Afghan farmers at war's epicentre play both sides

ARGHANDAB, May 24 (AFP) - Lush pomegranate orchards provide perfect cover for the Taliban, who have turned what should be the fruit basket of Afghanistan into one of the hottest spots of the long insurgency.

In the past year the crude bombs that are the Taliban's battlefield talisman have been responsible for the deaths of all foreign soldiers patrolling this valley from 13 bases on each side of the Arghandab River, the US military said.

Arghandab, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Kandahar city, capital of the eponymous province in southern Afghanistan that the insurgents regard as their fiefdom, is at the epicentre of a war well into its ninth year.

The district produces half the 100,000 tonnes of pomegranates grown in Afghanistan each year, but is better known for the harvest of IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, that seem as thickly seeded as the fruit trees.

American troopers on patrol around the villages near Forward Operating Base (FOB) Arghandab point to culverts along canals irrigating the orchards as favourite corners for Taliban ambushes.

An explosion across the river to the east was "probably an IED," said one.

"Someone might have stepped on it. Or it could have been a controlled detonation," he said. "Either way, we're finding them."

Almost 60 percent of the more than 200 foreign troop deaths in Afghanistan this year were caused by IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, the independent icasualties.org website says.

In Arghandab, a village school has become a proxy battleground between the Taliban and pro-government forces, said US Army Sergeant Stephen Decatur, as he described last month's find of "nine medium-to-small, 20-50 pound jugs of home-made bombs planted around the school yard".


"In January, over the course of 10 days, they found hundreds and hundreds of pounds of explosives and IEDS," he said, adding that some of the bombs contained up to 300 pounds (136 kilogrammes) of explosives.

"There are a lot of advantages to being in Arghandab, mainly because there is so much agriculture -- pomegranate orchards have a lot of cover from observation from the air and close air support."

As US and NATO forces prepare the slow strangulation of the insurgents over the coming summer months, Afghanistan's Western supporters are, finally, trying to address the economic fundamentals fuelling the fight.

Poverty, unemployment at the heart of unrest

More than 70 percent of Afghanistan's population are tied to the land as tenant farmers or share-croppers, experts say. The CIA put unemployment in 2008 at 35 percent and inflation last year at 30.5 percent.

Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium and the 2.8-billion-dollar-a-year illicit industry helps drugs gangs pay the Taliban for armed muscle to protect production and distribution routes.

With the realisation that the insurgency is largely economic rather than ideological -- and that many Taliban foot soldiers are simply unemployed men who need the fighting fee to feed their families -- Western donors have started channelling their efforts to the grass roots of Afghan society.

In Arghandab, Washington's international aid arm USAID believes its programme to teach Afghan farmers modern techniques for boosting quality and yield has the flow-on benefit of improving security.

The head of the local council of elders, Haji Mohammad agreed, telling AFP the project is creating jobs that give the fighting-age men of the area an alternative to picking up a gun for 20 dollars a day.

Since the introduction of USAID's AVIPA (Afghanistan Vouchers for Increased Production in Agriculture) project, Arghandab's pomegranate yield has leapt by 75 percent, to 15-20 kilogrammes of fruit per tree, he said.


"It has also provided jobs, people are now earning money, so in the many villages where we have projects there is no problem with security," Mohammad said.

"People here are poor and so they were used by other people with bad intentions. But if they can have jobs that earn them money from honest work, they can become independent, so in the coming years they won't need to go fighting."


The four-month cash-for-work project was pouring 400,000 afghanis (8,800 dollars) every month into each of Arghandab's 72 villages, paying farm workers 300 afghanis daily, said local AVIPA supervisor, Obeidullah, who uses one name.

The cost of building roads and reservoirs, as well as tractors, chemicals and other equipment was extra, he said.

The AVIPA programme is worth a total of almost 400 million dollars.

That money is welcomed in most farming communities of Afghanistan -- among the poorest countries in the world -- and Arghandab is no exception.

As Obeidullah and Mohammad extolled its benefits, local elders relaxed on carpets nearby, drinking tea and eating apricots, nodding their agreement but reluctant to talk or have their photographs taken for fear of reprisals, one said, from the Taliban.

