Danny Dudek's Story...

MAJ Dudek south of Hussainiyah in a Joint Security Station

"I truly didn’t expect anything to happen to me. As an Army Major, I studied the Counter Insurgency (COIN) Fight in Iraq in great detail. At COIN workshops, prior to our deployment, our Brigade’s senior leadership listened to Battalion Commander’s and civilian experts fresh from a year in Iraq’s most dangerous cities. As the Brigade Fire Support Officer in the newly generated Fourth Stryker Brigade Combat Team, I knew I was with the most proficient soldiers on the battlefield fielded with the latest equipment, automated systems and weapons including new wheeled armored vehicle called the Stryker. Nothing was going to happen to me. Anyways, I was on Brigade Staff and we rarely left the Forward Operating Base (FOB).

Well, on July 19th, 2007, I did leave the FOB and that was the last time for me. When we left our FOB in Taji, Iraq I was in the lead Stryker Vehicle in the back left hatch in a convoy of five Strykers that made up the Brigade Commander’s Personal Security Detachment (PSD). I rarely went out with the Colonel and this was the first time in the lead vehicle. I usually rode with the Brigade Operations Officer, about three vehicles back, whose vehicle internal intercom was a little more entertaining. My job that day was to call in artillery, based out of Taji, on dirt patches near locations that had a high frequency of Improved Explosive Device (IED) attacks. We called that type of artillery missions “terrain denial”.

Near the northwest corner of a large Shi’a town called Hussainiyah I called in the first fire mission and waited to hear the words “shot” come over the radio, meaning the guns at Taji fired the rounds and I should expect to see the rounds impact about a kilometer from the stretch of road we slowly moved along. I was facing to the left from my left side hatch with only head and shoulder exposed out of the vehicle waiting for my rounds to come...BOOM!

I really don’t remember hearing it, the new Bose headset fit tightly around and under my helmet cut out the loud noise, but I remember the smell and seeing the smoke and laying flat on the inside of the Stryker. I was relaxed, not much pain at all expect for the needle like sensations from the inside of both my legs. I was listening to M4’s and 50cal main guns firing when I realized I couldn’t move my legs. I told the vehicle commander and waited knowing soon there would be someone to help me.Within the next hour, I’d been on a casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) bird back to Balad, talked to my wife on a phone and had surgery to address the fractures to my lumbar vertebrae (L3 and L4) and sacrum and to stop the swelling of my spinal cord. The IED was an explosively formed projectile (EFP) that came from the right side of the vehicle killing the soldier next to me with molten pieces of copper hitting my back armored plate and lower back below the plate.

Six months later, after a month at Walter Reed Medical Center and four months in the VA Hospital in Seattle, I would still not have sensation in my feet and ankles and muscle strength in my legs was far less than what I need to walk on my own. The care I received was incredible and the support I received from friends, family, the family readiness groups and the unit still in Iraq was even greater. I left the hospital walking with my new crutches with my wife wheeling my new wheelchair. In retrospect, I still see myself as lucky.

By February 2008, I was back in uniform and working with my units Read Detachment back on Fort Lewis. I’m still using my wheelchair to get around and crutches help me with short distances, but I feel I’m getting better every day. It remains my goal to stay in the active Army through my retirement eligibility in 2012. It may not be as an active artilleryman but there are many roles I can fill. There’s been nothing but positive support from friends and fellow soldiers on post. I still love serving in the military.">

MAJ Danny DudekField Artillery4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division

First Female Since WWII To Receive Silver Star Is A Texas Teen

Monica - We thank you for your bravery and your service to our country! You go girl!

CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan
A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest medal for valor.
Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.
After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades, as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.
“I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there,” Brown told The Associated Press at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.
Brown, from Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later in March. She was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil in Paktia on April 25, 2007, when a bomb hit one of the Humvees.
We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag,” Brown said.
Brown, of the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, said ammunition going off inside the burning Humvee was sending shrapnel in all directions. She said they were sitting in a dangerous spot.
She started running toward the burning vehicle as insurgents opened fire. All five wounded soldiers had scrambled out
“So we dragged them for 100 or 200 meters, got them away from the Humvee a little bit,” she said. “I was in a kind of a robot mode, did not think about much but getting the guys taken care of.”
For Brown, who knew all five wounded soldiers, it became a race to get them to a safer location. Eventually, they moved the wounded about 500 yards away and treated them on-site before putting them on a helicopter for eva

Amazing stories of the selfless heroes of Afghanistan

Amazing stories of the selfless heroes of AfghanistanBy MATTHEW HICKLEY and PAUL HARRIS -

