Sixty-Three Soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this month.
July, 2010 is the deadliest month in Afghanistan.
Sadness.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Body of 2nd Missing Sailor Recovered...
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A second U.S. Navy sailor who went missing in a dangerous part of eastern Afghanistan was found dead and his body recovered, a senior U.S. military official and Afghan officials said Thursday.
The family of Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, a 25-year-old from the Seattle area, had been notified of his death, the U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to disclose the information.
Newlove and Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley went missing last Friday in Logar province. NATO recovered the body of McNeley — a 30-year-old father of two from Wheatridge, Colorado — in the area Sunday.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Kabul on Thursday that two days ago the Taliban left the "body of a dead American soldier for the U.S. forces" to recover. The Taliban said McNeley was killed in a firefight and insurgents had captured Newlove. Mujahid offered no explanation for Newlove's death.
NATO officials have not offered an explanation as to why the two service members were in such a dangerous part of eastern Afghanistan.
The sailors were instructors at a counterinsurgency school for Afghan security forces, according to senior military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. The school was headquartered in Kabul and had classrooms outside the capital, but they were never assigned anywhere near where McNeley's body was recovered, officials said.
The chief of police of Logar province, Gen. Mustafa Mosseini, said coalition troops removed Newlove's body about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. An anti-terrorism official in Logar province, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case, also said coalition forces had recovered a body.
Mosseini said he believed the body washed downstream after rains Tuesday night.
He noted in the past several days, the Taliban were being pressured by coalition forces in the area.
"The security was being tightened," Mosseini said. "Searches continued from both air and the ground. Militants were moving into Pakistan."
Mohammad Rahim Amin, the local government chief in Baraki Barak district, also said coalition forces recovered a body about 5:30 p.m. and flew it by helicopter to a coalition base in Logar province, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) away.
"The coalition told our criminal police director of the district that the body belonged to the foreign soldier they were looking for," Amin said.
FOXNews.com
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May Almighty God comfort the families of these Sailors.
May Almighty God protect each and every Airman, Soldier, Sailor and Marine.
The family of Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, a 25-year-old from the Seattle area, had been notified of his death, the U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to disclose the information.
Newlove and Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley went missing last Friday in Logar province. NATO recovered the body of McNeley — a 30-year-old father of two from Wheatridge, Colorado — in the area Sunday.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Kabul on Thursday that two days ago the Taliban left the "body of a dead American soldier for the U.S. forces" to recover. The Taliban said McNeley was killed in a firefight and insurgents had captured Newlove. Mujahid offered no explanation for Newlove's death.
NATO officials have not offered an explanation as to why the two service members were in such a dangerous part of eastern Afghanistan.
The sailors were instructors at a counterinsurgency school for Afghan security forces, according to senior military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. The school was headquartered in Kabul and had classrooms outside the capital, but they were never assigned anywhere near where McNeley's body was recovered, officials said.
The chief of police of Logar province, Gen. Mustafa Mosseini, said coalition troops removed Newlove's body about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. An anti-terrorism official in Logar province, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case, also said coalition forces had recovered a body.
Mosseini said he believed the body washed downstream after rains Tuesday night.
He noted in the past several days, the Taliban were being pressured by coalition forces in the area.
"The security was being tightened," Mosseini said. "Searches continued from both air and the ground. Militants were moving into Pakistan."
Mohammad Rahim Amin, the local government chief in Baraki Barak district, also said coalition forces recovered a body about 5:30 p.m. and flew it by helicopter to a coalition base in Logar province, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) away.
"The coalition told our criminal police director of the district that the body belonged to the foreign soldier they were looking for," Amin said.
FOXNews.com
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May Almighty God comfort the families of these Sailors.
May Almighty God protect each and every Airman, Soldier, Sailor and Marine.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday Hero 07/28/2010
7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st MLG
A Marine warrant officer received the Silver Star on July 15 during a short ceremony in Afghanistan. On Feb. 26, 2008, then-Staff Sgt. John W. Hermann, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, accompanied a team with Company B, 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, on a combat reconnaissance patrol through Dahaneh, a village in southern Afghanistan held by Taliban forces.
While on the patrol, the team came under a barrage of fire from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, machine guns and small-arms fire. Hermann, according to the award citation, jumped out of his vehicle with another Marine and ran toward a group of entrenched fighters.
You can read the rest of Warrant Officer John W. Hermann's story here.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Talking Tuesday
This morning the Washington Post dedicated four paragraphs on page A6 to a story of the two Sailors who were captured in Afghanistan on Saturday.
After several minutes of searching the Internet, I found an AP item which reports NATO has announced that one of the bodies has been recovered. Dead.
Now...let's 'google' Tiger or Lindsay Lohan. Ahhh...countless blurbs to read.
Wrong.
Just wrong.
On Saturday July 24th, five U.S. Soldiers were killed and two were captured. I know, I know...death results from war. I get it. What I don't get and what is irritating me more and more with each passing day...America doesn't seem to grasp that these are fellow Americans, who have families who adore them. On Saturday, seven families were changed forever. Many will say it's a job with risk. Just as Police and Firefighters...jobs with risk.
Wrong.
Come on, Folks... these are our Soldiers. OUR Soldiers. When one or more of them die or are captured...we must care. Please pray for their families.
Your turn..............
After several minutes of searching the Internet, I found an AP item which reports NATO has announced that one of the bodies has been recovered. Dead.
Now...let's 'google' Tiger or Lindsay Lohan. Ahhh...countless blurbs to read.