'Taliban know how to make their point'


Scepticism about the longevity of the international presence that is keeping the Taliban at bay is widespread in Afghanistan.

Many fear that once international troops, currently numbering 130,000, withdraw, which they regard as inevitable, the insurgents will reassert control and take revenge on anyone who cooperated with the other side.

US officials and soldiers said the Taliban maintain influence in Arghandab, using what one American, speaking anonymously, described as "ruthless" intimidation techniques.


Taliban had cut off arms and hanged people suspected of working with the coalition, and kidnapped children for ransom, he said.

"They know how to make their point, they're ruthless. The farmers have a hard time, going into the fields where the Taliban put IEDs if they think they are on patrol routes for the US, the Canadians or the Afghan army," he said.

"Innocent civilians are hit pretty hard. The Taliban are still a very real threat."

Unless the AVIPA scheme and others like it -- such as the British attempt in neighbouring Helmand province to encourage poppy growers to switch to food crops -- are quickly followed up with marketing and storage programmes, experts and officials said, any gains are unsustainable.

"There needs to be a transition from providing labouring jobs to value-added," said Jim Green, a US agriculture department advisor in Arghandab.


"The improvement in crops needs to have back-up. When people go from pruning and spraying to packing the fruit, then it becomes sustainable on a yearly basis.

"When there's demand for a product, then it becomes sustainable," he said, noting the popularity of pomegranates as a super-fruit in the West.


For Haji Mohammad, sustainability depends on security.

"As long as coalition forces are here we will be OK," he said.


"When the Afghan government and the Taliban sit down and talk there will be no fighting. For 30 years we have had fighting. We don't want any more fighting. We want to feed ourselves and get on with our lives.

"We just want peace," he said. (By Lynne O'Donnell/ AFP)

Military Suicide: Fight The War At Home

Some scars are not seen and your help may save a life....

In the United States, a veteran dies by suicide every 80 minutes. It's clear that America's veterans aren't getting the psychological help they need in order to cope with the stresses of being a part of the military.

Alarmingly, under the guise of the 2nd Amendment, the National Defense Authorization Act bars any military leader from broaching the subject of privately-owned weapons with another service member to gauge his safety level — even if that member seems to be depressed.

Veterans need to be given resources and support so they can resume their lives after service with little burden. Discussing suicide and psychological safety should be mandatory — not prohibited by law.

Retirement does not end the fire to continue to help Soldiers

I am often asked two questions the first being do I miss the Army. Do I miss the Army? The answer is “Yes” every day. It is not the institutional or organizational part of the Army that I miss what I miss is the Soldiers. I miss helping Soldiers resolve everyday problems, develop and grow personally and professionally, make a better life for themselves and their families. What many people don’t know about me is that I grew up in a single family home my mother would often work a day job and a night job, so our family time together was limited. We wore clothes from thrift stores and when school would start we would often see many kids getting new shoes and new clothes unfortunately we did not have many of these privileges. I saw the military as a way out of this life and as a way to better myself and learn those trades that would someday make me successful. I knew that in the military the only way to go was up and my potential was only limited to what I could and couldn’t do. So in 1989 I joined the Marine Corps and on June 5, 1989 I arrived at Marine Recruit Depot San Diego. For the next 13 weeks I learned teamwork, responsibility and how hard work would help me graduate and earn the honor to be called a Marine. I graduated and left to go to the School of Infantry where I was awarded the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 0311 Infantryman. My eight year career in the Marine Corps would take from serving in A Company 3^rd Reconnaissance Battalion in Hawaii to Sea Duty aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65).

PVT Eugene Hicks MCRD, San Diego Sept 1989

In 1997 I joined the Army after a one hour break in service (long enough for me to drive from Camp Pendleton to the Army Recruiting office in Oceanside, Ca) and enlisted in the Army as an 11B. I would lose a rank going from a Sergeant (E-5) to Specialist (E-4). My first duty station Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. I had a great time and quickly went from Specialist to Staff Sergeant and served as a light infantry squad leader spending entirely too much time on the big island wearing out more boots than I care to remember. Over the years my service would take from Korea to Fort Lewis, WA serving with 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry "Deuce Four" as a Platoon Sergeant and ending my caeer as an Infantry First Sergeant (E-8) on March 31, 2011 with 1st Battlion, 17th Infantry Regiment.

