Poncho is my brother and he is my hero. That is the first description I always give when telling people about him. I know his squad mates call him the same, and always will. Hailing from Texas, Poncho and I first met as members of the same platoon in Basic Training. The first thing that […]
Undertaking the task of collecting, researching, compiling, and composing a collective of war stories is never easy. Doing it almost 25 years after the fact makes the task about as challenging as it gets. So, why does he do it? Why does Bravo Charles (B.C.) choose to undertake such a monumental task? The answer lies […]
A Ronin is a Samurai who has no master, making Brawny a master of Ronin in his own right. Few men that walk this earth possess all of the numerous traits that comprise a warrior like Brawny. Brawny arrived at our unit in a cohort just in front of mine, along with his roommate Hughes. Part […]
A Mustang Officer is an officer who first enlists in the military before earning a commission. In my experience, they are among the best officers you could ever hope for. J’Dub is the epitome of that statement. No finer human being exists when hot lead goes down range, nor could anyone ask for a more complete […]
LRRP is an outdated (Vietnam era) term for members of LRS units. “Cabbie” spent several years in such a unit after Somalia, post 9-11; most notably in Iraq. Cabbie (good story behind that nickname) and Brawny had gotten to the unit just a couple of months before my cohort and had already been “broken in” by the […]
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 […]
Behind The Gun: Poncho's Last Walk 