Wrong.
Just wrong.
On Saturday July 24th, five U.S. Soldiers were killed and two were captured. I know, I know...death results from war. I get it. What I don't get and what is irritating me more and more with each passing day...America doesn't seem to grasp that these are fellow Americans, who have families who adore them. On Saturday, seven families were changed forever. Many will say it's a job with risk. Just as Police and Firefighters...jobs with risk.
Wrong.
Come on, Folks... these are our Soldiers. OUR Soldiers. When one or more of them die or are captured...we must care. Please pray for their families.
Your turn..............
Monday, July 26, 2010
Raptor
An F-22 Raptor flies over the Pacific Ocean July 2, 2010, on its way to its new home at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
(U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Gustavo Gonzalez)
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Prayers for Two Captured American Soldiers...
The Afghanistan Taliban claimed Saturday to have captured two U.S. soldiers near the country's capital, Kabul, Reuters reported.
NATO subsequently confirmed two missing soldiers were Americans but there were conflicting reports Saturday afternoon about their fate.
The alleged capture came to light after U.S. officials had apparently issued an appeal via a local radio station, offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the soldiers' safe release.
The broadcast said the two U.S. personnel were last seen wearing standard U.S. military camouflage, Reuters said.
It reportedly said: "Early this morning two coalition personnel went missing. They are believed to have been captured by insurgents somewhere in Logar province.
"They may have been separated from one another or may be in the process of being moved to another location."
One of the missing soldiers was described as about six feet tall weighing 220 lb (100 kg) with blond hair and brown eyes.
The other was described as 190 lb (86 kg), bald with a thin mustache. Both men have tattoos, the broadcast said.
In the wake of the radio appeal there were conflicting reports about what had happened to the two servicemen and even who might have seized them.
Reuters said that a Taliban spokesman had told the news agency that three ISAF servicemen had been captured but one had died.
However, the mystery deepened when the AFP news agency reported that the Taliban had subsequently denied being responsible for their disappearance.
Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, the Taliban's spokesman for eastern Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, said: "So far, we are not aware of it and cannot confirm this."
An unnamed military NATO military officical also told AFP that a vehicle had been recovered, adding that ISAF was receiving conflicting reports.
"Nobody has been found but there are reports that there may be a casualty and that the body has been removed from the scene," the official said.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force had earlier confirmed in a statement that two servicemen were missing
"Two International Security Assistance Force service members departed their compound in Kabul City in a vehicle and did not return.
"The unit dispatched vehicles and rotary-winged assets to search for them and their vehicle, and the search is ongoing. Details will be released as they become available," the statement said.
Also Saturday, four U.S. soldiers were killed in a Taliban-style bomb attack, NATO said, as the death toll of foreign soldiers in the Afghan war climbed closer to the 2,000 mark.
ISAF said the four died following an attack with an improvised explosive device, or IED, the main weapon deployed by the Taliban in their insurgency.
An ISAF spokeswomen confirmed the four were Americans.
The incident took place in southern Afghanistan, where the war is at its fiercest, an ISAF statement said.
FOXNews.com
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May Almighty God watch over and protect these two soldiers.
May God comfort the anxious hearts of their families who love them so.
NATO subsequently confirmed two missing soldiers were Americans but there were conflicting reports Saturday afternoon about their fate.
The alleged capture came to light after U.S. officials had apparently issued an appeal via a local radio station, offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the soldiers' safe release.
The broadcast said the two U.S. personnel were last seen wearing standard U.S. military camouflage, Reuters said.
It reportedly said: "Early this morning two coalition personnel went missing. They are believed to have been captured by insurgents somewhere in Logar province.
"They may have been separated from one another or may be in the process of being moved to another location."
One of the missing soldiers was described as about six feet tall weighing 220 lb (100 kg) with blond hair and brown eyes.
The other was described as 190 lb (86 kg), bald with a thin mustache. Both men have tattoos, the broadcast said.
In the wake of the radio appeal there were conflicting reports about what had happened to the two servicemen and even who might have seized them.
Reuters said that a Taliban spokesman had told the news agency that three ISAF servicemen had been captured but one had died.
However, the mystery deepened when the AFP news agency reported that the Taliban had subsequently denied being responsible for their disappearance.
Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, the Taliban's spokesman for eastern Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, said: "So far, we are not aware of it and cannot confirm this."
An unnamed military NATO military officical also told AFP that a vehicle had been recovered, adding that ISAF was receiving conflicting reports.
"Nobody has been found but there are reports that there may be a casualty and that the body has been removed from the scene," the official said.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force had earlier confirmed in a statement that two servicemen were missing
"Two International Security Assistance Force service members departed their compound in Kabul City in a vehicle and did not return.
"The unit dispatched vehicles and rotary-winged assets to search for them and their vehicle, and the search is ongoing. Details will be released as they become available," the statement said.
Also Saturday, four U.S. soldiers were killed in a Taliban-style bomb attack, NATO said, as the death toll of foreign soldiers in the Afghan war climbed closer to the 2,000 mark.
ISAF said the four died following an attack with an improvised explosive device, or IED, the main weapon deployed by the Taliban in their insurgency.
An ISAF spokeswomen confirmed the four were Americans.
The incident took place in southern Afghanistan, where the war is at its fiercest, an ISAF statement said.
FOXNews.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
May Almighty God watch over and protect these two soldiers.
May God comfort the anxious hearts of their families who love them so.
Friday, July 23, 2010
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