Private Luke Cole: Awarded the Military CrossThey all made a pact before they went to war.
Whatever happened to them in Afghanistan no one - dead or alive - would be left behind.
One night in Helmand Province, that pledge was put to the test.
In a terrifying split second, the close-knit group from one of the Army's most battle-scarred units came under fire from a hail of Taliban bullets and rocket-powered grenades.
Four men were hit and several others temporarily blinded by phosphorus. Their screams of pain cut through the darkness as the ambushed platoon was pinned down by gunfire from two sides.
But the men of 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment knew precisely what they had to do.
And today the extraordinary heroism which allowed the young soldiers to keep to their pledge at any cost can be revealed as they are awarded some of the highest military honours.
The men repeatedly braved enemy fire to rescue their injured and fatally wounded comrades from the hands of the Taliban.
Private Luke Cole, 22, carried on fighting after half his thigh bone was blown away.
When another bullet ripped open his stomach, he simply tucked his shirt in tighter "to hold everything in" - and carried on keeping the enemy at bay until back-up arrived.
Sergeant Craig Brelsford, 25, continued to command his men long after he was critically wounded - and right up to the moment he died.
In a singularly selfless act, he ran to put his body between the enemy and his wounded comrades.
It protected them from Taliban gunfire, but cost him his life.
And the 25-year-old platoon commander, Lieutenant Simon Cupples, led a rescue party into the killing zone to carry the injured to safety and recover the dead - again and again and again.
Their astonishing courage - and that of scores of other British servicemen and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq - is marked today with a raft of 184 awards.
They include the biggest batch of medals since fighting began in Afghanistan nearly seven years ago - a reflection not just of the ferocity of the conflict, but of the conspicuous bravery of British troops.
The ambush near the frontline town of Garmsir underlined the extreme danger that troops face daily in what has turned into a bloody and difficult war.
It played out into a six-hour pitched battle as both sides poured in reinforcements. But true to the pact, Lt Cupples and his men refused to withdraw until the bodies of two fallen comrades were recovered.
Telling their families back home that no one knew what happened to them, he decided, was "simply not an option".
His valour and dedication is recognised with the award of a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross - the highest bravery medal after the Victoria Cross.
Yesterday he told the remarkable story of that night last September.

The young officer, now a captain, recalled how his men were advancing under cover of darkness when they came under devastating fire from a Taliban trench just 20 yards away, and then from other enemy positions.
"I could tell we had taken serious casualties." he said. "There was screaming from the men around me. Because we were so close to the enemy it was very difficult to withdraw and regroup, but we couldn't leave the casualties.
"It was asking a lot for the blokes to run forward into enemy fire like that.
"But they did it because their mates were out there. When you live and serve with your men like that it creates a very special bond. You would do anything for those guys. That's what drove the soldiers forward."
Captain Cupples, from Derbyshire, who married his sweetheart, Louise, shortly before deploying to Afghanistan, is due to return with his unit next year.
Also involved in the September firefight was Private Cole, from Wolverhampton, who is awarded the Military Cross.

A Taliban bullet smashed into his right thigh in the first few seconds of the battle, shattering five inches of bone. As he tried to crawl to safety he was shot through the stomach and left hip.
Not realising how badly hurt he was, he managed to drag himself to a badly-wounded friend and give first aid - saving his life - before grabbing his rifle and firing almost 200 rounds at enemy positions to help cover the withdrawal.
"The pain didn't hit me at the time," he said. "I thought it was a flesh wound. But I looked down and it was a mess, to be honest. I knew it was serious but I thought, 'This can't be the way I go out'. So I carried on.
"I could see muzzle flashes of the enemy weapons in a ditch behind some trees so I kept shooting and gave my mate first aid when I could.
"Then I got shot again. I looked at my stomach and it was cut open, so I tucked my shirt in to keep it together and kept on firing until more lads from the platoon arrived.
"I only realised how bad it was when they finally dragged me off into cover."
Medics dug out the bullet from his thigh and he now keeps it in his bedroom at home. Sergeant Brelsford, from Nottingham, who was only days away from his 26th birthday when he died, is also remembered with a posthumous Military Cross.
He was described as "an extremely professional soldier" who demonstrated calm leadership under pressure and "incredible bravery in the face of the enemy".
He was killed as he led his men through heavy fire in a successful operation to bring back the body of Private Johan Botha.
General David Richards, formerly Britain's top commander in Afghanistan, congratulated the decorated soldiers at a ceremony yesterday.
"It doesn't surprise me that there is such a haul of medals," he said. "It is the toughest fighting we have seen since Korea half a century ago ... a reflection of the tenacity of our soldiers, and of the enemy.
"All these men fully deserve their recognition, but we should remember it is always representative of many others who also showed immense bravery."

