First living Iraq War MOH recipient

In the most harrowing days of the Iraq War, one Army noncommissioned officer distinguished himself when he rescued an infantry squad pinned down by machine gun fire as they went door-to-door clearing insurgent strongholds. That battle, on Nov. 10, 2004, made former Staff Sgt. David Bellavia the Iraq War’s first living recipient of the military’s highest award for valor, bestowed by President Trump on Tuesday at a White House ceremony.

“America’s blessed with the heroes and great people, like Staff Sgt. Bellavia, whose intrepid spirit and unwavering resolve defeats our enemies, protects our freedoms and defends our great American flag," Trump said. "David, today we honor your extraordinary courage, we salute your selfless service and we thank you for carrying on the legacy of American valor that has always made our blessed nation the strongest and mightiest anywhere in the world ? and we’re doing better today than we have ever done.”

Bellavia’s A Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, was in the midst of the weeks-long Operation Phantom Fury, also known as the second Battle of Fallujah. “The first thing you’re thinking about is, I mean, you’re scared,” he told reporters Monday. “Your life is on the line. The second thing you’re thinking about is, you’re angry. How dare anyone try to hurt us? How dare you try to step up against the United States military?”

On Nov. 9, his battalion’s top enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Faulkenburg, died in a direct-fire attack. “But the other thing is, you have people that they day before, risked their life to save you,” Bellavia said. “You have people the following two days would risk their lives to save you. And you have people within 24 hours who are killed in direct fire attacks that are your senior leadership.”

On Nov. 13, company commander Capt. Sean Sims was killed by small-arms fire during another mission to clear buildings. Their families joined Bellavia’s at the ceremony Tuesday, along with three others killed during the operation. All of that pushed him to step up in the moment, he said, when he had the choice to either wait outside the building for back-up, or go in again and take on the half-dozen insurgents he knew were inside. “What he did, going back into that nightmare, saved all those men’s lives,” journalist Michael Ware, who was embedded with the unit while writing for Time Magazine, told reporters.

Bellavia credited Ware, whom he previously considered a nuisance, with giving him the confidence to take on the house alone. “Peer pressure might make you smoke cigarettes when you’re 13, but peer pressure might also make you do things you wouldn’t do,” he said. “It’s who your peers are.”

Bellavia was nominated for the Medal of Honor in early 2005, his former company commander told reporters, but it was downgraded to a Silver Star. Then, seven months ago, Trump called him to let him know an upgrade had come through ? the result of a Defense Department-mandated review of Global War on Terror valor awards.

“For 15 years, people that heard about Fallujah or heard about Baqubah…now, they look into this unit, they look into what happened, what we did,” he said. “This is a snapshot of our year. And now they look back and say, wow, there were examples every single day of what people are sacrificing for this way of life.”

Reflecting on the recent 75th anniversary of D Day, he made a plug for his own peer group. “This is an all-volunteer force…college debt repayment, a dental plan, a paycheck? There’s no reason that a rational person is paying off college to clear a road with IEDs. We are not kicking down doors because we want to make sure we get paid on the first and the 15th,” he said. “That is what has kept this country free and it’s why we’re going to be safe for generations to come. "I think of that generation and the Iraq War and I’m mighty proud to be part of it.”

Article from the Army Times

Kurdish General Dies

The Commander of the Golden Division at the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Services (CTS) has died in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil due to health complications. Maj. Gen. Fadhil Barwari, the Kurdish commander of the US-trained Golden Division, has passed away due to a heart attack, a source close to his family told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday. His body was transferred to the Department of Forensic Medicine in Erbil. He will then be transferred to his hometown of Duhok for burial.

Born in 1966 in the northern Kurdistan Region city of Duhok, he joined the Peshmerga forces in his late 30s during the resistance against the former Iraqi Ba’ath regime before joining the Iraqi army following the collapse of the dictatorship.

Since 2014, Barwari played a vital role in leading Iraqi forces, particularly in the Golden Division, in the fight against Islamic State (IS) extremists across Iraq.

Brett McGurk, the US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS, described the late Kurdish commander as “a legend.” “General Barwari was a heroic fighter and commander in the campaign against IS to whom the world owes a debt of gratitude.”

Article from Kurdistan 24

Navy Cross recipient and Marine behind iconic Fallujah photo retires

A recipient of the Navy Cross and Marine behind one of the most iconic photographs from the Iraq War retired from the Corps after 34 years of service. Sgt. Maj. Bradley Kasal handed over the reigns as sergeant major of I Marine Expeditionary Force to Sgt. Maj. James Porterfield at a ceremony held at Camp Pendleton, California, on May 18. Kasal was appointed I MEF sergeant major in February 2015. “I want every Marine and sailor to understand they enlisted for a reason and a purpose,” said Kasal in a command release. “That purpose was to do something better, to swear to support and defend the constitution, and to be a part of something greater. I ask the Marines and sailors to always be proud of that.”

