[USA]

Damn.  I have a good friend in that unit.  I just sent those fellas some Christmas goodies too.  I hope they get at least a little break.



Rest in Peace, Trooper Checo.

AIRBORNE!

Rest in peace, Sgt. Steven Checo.

[USA]

[img]http://photos.ar15.com/WS_Content/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=1503[/img]

[USA]

From General Douglas MacArthur:

Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the Nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be duty, honor, country.

Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds. But serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.

Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government: Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by Federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be.

These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, honor, country.

You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the Nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds.

[size=3][b]The long, gray line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses, thundering those magic words: [red]Duty, honor, country[/red].[/b][/size=3]


Godspeed.

[usa]

Rest In Peace.
You will not be forgotten.


On a related note, since this young man was from NYC:

A gentleman who is definitely in a position to know told me an interesting fact. It seems that a platoon from 1st Force Reconaissance Company ambushed a convoy of Taliban and al Qaeda rags in the early days of our involvement on the ground in Afganistan. They had the convoy dead to rights, and put a massive and complete hurting on them. None of the tangos was even able to exit the vehicles before they met their deserved end.



Before they exfil'ed the area, the hard young lads of 1st Force plastered the shot up vehicles of the convoy with FDNY stickers.