Previous Defense Updates have focused on the “gentle” side of our fighting men and women: Their love for family and children; their love and affinity for sports and athletics — even after they have been badly injured in combat; their compassion for others during national disasters; their “human moments.”
But lest we forget, our troops are first and foremost fighters who face dangers and enemy fire virtually every day while deployed in places like Afghanistan and who, all too often, make the ultimate sacrifice.
Here are some reminders:
A U.S. Army paratrooper takes cover behind a mine resistant ambush protected vehicle while firing his M4 carbine at insurgents during a firefight near Muqor in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, June 30, 2012
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Nicholas Prieto, center, talks with U.S. Army Spc. Jonathan Myers, right, and U.S. Army Pfc. Blaze Glocar, left, as they call in air support during a firefight with insurgents in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, June 30, 2012. Prieto, a platoon leader, Myers, a forward observer, and Glocar, a radioman, are assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71) performs a firepower demonstration alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Lincoln is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and combat flight operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Joshua E. Walters)
U.S. paratroopers fire at insurgent forces during a firefight on the outskirts of Spedar village in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, June 15, 2012. This was the first of several firefights U.S. and Afghan soldiers encountered during their daylong partnered patrol.
Sometimes our heroes are able to talk about it and walk away — in this case “eject away” — after some very close encounters as this cool F-15 pilot with his engine on fire was able to do.
Sometimes they are not, as was tragically the case for four of our Air National Guardsmen fighting the wildfires in the West and as evidenced by today’s very sad news out of Afghanistan:
In what was an extraordinarily violent day even by Afghan standards, separate incidents on Sunday killed seven Western troops, including six Americans who died in a single blast, along with five Afghan police officers and at least 18 civilians, Western and Afghan officials said.
The six Americans died in an explosion in eastern Afghanistan, where fighting has been on the increase.
Photos: DOD
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.