Plenty of Time Left To Help Out

But don't wait til the last minute. The flags for the Richmond Military Society's 5K Run to benefit the American Widows Project are now 5 dollars a flag.

As noted in a previous post on this subject, United Conservatives has placed ten flags along the route. These flags are for the men of Battle and Chosen Companies
2nd Battalion (ABN), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team:

SSG. Michael W. Schafer, 25 of, Spring Hill , Florida
KIA 7/25/2005
PFC Juan S. Restrepo 20 from Pines, Fla.
22-July-07
Sgt. Matthew D. Blaskowski 27 of Levering, Mich.
23-Sept.-07
SGT. Joshua C. Brennan, 22 of Ontario, Oregon
KIA 10/25/2007

and the men who stood the line at Wanat:
SGT Israel Garcia, 24 of Long Beach ,California
KIA 07/13/2008
CPL Matthew B. Phillips, 27 of Jasper, Georgia
KIA 07/13/2008
CPL Pruitt A. Rainey, 22 of Haw River, North Carolina
KIA 07/13/2008
CPL Jonathan R . Ayers, 24 of Snellville, Georgia
KIA 07/13/2008
CPL Jason M. Bogar, 25 of Seattle, Washington
KIA 07/13/2008
PFC Serigo S. Abad, 21 of Morganfield, Kentucky
KIA 07/13/2008
JasonnD. CPL Hovater, 24 of Clinton, Tennessee
KIA 07/13/2008
CPL Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20 Florissant, Missouri
KIA 07/13/2008



Such bravery, valor, dedication and honor can only be witnessed. It cannot be explained.

It Wasn't This Marine's Fault

It was the ROE's that got those Marines and their Corpsman killed. It's time to bring them home or let them fight to win.

Military Times is reporting that a Marine is up for the MoH.

Meyer's team was operating with Afghan security forces in Kunar province when three of his Marines and a Navy corpsman at the lead of the column became pinned down in an ambush, a McClatchy News Service reporter embedded with the unit reported at the time.

Without regard for his own safety, Meyer ran forward through continued enemy fire to reach the trapped Marines, who he found already dead. He continued to put himself under fire as he retrieved the bodies of the Marines and Sailor, according to the Marine Corps. Killed that day were Lt. Michael Johnson, of Virginia Beach, Va.; Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, of Roswell, Ga.; Gunnery Sgt. Edwin Johnson Jr. of Columbus, Ga.; and Navy Corpsman 3rd Class James Layton of Riverback, Calif.

The McClatchy reporter revealed in his stories that the ambushed Marines' calls for artillery support was denied by Army commanders, who said new rules of engagement didn't permit them to open fire for fear of causing civilian casualties. The calls for support were rejected even though the Marines repeatedly radioed the Army that they were not near the village.

Following an investigation, three officers from the 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y., were given official reprimands. The officers were not identified.
As for Meyer, where others see valor in what he did that day, he sees failure. "I was a failure," he told CNN. "My guys died. That was my whole team." The combat is not something he wants to discuss, saying it is still too difficult.
"I sleep on it every night," he said.

I hope this young Marine can put this behind him. He did his job. He did it well. He is a good Marine.

SEMPER FIDELIS!!!!!

British Cousins Step Up In Afghanistan

Empire Road
Britain commits her famed fighting units to Helmand.
John Noonan

As Operation Moshtarak enters its second week, Americans should take a minute to appreciate just how lucky we are to have the British fighting alongside U.S. and Afghan forces. Their vast experience in imperial counterinsurgency notwithstanding, this marks the third war that the British have fought in the Hindu Kush.

Afghanistan had a profound effect on British military culture. They were defeated on retreat from Kabul in 1842, a loss so devastating to their collective psyche that it was lamented as "the heaviest calamity that has ever fallen on British arms." The Second Anglo-Afghan War, which came at the height of the Great Game between England and Russia, slightly improved the British posture in the region (and was the inspiration for The Ballad of the King's Jest, a terrific Kipling poem).

Over a century later, all the pomp and majesty of British military history resurrects itself in an old neighborhood. The UK forces fighting in Marjah are legendary light infantry and fusilier formations, rich in both experience and victories. The Royal Welsh regiment fighting alongside U.S. Marines is a direct descendant of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who took Bunker Hill. The 1st Grenadier Guards, which recently celebrated its 350th anniversary, was decisive at Waterloo and fought in both Gulf Wars. And the Coldstream Guards, most famous for their sentinel duties at Buckingham Palace, include Gibraltar, Waterloo, Boer War, Marne, Somme, Dunkirk, El-Alamein, Salerno, and the Persian Gulf War amongst their battle honours.

So history repeats itself, in a sense. The Empire has faded away, but the formations which built London's yawing imperial expanse are still slugging away in remote corners of the world. The territory has dissipated, but the knowledge and fighting skill remains. It's that experience, amalgamating force and government, which makes Britain such an indispensable ally.

Dowd and Klein To the Woodshed

If ya'll aren't jumping over to Uncle Jimbo's place every day, you're missing out on some great stuff.

UJ takes two liberal whining columnists to the woodshed for a well-deserved ass chewing.