Platoon Sergeant A Company 1st Battalion, 24th infantry Regiment Mosul, Iraq 2004-2005
The Soldier to my left Sgt. Robert T. Ayres III, 23, of Los Angeles, died Sept. 29 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq

A Company 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, FOB Frontenac, Afghanistan 2009 - 2010

So the second question I had told you about, how do you go from being an Infantry First Sergeant to being a social worker? This is a little easier to answer if you can believe that. I have begun to understand that there are many Veteran’s, Soldiers and family members that do not know how to ask for help. The stigma that is involved with seeking help because one does not want to appear weak is powerful still in today Army and as hard as the Army tries to change the perception the underlying current in the river is still prevalent with service members past and present. This has to be changed but how? It is Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors getting out there and when they see a member in crisis stepping and helping them find the help they need. It is directing them to people like me who can understand the things they saw in combat and how those feelings can be talked about in a manner that is therapeutic and helps in the recovery process.

I did one thing that I can only stress and did stress to all the Soldiers I came into contact with “GO TO SCHOOL”. No matter what you are doing make the time to attend a class here and there even if it is just one class twice a week make the time to attended. When I retired I had obtained my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Degree from Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, WA and I was named a joint recipient of the Linda Fletcher Memorial Scholarship, a scholarship that is awarded to acknowledge and reward students who exhibit the special characteristics that are a part of the Saint Martin’s mission as well as help cultivate a strong community of learners among the University’s extension program students. I am now going through the admissions process at the University of Southern California for my Masters in Social Work where I will concentrate on learning how to deliver services such as mental health counseling, family therapy, crisis intervention, program development, and organizational consulting. My sub- concentration will be Military Social Work and Veteran Services which will prepare me to provide a full range of human services to the nation’s armed forces personnel, military veterans and their families. Had I not started and continued my education I can guarantee that my situation would be entirely different, especially in today’s economy. My success started when I went to the education office on post and asked for advice.

Saint Martin's University BA in Psychology

This is not why I write this post or do this blog to brag about what I have done but instead I write my story so that you know I am a true advocate for our warriors and my life was like many of yours but we have the power to shape our destiny and we have the power to help our fellow veterans. Thank you all for your dedication and care for our Soldiers. Remember the first step is yours!!!!

1st Lt. Daniel A. Weiss

LT Weiss served with Alpha Company 1-17th Inf, 2nd Inf Div (Stryker) of which I was the First Sergeant in Afghanistan 2010. LT Weiss was the consumate professional and epitomized those values that Soldiers hold close to their hearts.

I will miss you Dan, I know that you are on the high ground providing overwatch on those still in harms way. Rest easy, Sir those you have mentored, trained and lead have the battle.

1st Lt. Daniel A. Weiss

April 10, 1986 - March 05, 2012

1st LT Daniel Weiss, 25, served as a Rifle Platoon Leader in Attack Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He was born in Santa Monica, CA. His brother wanted to name him Stinkor; his parents thought otherwise. His earliest years were spent in Culver City, CA, which he always considered home. In 1993, he moved with his family to Naperville, IL, where he went on to once get stuck in the revolving door at Michael Jordan’s Restaurant, make the short movie “Coffee Boy”, about a coffee boy, filmed on location in the woods behind his house, and graduate early from Naperville Central High School in order to enlist in the Army.

Danny deployed three times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His service began as a Rifleman and SAW Gunner with the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan in 2005. Between deployments, he earned a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In two years. Subsequently, he received his commission as an Infantry Officer, serving as a Rifle Platoon Leader in Afghanistan with the 1-17 Infantry, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He was then chosen to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment and assigned to 2nd Ranger Battalion at Fort Lewis, WA and deployed with 2/75 in late 2011. Following combat, he was assigned as a Rifle Platoon Leader in Attack Company. His awards and decorations include US Army Ranger Course and Airborne School, the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Ranger Tab, and Airborne Wings.

