Having served in the 25th Infantry (light) before coming to our unit, Brahma was a hardcore Ranger and the first squad leader many of us in my cohort had. I believe whoever wrote the Ranger Handbook probably copied him (as well as SGM Poe). If I could have changed anything about my first year in […]
Setting: Around the 17th of December, 1992. Though we’d been around fire several times since arriving on the 11th or 12th, today was unique. “The old 1st of the 87th infantry traded their skis for helicopters and went tear-assing around ‘The MOG’, looking for the shit……” – Paraphrased from the film “Apocalypse Now” Our first Air […]
Just a couple conceptual proposals. Opinions?
Setting: Southern Somali Port, March of 1993. As we rode through the gate at the port to do our pre-patrol inspections, I noticed something pretty disturbing right at the entrance; a human body, wrapped in a rug just sitting there with a pair of feet hanging out of one end and a head protruding from […]
……………….The Setting: post October 3rd and 4th, 1993…………………………. Militarily speaking, the October 3rd and 4th battle was an American victory. TF 2-14, which included our own C CO, and the men of TF Ranger fought gallantly during the 17 to 18-hour firefight. It was the longest sustained firefight for America since the Vietnam war, a […]
The topic and concept of “therapy animals” has really taken off in the last few years. I’ve read several great stories about soldiers with PTSD and their canine companions. Dogs are man’s best friend. I myself have two; one that’s the “Bravo Charles” of the canine world, a 150lb Rott-Lab mix, and his female companion, a […]
If there is a hell, it is here on earth, in the haunting uncelebrated darkness of every war ever fought. It seeps into the shallow graves of the innocent, shrouding the forgotten dead, silencing the hallowed cries of motherless children. Copyright 2016 Greg Alderete An Excerpt from “I knew it would be bad” featured in […]
………..Setting: Baledogle to Mogadishu, Somalia by Humvee, December 1992, shortly before Christmas…………………. After a few days of patrols around Wanlaweyn (Wally-world) and Baledogle, it was time to go into Mogadishu, something we would do quite regularly as convoy escorts for VIP’s like Robert Oakley, the former US Ambassador to Somalia. As we started out in our Humvees and […]
………………..Setting: Southern Port City in Somalia, February 26-29, 1993. The same day Islamic extremists bombed the Word Trade Center, insurgent militiamen, later linked to Al Qaeda, from the SNA and SNF infiltrate the city where they engage Belgian and American forces…… The next morning at around 0800 hours (8 AM), A CO was targeted with several […]
While the world celebrates professional athletes, I think the true professional athletes are in the military. I did, and saw other people do things in the military, that I never imagined possible for humans to do or endure. And nobody in the military has a multi-million dollar contract. Everybody who serves gives something. Most of us […]
Behind The Gun: Poncho's Last Walk 