Article

2010-05-08 Fifth Column

Military may soon start awarding medals for ... "courageous restraint"

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Posted by abu do you love 2010-05-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 Are these to be handed out posthumorusly?

Posted by gorb 2010-05-08 00:15|| 2010-05-08 00:15|| Front Page Top

#2 Why not? We have a president who received the noble peace prize for 'good intentions'....

Why am I not suprised by this?

Posted by CrazyFool 2010-05-08 01:41|| 2010-05-08 01:41|| Front Page Top

#3 gorb is absolutely right. This medal will be mostly awarded posthumously. "He stood there and let the Taliban all take their shots at him because they were firing while surrounded by school children. He was waiting until the children dispersed. Unfortunately, the Taliban had tied themselves to the children so the children could not run away. So he died without firing a shot. Very courageous. Of course, he is still dead"

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2010-05-08 02:40|| 2010-05-08 02:40|| Front Page Top

#4 Our civilization is losing the will and ability to defend itself.

Posted by Unurong the Bunyip1046 2010-05-08 04:16|| 2010-05-08 04:16|| Front Page Top

#5 Subsequent awards of "Courageous Restraint" will authorize the awarding of the Cowardly Resolve ( or "CR" miniature mosque mineret device). The Courageous Restraint ribbon will be worn on the Class-A uniform in sequence between the new "National Defense Diversity Ribbon" (NDDR) and the "National Defense Gay & Lesbian Good Conduct Medal" (NDGCM) ribbons.

Posted by Besoeker 2010-05-08 07:40|| 2010-05-08 07:40|| Front Page Top

#6 I watched Sergeant York on TV last night. Not too long ago, I also saw the movie "To Hell And Back", about and starring Audie Murphy.

In the second Iraq war, I remember a female Lieutenant, I believe, whose convoy was caught in an ambush, and she personally killed a bunch of ambushers while running through their trench.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-05-08 14:20|| 2010-05-08 14:20|| Front Page Top

#7 SGT Leigh Ann Hester, a reservist from KY, serving with an MP unit. She had insisted her unit crosstrain and develop a common packing scheme for their vehicles.

IIRC when the convoy was ambushed and most of the soldiers around her were dead and wounded, her wounded driver was able to man the SAW while she went into the trench with a senior NCO. Then when she ran out of ammo, she was able to run to the nearest vehicle, reach in without looking to grab more (because they were all packed the same) and ran back into the trench.

She was awarded the Silver Star.

Posted by lotp 2010-05-08 15:01|| 2010-05-08 15:01|| Front Page Top

#8 Account from WaPo at the time:

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester fought her way through an enemy ambush south of Baghdad, killing three insurgents with her M-4 rifle to save fellow soldiers' lives and yesterday became the first woman since World War II to win the Silver Star medal for valor in combat.

The 23-year-old retail store manager from Bowling Green, Ky., won the award for skillfully leading her team of military police soldiers in a counterattack after about 50 insurgents ambushed a supply convoy they were guarding near Salman Pak on March 20.

After insurgents hit the convoy with a barrage of fire from machine guns, AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Hester "maneuvered her team through the kill zone into a flanking position where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 rounds," according to the Army citation accompanying the Silver Star.

"She then cleared two trenches with her squad leader where she engaged and eliminated three AIF [anti-Iraqi forces] with her M4 rifle. Her actions saved the lives of numerous convoy members," the citation stated.

A female driver with the unit, Spec. Ashley J. Pullen of Danville, Ky., won the Bronze Star for her bravery. Pullen laid down fire to suppress insurgents and then "exposed herself to heavy AIF fires in order to provide medical assistance to her critically injured comrades," saving several lives, her citation said.

Six other soldiers with Hester's unit won awards for defeating the ambush, leaving 27 insurgents dead, six wounded and one captured. They include Hester's squad leader, Staff. Sgt. Timothy F. Nein, who also won the Silver Star.

Posted by lotp 2010-05-08 15:06|| 2010-05-08 15:06|| Front Page Top

#9 Details, don't confuse the idiots with details.

Posted by Shipman 2010-05-08 15:23|| 2010-05-08 15:23|| Front Page Top

#10 It is dangerous in a war zone to try to convert our military into our diplomatic corp.

Posted by JohnQC 2010-05-08 15:55|| 2010-05-08 15:55|| Front Page Top

#11 It appears this is a NATO idea...

British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, the NATO commander of troops in southern Afghanistan, proposed the idea of awarding soldiers for "courageous restraint" during a visit by Hall to Kandahar Airfield in mid April. McChrystal is now reviewing the proposal to determine how it could be implemented, Hall said.

Posted by tu3031 2010-05-08 20:23|| 2010-05-08 20:23|| Front Page Top

#12 McChrystal should think about it for about a nanosecond or so and then say "Hell, no!"

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2010-05-08 23:18|| 2010-05-08 23:18|| Front Page Top

23:47 Clyde Unusonter1178
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