Staff Sergeant James Wadsworth
Staff Sergeant James Wadsworth of the Royal Logistics Corps successfully defused the largest roadside bomb ever found in southern Iraq - while his fellow-soldiers fought a gun battle against local insurgents trying to overrun the site.
He is today awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his 'extraordinary, selfless courage.'
The massive bomb containing around 120lb of explosives was spotted buried beneath a pavement opposite a hospital in the centre of Basra last July, ready to flatten the area and cause untold carnage when a British convoy passed.
Staff Sgt Wadsworth, 29, from Cambridge, said: "Normally you would spend three or four hours dealing with a device like that but we were under fire in the city centre. The greatest danger is spending time on the ground.
"I made it safe in 27 minutes. We only realised how big it was when we came to move it.
"I remember it was 55 degrees in the shade. Our unit was so busy we hadn't slept for days.
"I haven't really told my wife about what I did. You just get on with the job."

Lance Corporal Donald Campbell
Lance Corporal Donald Campbell, of the Royal Corps of Engineers is awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for driving an unarmoured and unprotected vehicle into an enemy killing zone "whilst under very intense, accurate fire for a considerable amount of time" - to help bridge a water-filled ditch which was holding up an advance in Helmand Province.
The 26-year-old from the Scottish island of Benbecula, moved his 'front loader' vehicle towards the enemy, offering a huge and vulnerable target, then climbed out of the cab to undo straps so that he could drop a 'fascine' - a huge bundle of pipes - into the ditch allowing armoured vehicles to cross.
He refused to seek cover even when bullets, rocket propelled grenades and mortar fire shattered the windows of the cab and badly damaged the vehicle, missing him by inches.
He said: "My folks are really happy about the award, but I don't think they quite appreciate what the medal means yet."

Private Paul Willmott
Private Paul Willmott, 21, receives the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for taking command of his unit during a battle when his sergeant was shot dead in Afghanistan last year.
The young private from the Mercian Regiment watched as a Taliban sniper killed Lance Corporal Paul Sandford near the town of Gereshk, leaving the unit leaderless.
Although other soldiers were more senior he assumed command, laying down suppressing fire as they withdrew, and then stayed to drag his fallen comrade's body to safety.
Two weeks later he suffered severe head injuries from a rocket propelled grenade, but insisted on returning to his unit after a week of treatment rather than flying home to Britain.
"We were undermanned," he said. "We were down to 13 blokes in our platoon and needed every soldier available, so I asked to go back."

Captain Ruth Earl

Captain Ruth Earl is awarded an MBE for her dogged determination to keep British troops' vehicles and equipment fit for battle, commanding a dusty workshop in the deserts of Afghanistan.
The 34-year-old Cambridge science graduate, who was a part-time TA reservist before joining up as a regular officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, spent six months working 18-hour days in the 'brutal summer heat' of Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, according to her citation.
She commanded 150 men tasked with keeping essential weapons and combat vehicles in working order in the punishing surroundings of the Afghan desert.
"Despite her junior years and experience, she sustained operations in this theatre in a way that few others could match," the citation reads.
Yesterday married officer from Stoke-on-Trent said she was left 'speechless' by news of her award.

Wounded Hero has Valentine's Day Wedding

Congratulations Wesley!!! You are our Hero! We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness together!

War Hero Honored For Bravery

I'm honored to know this brave HERO! SFC Bennett...we are so proud of you! Thank you for your sacrifice and service to our great country!