Kasal was awarded the Navy Cross in 2006 for his heroic actions during one of the Corps’ most hallowed battles in Fallujah, Iraq, Operation Phantom Fury on Nov. 13, 2004. Freelance photographer Lucian Read snapped one of the most iconic pictures of the war showing a blood-soaked Kasal still gripping a pistol and Ka-bar knife exiting a house under the aid of fellow Marines.

Kasal, then a first sergeant with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, had entered the house after learning Marines were pinned down inside. The first sergeant and another Marine were severely wounded in the legs from enemy fire. Insurgents threw hand grenades to finish off the wounded Marines but Kasal “rolled on top of his fellow Marine and absorbed the shrapnel with his own body,” according to the award citation.

Kasal refused medical attention until other Marines were treated. A statute of Kasal’s storied heroics and the famous photograph was unveiled at the Wounded Warrior Battalion-West aboard Camp Pendleton in November 2014. “The monument is a symbol of camaraderie that’s important to Marines, not only in combat but in the healing process as well,” Robin Kelleher, president of Hope for the Warriors, which contributed to constructing the monument, said in a news release. “There’s a saying, ‘Never leave a Marine behind’, and I think the monument exemplifies that. It gives wounded warriors hope, and hope is important for them to be able to recover.”

With Kasal’s retirement, Porterfield has taken over as the sergeant major for I Marine Expeditionary Force. “I am both honored and humbled to continue to lead the legacy of I MEF,” Porterfield said in a command release. “Throughout our history I MEF has been the warfighting organization that our country and nation has leaned on.”

Article from the Marine Corps Times

5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Iraq

This is a good short video capturing some of the actions that the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) did in over 10 years of operations in Iraq.

RIP Robin Williams

Comedian Robin Williams tragically took his own life this past Monday, 11 August 2014.  Tragic as Mr. Williams not only shared his talents to make people laugh with thousands of troops, but he also shared internal demons that many soldiers coming back from war have.  He simply left us too soon.  Robin was a regular on USO tours, performing for more 89,400 service members in the U.S. and overseas before his death on Monday, said USO spokeswoman Oname Thompson, for a Military Times article.

Williams was one of the first entertainers to go on a USO tour to Southwest Asia in 2002 and ultimately performed for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the U.S., Thompson said in an email to Military Times.

During his six USO tours and entertainment tours, Williams visited wounded warriors, performed at the 2008 USO Gala and traveled with four Joint Chiefs of Staff chairmen on USO holiday tours, Thompson said. His last USO tour was in December 2010.

John Hanson, senior vice president at the USO, accompanied Williams on a December 2007 USO tour to Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. He recalled a day in Afghanistan when Williams was on a plane waiting to depart, and a soldier came aboard to offload some equipment.

The soldier “thanked Robin for being at the show the night before — even though he hadn’t seen the show,” Hanson said. “He said, ‘It’s important for you to come over here, thank you,’ and he gave Robin a Saint Christopher medallion to protect him.”

Initially, Williams did not want to accept the gift, but the soldier insisted, Hanson said. A little while later, the soldier came back on the plane and found Williams was still looking at the medallion.

“He looked up at the soldier and said, ‘Look, you gave me yours, I’ll give you mine,’ and he reached around neck and pulled off a large silver cross,” Hanson said.

Williams gave his “unequivocal” support to troops, many of whom have posted photos of themselves with Williams on the USO’s Facebook page, Hanson said.

“He was as energetic as you might imagine,” Hanson said. “He loved going on our tours and meeting troops and finding out more about them. It was clear to the troops that he was interested in them, from the troops who came backstage to talk about their own sobriety issues to their experiences with AA and the support that he gave them.”

The troops will miss Williams, Hanson said.

“The entire of Department of Defense community mourns the loss of Robin Williams,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement on Monday.

“Robin was a gifted actor and comedian, but he was also a true friend and supporter of our troops. From entertaining thousands of service men and women in war zones, to his philanthropy that helped veterans struggling with hidden wounds of war, he was a loyal and compassionate advocate for all who serve this nation in uniform. He will be dearly missed by the men and women of DoD — so many of whom were personally touched by his humor and generosity.”

101st Airborne marks 70th anniversary

From an article entitled: Storied 101st Airborne marks 70th anniversary by Kristin M. Hall of the Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After months of grueling road marches through the north Georgia mountains, a group of elite paratroopers had to put their training to the test in a trial by fire. They leapt from an airplane, bullets whizzing past parachutes and shrapnel pelting the plane's side panels.