To become the best warrior possible, he refused to drink, smoke, or consume a frivolous calorie of any kind. He worked out voraciously and read with the same intensity on a multitude of topics, from Rudyard Kipling to Karl Pilkington. To extract a smile from Danny, all one had to do was mention Mr. Pilkington’s constant struggles with his boiler. His smile snuck up the side of his mouth, no matter how hard he tried to stifle it, often growing into an undeniable laugh soon shared by all present. Sometime during the night of March 4, 2012, he took his own life.

Danny will be remembered as a soldier, an officer, a leader; a son, a brother, my hero. He is survived by his parents, Andy and Julianne, his brother, A.J., and his brothers in arms. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Fisher House Foundation, Inc. 111 Rockville Pike, Suite 420, Rockville, MD 20850-5168 (fisherhouse.org), or Doctors Without Borders USA, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030 (doctorswithoutborders.org). A visitation will be held on Sunday, March 11, 2012 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM followed by a memorial service at 4:00 PM at Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 44 S. Mill St. Naperville IL. 60540. If you are a veteran or active duty service member in need of confidential support, please call the Veterans Crisis Line, 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, send a text message to 838255, or chat online at veteranscrisisline.net.

Soldier's suicide prompts military investigation

A sad story and a sad day when we lose one of our hero's.

by Pat Dooris

PORTLAND -- The suicide of an active Army soldier last November in Northeast Portland has prompted a military investigation into his death and a call from Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron Wyden for a full explanation.
“In the tragic case of Sgt. Jason Matus, I have asked the Army for a full briefing on his death and the care he received-or didn’t receive,” said Wyden.
Staff Sergeant Jason Matus killed himself just after midnight November 21, 2011.
According to military records Matus reported for active duty at Fort Bragg, NC in 1997. He served there until 2004 with deployments to Egypt in 2000 and Iraq from April 2003 to January 2004. His family says, in Iraq he served with the 571 Air Calvary as a combat medic. It was during that time, his wife Fay Norris said, that he suffered neck injuries when a chopper he was riding in crash-landed to avoid enemy fire.
“He wanted to save as many people as he could,” said Norris.
Matus grew up in Northern California. Faye and Jason knew each other from the time they were teens in Grass Valley, California. They went their separate ways but met up again after he returned from the war and were married in 2007.
Matus was already struggling with physical pain from his neck injury and symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) started to appear more and more often. He eventually had three surgeries to fix his neck beginning in 2009. But at the same time, Faye said, the psychological challenges became so severe, he spent two months in a secure psychiatric facility in Texas.
Not long after he got out, Matus and his wife moved to Oregon, in October 2011. They were closer to his mother, who lives near Salem.
He was now part of the Community Based Wounded Warrior Transition Program. His main mission became getting better, attending both medical and mental health appointments with the VA and other doctors in the Portland area.
Norris said her husband also wanted to return to war.
“When he'd get depressed his thing was always why am I back here? I should go back over there, there's still young men bleeding out there. I need to be there. I need to save people," recalled Norris.
She felt her husband got overlooked the more he struggled with his demons. “Up until this point, Jason had always thought the Army was good to him and if anything happened, they'd take care of him. But once he really got injured they kinda walked away," Norris said.
A registered nurse, Norris felt the burden of his care. “A lot of days all I could handle, just to keep up with, we were going to doctor's appointments two or three times a week, I’m trying to keep his meds straight, I’m working full-time because, you know, I’ve gotta have a job,” she said.
Norris felt the military should have been more attentive. “They never came and checked on him, they never called his duty station and I can’t be always responsible for that. They need to be checking. They need to be hands-on with these guys,” she said.
Sgt. Matus’ best friend Mark Maloy said the two planned to make a movie together. But as the soldier’s PTSD challenges became more severe, he became more depressed. “He never wanted to be broken,” said Maloy. “He never wanted to be difficult. He never wanted to be a problem. And the more opposite he got the more everybody told him he was, the more depressed. And finally, his last words were, I’ll fix this. And that was that,” said Maloy.
Ultimately, Matus gave up hope.
“I'll always feel partially like this is my fault,” Norris said. “…like I should have done something more.” She said she fought for him up to the very end, even trying to wrestle the gun away from her husband.
But he was stronger.
Now, Norris keeps an urn with her husband’s ashes on a shelf in the home she moved into after the suicide.
She hopes in the future, the military will pay more attention to soldiers like her husband who are clearly in need of help.
And she’d like the rest of us to think more about how he lived, than how he died. “He was one of the most beautiful, loving, passionate, and caring people you could ever meet. And he was a wonderful guy,” she said.
The Army recently commented on the death of Sgt. Matus by way of a statement from the Western Regional Medical Command. “Our Army sends its heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Staff Sgt. Jason Matus. It is always very painful whenever we lose one of our own, and we will continue to hold his loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.”
If you or a loved one needs help contact the following agencies:
Oregon Military Assistance Helpline: 1-800-511-6944
Multnomah County Crisis Line 503-988-4888
Joint Transition Assistance web site Helps soldiers and families return to civilian life
Returning Veterans Project: 503-954-2259
Thoughts of suicide?Oregon Partnership 1-800-273-8255