FORT RICHARDSON, Alaska -- It takes a presidential order to award a U.S. soldier the Silver Star, the Army's third-highest honor, which is only given to troops who excel under fire.
Friday, one Fort Richardson soldier received the award, although he says he would gladly trade it in order to have his five brothers-in-arms that lost their lives on a late January day more than a year ago returned to him.
U.S. Army Alaska Commander Maj. Gen. Stephen Layfield said it was a very difficult day.
"It was a tough day," Layfield said. "It was a tough day for the Army. It was a tough day for everybody."
On Jan. 20, 2007, in Karbala, Iraq, five soldiers were resting and relaxing inside a provincial coordination center.
Sgt. 1st Class Sean Bennett is a member of the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment.
"One soldier just had gotten off duty, one soldier was on duty and one of my (non-commissioned officers) was racked out because he had been on for about 19 hours straight," Bennett said.
Between 20 and 30 highly-trained insurgents wearing U.S. uniforms and speaking English drove through an Iraq police checkpoint and assaulted the compound where Bennett and others were staying, according to military officials.
"The gunshots that were coming through the room -- we were in a concrete room and they were just bouncing off everything," Bennett said.
Bennett was wounded. A bullet ricocheted and tore up his arm.
"Just lost that pretty little muscle that is no longer there," Bennett said.
The events of that day more than one year ago were played out Friday before hundreds on post who came to Bennett's Silver Star award ceremony.
Cpt. Daniel Mainor is a member of the 4th Brigade Airborne, 25th Infantry Division.
"While fighting to keep the door closed, the enemy tossed a hand grenade into the room and sprayed AK-47 gunfire through a small opening in the door, killing one and wounding three soldiers including Sgt. Bennett," Mainor said.
One of the men in that room, Staff Sgt. David Wallace said Bennett saved his life by keeping the Iraqi's out of the room.
"He's a hero," Wallace said. "We consider each other family, so it would be like me grabbing my kid out from the front of a car or something. Sgt. Bennett thinks of us as family. We think of him as family. It's just like saving your family."
Bennett and others were able to drive the attackers away but not before they abducted and later killed four troops who were overtaken in another room.
"When you lose one or two of them, three, four, five, it takes you a while to get back," Bennett said. "You earn things or presented things, sometimes you don't even know what you are doing as you are getting it or how it's going to be looked at by other people. It's more of a conversation piece now and I'd rather just put it behind me now."
Bennett said earning the Silver Star is likely to be a lot easier than wearing it. He is only the third soldier ever from the 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division to receive the award.
The others are Master Sgt. Thomas Ballard for his actions in an attack in Najaf, Iraq and Pfc. Jonathon Millican, who was killed in the same attack that injured Sgt. Bennett.

One of Michael Yon's "Photo's of The Year"

One of my favorite pictures that Michael Yon has captured. To see and read more of his work got to http://www.michaelyon-online.com/


Thanks and Praise: I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome.

Wounded Marine Prepares to Return to Iraq

Face of Defense: Wounded Marine Prepares to Return to IraqBy Pfc. Casey Jones, USMCSpecial to American Forces Press Service
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Feb. 5, 2008 – Marine Corps Sgt. Jeremy F. Boutwell, 23, knows a thing or two about honor, courage and commitment.

An intelligence specialist with Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Boutwell is planning for an upcoming deployment to Iraq after recovering from severe injuries suffered during an attack in Iraq’s Anbar province on March 14, 2004.

Boutwell was an MK-19 machine gunner with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, when the attack occurred during a routine patrol. “We were going on a patrol about to cross the Euphrates River, a spot we crossed about every day, and for some reason we stopped,” Boutwell explained. “I looked to the left, and I heard a loud noise like an explosion, and everything went black after that.” The thunderous explosion caused Boutwell to lose consciousness, but he was able to regain awareness moments later. “It felt kind of weird, but everything came crashing down to reality after a while,” said Boutwell, who was a lance corporal at the time of the attack. “I could feel myself being pulled out of the truck, and I could hear my buddies yelling. I could hear and feel everything; I just couldn’t see anything. The last thing I remember was the wind from the chopper. When I woke up a few days later, I was (at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center) in Germany.” Boutwell said he was transferred from Germany to the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., then to Brooke Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, where he stayed for two years and underwent 18 surgeries.

But despite his physical injuries, Boutwell depicted the pain of no longer being “in the fight” with his Marine brethren as one of the toughest things to overcome in his life. “Honestly, leaving Iraq was the worst time of my life,” he said. “It was nice being around home for about the first month, because I got to see my family and friends, but then it tore me up inside knowing my buddies were still heavily engaged at the time (in Iraq).” Boutwell said he never lost his desire to be a Marine during the surgeries and his ensuing recovery, but quickly found himself in another battle: the fight to re-enlist. “I didn’t want to get out of the Marine Corps, and I wanted to go back to Iraq,” Boutwell said. “Headquarters tried to retire me from the Corps when I was stuck down in Texas for my surgeries. But I didn’t want to get out, so I fought the decision, and they finally let me lateral move to a different (military occupational specialty) and re-enlist.

You just really got to believe in being a Marine and believe in what you’re doing, and that’ll carry you as far as you want to go.” Boutwell is now preparing for a second deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. “I feel good about going back to Iraq,” Boutwell said. “I’ve been trying to go back for almost four years.” Boutwell said he is excited about seeing the positive changes between his last deployment and his upcoming deployment. “I’m going to be happy to see the differences from the way it was (in 2004),” he said. “The last time I was there, we were in the middle of a firefight every day, and now it’s a lot calmer. I know just from my experience from being over there the first time -- we definitely made a difference over there.” With the battalion’s deployment approaching, Boutwell has set a few personal goals to accomplish while in country. “I want to come home without a scratch, try to learn a lot while I am there, go out on patrols and get to see and talk to the (Iraqi people) -- you know, do something interesting,” he said. (Marine Corps Pfc. Casey Jones serves with 2nd Marine Division.)