ceremony at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., during a recruit graduation ceremony Jan. 19.

McDade, a drill instructor with Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, was a machine-gun squad leader with 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, in Iraq in 2004.

On the night of Nov. 11, as the Marines in the platoon moved south into the city, they entered an alley where they immediately met a barrage of small-arms and machine-gun fire, according to McDade’s citation.

“In the opening seconds of the engagement, three Marines were seriously wounded as the well-positioned and expecting enemy pinned others down,” the citation states.

McDade “rushed from the rear of the platoon column toward the kill zone,” leading a machine-gun team into the alley to spray suppressive fire at insurgents.

The wounded Marines were pinned down under a blanket of gunfire that spewed furiously every time the other Marines tried to reach their injured comrades.

McDade told the platoon sergeant that he would get them.

“He just informed me that if I got hit he wasn’t going to be able to help me right then,” McDade said in an interview. “I wasn’t just going to let them sit out there like sitting ducks. They needed me, and I went.”

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 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Someone You Should Know: SFC Jose Rodriguez

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 SFC Jose Rodriguez. From his Silver Star citation,

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Jose R. Rodriguez, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Platoon Sergeant with Company B, 3d Battalion, 69th Armor, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, on 19 March 2007, in Iraq.

On that date, Sergeant First Class Rodriguez rushed out of Forward Operating Base Hawas in a Bradley vehicle to help two of his platoon’s Bradley vehicles that were on overwatch duty. They were attacked by an unknown number of insurgents who pinned them down with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. When he got there, he heard the gunfire, but he couldn’t lay eyes on his two Bradleys and didn’t want to lay down suppressive fire until he could figure out where they were. Sergeant First Class Rodriguez began looking down a series of alleys perpendicular to a main road. Turning down one of them, his driver struck a roadway bomb. The driver of the Bradley Sergeant First Class Rodriguez was looking for couldn’t back up, either, because there was another roadway bomb. Pinned down, Sergeant First Class Rodriguez called for more help, and his tactical operations center dispatched two more Bradleys and a recovery vehicle for his own Bradley. While his driver was on the radio Sergeant First Class Rodriguez realized the front of his Bradley was on fire and the driver’s compartment was filling with smoke and he crawled in through the space between the gunner’s position and the driver’s compartment and pulled him out by the handle on the back of his vest. The gunner was still engaging the enemy with his main gun and the two Bradleys on the main road were still taking and returning fire. More improvised explosive devices were being tossed everywhere making it harder and harder to move around. After pulling his driver to safety into the back of the Bradley, Sergeant First Class Rodriguez got out to help the recovery vehicle operator hook up the towing chains and saw a number of insurgents approaching their position. He raised the muzzle of his rifle and shot and killed eight of them.

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 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Someone You Should Know: Staff Sgt. Omar Hernandez

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 Staff Sgt. Omar Hernandez,

Silver Star Medal and Purple Heart recipient Staff Sgt. Omar Hernandez showed extraordinary bravery on 6 June 2007, when his team was attacked by insurgents during a dismount patrol in Iraq. When the two members of the Iraqi National Police who he was mentoring were hit and wounded by enemy fire, he risked his life to pull them to safety despite his own injuries. Staff Sgt. Hernandez suffered a bullet wound to the leg which caused nerve damage and a 30% loss of muscle mass in his thigh.

He was medically evacuated from the battlefield in Iraq to Germany and then back to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he underwent seven months of rehabilitation and physical therapy.

Staff Sgt. Hernandez, who has served three tours of duty in Iraq since joining the Army nine years ago as a Reservist, is currently on Active Duty status and stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. Though he began his Army career as a carpentry masonry engineer, he elected to become an infantryman after returning from his first deployment in 2004.

Another significant milestone Staff Sgt. Hernandez experienced while wearing the Army uniform was becoming a U.S. citizen. He was officially naturalized while in theater during his second deployment to Iraq in 2005.

A native of Houston, Texas, Staff Sgt. Hernandez says that when he returns to his hometown he strives to be a role model for kids in the neighborhood where he grew up. He recalls the adversity he overcame as a young person in an environment where many of his friends went to jail or were killed and wants others to see that the future holds great possibilities.

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 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Someone You Should Know: SSG Matthew Ritenour

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 SSG Matthew Ritenour. From his Silver Star citation,

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Matthew Ritenour, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving the 2d Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, during combat operations in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, on 4 September 2007, in Afghanistan. On that date Staff Sergeant Ritenour and his unit fought against 180 Taliban fighters who attacked Forward Operating Base (FOB) BAYLOUGH, in southern Afghanistan. Although he was shot in the head and partially paralyzed during the battle, Staff Sergeant Ritenour fought on, encouraging nearby soldiers and using a radio to call in mortar fire on the enemy.

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 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Someone You Should Know: A day in the life of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division

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 a day in the life for Marines in Iraq, through the experiences of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion,

Bova and Tice say there have been tougher battles in Iraq in the last few years, and tougher battles being fought in Afghanistan now.

If this had happened in 2006, it might not have attracted as much notice, Bova said.

But their battle happened in 2008, a relatively quiet year in Iraq. And in the first four months of their seven-month deployment they had little interaction with the enemy, the two said. Stumbling on to an enemy cell like they did — and losing Ferschke — are what make this battle stand out, Tice and Bova said.

But every servicemember knows that no matter how quiet it seems, it’s still a war zone, Bova said.

“At every building, the adrenaline still goes up. You go from yellow to red. If you’re ever at green, you’re wrong,” he asserted, leaning forward to make his point.

Nine Marines were awarded Navy Commendations or Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medals with “V” devices, one without the “V”; Blanton received a Silver Star, and Lazzo and Callum were each awarded a Bronze Star with a “V”; device for valor. Ferschke was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star with “V”.

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 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.