Ed Shames was among them. Now 90, Shames was 19 when he signed up for new parachute units created military leaders who wanted a quicker, more aggressive unit that could sneak behind enemy lines in Europe.

This week, thousands of active-duty soldiers and veterans are gathering at Fort Campbell, Ky., to honor the 101st Airborne Division that was created by the military 70 years ago, even as its current soldiers prepare to leave for Afghanistan. Military officials at first weren't so sure the 101st "Screaming Eagles" would find success.

And the day Shames first saw combat turned out to be one of the most crucial in U.S. history — the D-Day invasion of France. "They prophesized that we were going to fall on our faces, from the very beginning," he said. On August 16, 1942, the Army created the first paratrooper divisions, with the nation still reeling from Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

The 101st Airborne Division and the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Airborne Division would go on to redefine war strategies from World War II to Vietnam to the Middle East. The Week of the Eagles is commemorating that legacy with games, a concert, an air show and memorials to the fallen, with each day dedicated to the major wars that have created the unique legacy of the Screaming Eagles.

The event culminates with a division review on the parade field. The first commanding general of the 101st, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee, said his men had no history but had a "rendezvous with destiny." The Army wanted physically fit, aggressive young men who were a "cut above the rest," said the division's historian, Capt. Jim Page. Among them was Shames, of Norfolk, Va. He and other paratroopers from the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment earned their tough reputation by making daily road marches up Currahee Mountain in Georgia. "

A 25-mile march for us was just like a Sunday stroll," said Shames, who now lives in Virginia Beach. "We had to walk 10 to 12 miles to get to our training area at Toccoa and then train all day and walk back 10 or 12 miles back to camp every day." He recounted D-Day, as the Allied planes crossed into Normandy and started taking heavy artillery fire. "You could hear the shrapnel hitting against the side of the plane and when we jumped out, you could hear the bullets coming through the parachutes," Shames said.

Expecting that the paratroopers would get scattered, the division's regiments drew playing card symbols — the spade, the club, the heart and the diamond — on their helmets so that they could identify each other once on the ground. Shames said the paratroopers were successful in their mission of capturing key bridges to prevent German tanks from reaching the shore as amphibious troops made their landing.

But it came at a cost, Page said: The 101st lost about a third of its men in only about six weeks. The division then went on to suffer more casualties in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. Herbert Suerth II joined the Easy Company, whose exploits have been made into books and a TV series, as a replacement soldier right before the division went on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. "When I joined the 101st, the discipline, the tempo, everything changed, and it was refreshing," said Suerth, who is now 86 and jokes he is the president of the Men of Easy Company Association because he is the youngest member.

As the unit made its way to establish a perimeter in the pine woods around the town of Bastogne in Belgium, they could hear the artillery rounds and small arms fire of the approaching German divisions, he said. "In between us and the German advance were hundreds of American infantry guys literally running," he said. "They had been overrun by a couple of German divisions." When the Germans demanded that the division surrender after surrounding the town, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe responded with one word: "NUTS!" The division held that town until just after Christmas when reinforcements arrived.

After the war ended, the division was deactivated in 1945 as the Army shrunk to a post-war size. The division was reactivated as a combat unit in 1956 at Fort Campbell. It would not again see combat again until the Vietnam War, although one of its current units served in the Korean War.

In the summer of 1965, 4,000 troops from the 101st traveled for weeks by boat across the Pacific Ocean. John Pagel was a private first class and among the first division soldiers who stepped off the boat in Camh Ran Bay in Vietnam. The brigade was sent all over South Vietnam to clear out Viet Cong fighters, said Pagel, who is now 68 and living in Glendora, Calif.

It was during this war that the division's troops began shifting from jumping out of a plane to jumping out of helicopters. He had no experience in one before his first chopper assault, he said. "Ninety-five percent of the troops of the 101st had not even sat in a helicopter before Vietnam, so we had to learn," Pagel said.

Later in 1967, the rest of the division would deploy to Vietnam, where they would remain until 1972. Page said records captured during the war showed the North Vietnamese Army warned troops to be cautious when encountering the "chicken men," referring to the division's bald eagle patch.

Today, the 101st remains the Army's only air assault division. After the Cold War, the division was sent on peacekeeping missions in countries such as Somalia and Bosnia and saw combat in the first Gulf War and the most recent Iraq War.

The post-9/11 decade has brought constant deployment rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, with many current day troops serving between two and five tours. Even with this week's celebrations, the division still has wartime obligations. One of its helicopter units is deploying to Afghanistan, and another infantry brigade is scheduled to leave later this year. They're fighting a different type of enemy than the men who landed on Normandy, with new technology and on different terrain.

But the division has adapted over the years, Page said. "Soldiers of the 101st, whether in World War II or in 2025, can expect that they will be placed at the forefront of America's contingency operations wherever that may be," Page said.