Study will test neck injections to combat PTSD

It is interesting that a shot may be the answer to turning off intense emotions. Not sure I would want to test this new procedure out. What do you think?

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 26, 2011 11:41:48 EST

Top of Form

SAN DIEGO — After seeing promising results with an innovative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, a group of Navy doctors in San Diego hopes a new study will show a shot in the neck that quiets nerves could bring quick, lasting relief to suffering combat vets.

In a pilot study at Naval Medical Center San Diego, 42 active-duty service members will get injections to block or turn off nerves from transmitting triggers that can cause anxiety, hyperarousal or other symptoms of PTSD. Such nerve blocks, much like basic pain management treatments first done in 1925, typically bring relief in a few days, if not several hours, and in the weeks or months after the procedure.

The study, funded by the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, uses a stellate ganglion block, or SGB. The treatment involves injecting an anesthetic into the stellate ganglion — a bundle of nerves in the neck — which blocks pain signals in the sympathetic nerve system from reaching the brain.

So far, more than 20 patients diagnosed with PTSD have begun the voluntary three-month program, which involves two or three injections of either the real treatment or a placebo, said Capt. Anita Hickey, an anesthesiologist and director of Pain Research and Integrative Medicine at the medical center.

The procedure lasts a half-hour for patients, who in most cases are sedated or receive a topical anesthetic in the neck. An X-ray and, in the case of the San Diego study, an ultrasound machine guide the proper placement of the needle and direct the anesthetic to the targeted spot, Hickey said. The treatment includes checkups at one week, one month and three months after the initial shot, with possible subsequent injections of either the placebo or the anesthetic.

‘Rebooting a computer’

Research shows an SGB injection “does have an effect on the sympathetic nervous system in the brain,” said Hickey, who has used nerve blocks in pain management. She described the treatment as “rebooting a computer,” with most patients seeing reduced PTSD symptoms.

The study team hopes to present its findings in May at an American Psychiatric Association meeting and ultimately get more funding for continuing research and larger clinical studies. An article Hickey co-wrote about the effects of SGB treatment on eight combat vets will be in the February issue of Military Medicine, the Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.

The Navy’s study takes a page from Chicago anesthesiologist Dr. Eugene Lipov, who in 2008 first used the treatment for PTSD sufferers. Lipov, who so far has used the treatment on 30 combat vets, unsuccessfully tried four times to get Defense Department funding for a larger clinical trial, but he now provides the $1,000 treatment to patients partly funded through donations.

Lipov, who with Hickey co-wrote an earlier paper about the stellate ganglion block, said the treatment eases symptoms and can reduce emotional reactions to trauma without erasing the memory.

The treatment shows promising results, a Navy psychiatrist involved in the trial said.

“We do see some benefits at one week. People are more calm, are having fewer nightmares, are able to do more things,” said Dr. Robert McLay, Naval Medical Center San Diego’s mental health research director and psychiatrist who works with troops with PTSD.

McLay, an admitted skeptic, is excited about the treatment. “I think it potentially could really change the thinking in some respects with responding to PTSD,” he said.

Popular treatments range from medication and counseling to virtual-reality exposure and even alternative therapies such as yoga and art. But as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars wind down, with as many as one-quarter to one-third of combat vets suffering from PTSD, officials expect to see larger caseloads.

However, defense health officials told a Bethesda, Md., conference this month that fewer than half of PTSD patients are helped by medications and psychotherapy. Lipov said he has seen 80 percent success among his veteran patients so far, but he acknowledged further study will refine the treatment and help doctors better learn which patients and symptoms are helped the most.

Medical experts say the complexity of PTSD, how it affects different patients, and lack of understanding about how the brain works all add to the difficulty of treating — if not curing — the disorder. Combat veterans can suffer nightmares, headaches, depression, anxiety and isolation.

PTSD patients “by their very nature are very jumpy, very hesitant to jump into things,” McLay said. “We’ve actually been getting more volunteers for a shot in the neck ... than coming in and having to meet me twice a week to talk about their trauma.”

Dr. Maryam Navaie, a San Diego research consultant who’s worked with Hickey and Lipov, said SGB treatment requires a shorter commitment, so it’s easier for the vets. “Compliance is 100 percent,” said Navaie, compared to 30 percent to 40 percent for those who are prescribed medications.

That ease and fast relief appealed to Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Christopher Carlson, who retired in 2010 after multiple deployments in a 20-year career that included at-sea tours. Carlson said he subsequently was diagnosed with PTSD after getting worsening bouts of cold sweats, disrupted sleep, anxiety and severe nightmares “that seemed almost real.”

He was prescribed medications, “but really nothing seemed to be working,” he said, and his struggles sidetracked him from getting good employment after he retired in Norfolk, Va., and moved to Chicago. He drank more, was depressed and got more forgetful; he and his wife, who have four children, divorced.

On a fluke, someone told him about Lipov’s treatment. Desperate for relief, he volunteered.

“It seemed like it was a miracle cure,” he said. “It changed my life.”

After his initial improvement seemed to wane a few months after the first injection, Carlson got a second treatment and noticed “night and day” changes.

“My mind is a lot clearer, and I’m sleeping better,” he said Dec. 14. “My emotions are a lot better.”

Memorial Ceremony remarks for fallen soldiers in Mosul

Memorial Ceremony remarks for fallen soldiers in Mosul

Deuce Four Fallen Warriors

LTC Kurilla, commander of 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, forwarded the following comments he will make during a memorial service for 1LT Aaron Sessan, SPC Tyler Creamean, and SGT Ben Morton on Saturday, May 28th in Mosul, Iraq. He said, "I offer these comments to give everyone a small glimpse into the lives and sacrifices of three incredible men."

Thank you for sharing this message.

*****
GEN Rodriguez, GEN Bergner, COL Brown, Sergeants Major, friends of Deuce Four, and most importantly the men of Deuce Four. Thank you for coming today to honor and remember three of our fallen warriors.

Forgive me if I go long but these were extraordinary men.

Again we are drawn together as a band of brothers to mourn the loss of three Deuce Four warriors and sappers. We are truly a band of brothers. The bonds of camaraderie and friendship that we share from fire team to battalion are as strong as the very bonds of marriage. These bonds are forged and bound under the stress and fire of daily combat. We are bound together in shared friendship, shared hardship, shared loss and a desire over any other to ensure you care for the man on your left and right flank.

William Shakespeare in Henry V describes the bond that we all share. At the battle of Agincourt in 1415 AD, the English were outnumbered 5 to 1 and faced a formidable French foe that blocked their return route to England. The English were certain that no one would make it out alive. Henry V turned to his men to tell them about the uncommon bond that is shared in combat. He states –

“From this day to the ending of the world. But we in it shall be remembered; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me today shall be my brother.”

Today we mourn the loss of three brothers in arms – 1LT Aaron Sessan, SPC Tyler Creamean, and SGT Ben Morton.

Deuce Four with our Sapper brothers have done extraordinary things for one reason and one reason only. It is because of extraordinary men. There is no piece of equipment that makes us successful, there is no technological advantage that is the key to winning, there is no special training we possess that turns the tides against the enemy. It is for one reason and one reason only that we are successful – the extraordinary men that make up this organization. Men that know that leadership means just that – leading – out front, in harms way where they are at the greatest risk. Extraordinary men that would sacrifice their own lives for their fellow soldiers. Men who place the needs of others above their own. Men who accomplish every mission for no reason other than they do not want to let down their brother in arms.

LT Aaron Sessan and SPC Tyler Creamean were out front leading on a Stryker sweep. These were men that knew the cost of leadership – out front exposing themselves to risk. A Stryker IED Sweep by its very name implies great danger and risk. You are traveling the most heavily mined and bombed roads in Iraq not trying to avoid the mines and bombs but actually trying to find them. Why? So that others can travel safely without fear of attack. Stryker sweeps are not an exact science as the enemy has become very adept at hiding his mines and bombs. It requires experience, incredible skill, patience and being out in front of the other combat patrols and logistical convoys. Sappers LT Sessan and SPC Creamean were out front leading a Stryker IED sweep. They risked their lives so that others might be safe. Our brothers in arms, LT Sessan and SPC Creamean made the ultimate sacrifice for others when their vehicle was hit by one of the very IEDs they were looking for. But it did not end there, while they were mortally wounded LT Sessan and SPC Creamean kept trying to direct medical attention to each other and PFC Buck who was also wounded. That is what leaders do – they place the needs of others over their own, even when they are mortally wounded. These Sappers were incredible men that will never be forgotten.

I would now like to talk about a very special person and leader with whom I had daily interaction, someone I fought next to, and one of the finest men I have had a chance to get to know – SGT Ben “Rat” Morton.

If there was someone that defined the term quite professional it was Rat.

Rat was special and quite frankly I do not think I ever heard him called anything else. I remember one time someone said “Morton” and I said, "who?" " Rat sir". "Oh"…I didn’t now we had a Morton, but I damn sure knew we had Rat. I am not sure he even knew he had any other name. It even extended to the battlefield. I am not sure what day it was – but we were somewhere in northwest Mosul doing a cordon and search. Rat was carrying the radio – I heard the call on the net on my PRC-148 “Hunter Three Romeo, this is Hunter Seven over..there was a pause for about 3 seconds…more agitation in his voice, Hunter Three Romeo, this is Hunter Seven over…another pause of about 3 seconds. Damn it Rat answer the radio!…then came the calm response,… this is Rat over…” that was Rat.

Rat knew about leadership and courage under fire. On the night Rat fell, he was leading his team clearing a house of a terrorist cell that specialized in car bombs. They quickly detained three of the terrorists on the first floor and moved rapidly up the stairs with Rat in the lead. The house had at least three women and 5 children on the first floor, some of them infants so they decided not to use flash bangs which can kill an infant. There were two terrorists that were hiding in a back room and they moved to the balcony in the hopes they would not be caught. Rat was the #1 man into the room, followed by his team. The terrorist hiding on the balcony knew they would be certainly caught and reached around the corner and fired an AK-47 on full automatic through the window hitting Rat four times. The team returned fire and cleared the rest of the house. Rat’s sacrifice resulted in killing one terrorist, wounding one, and detaining 5 members of a car bomb cell. Rat was awarded an ARCOM with Valor device for his actions that night. Rat knew that leaders lead from the front. I also know there is not a man in Deuce Four that would not want to be the #1 man entering and clearing a room of terrorists.

Rat also showed me how to laugh in the worst of situations. It was 11 Dec and we had just been hit by a suicide car bomb followed by very heavy small arms, RPGs, and mortars from 3 directions. We now had seven wounded and a Stryker was on fire. Rat and Plum were the first ones on the scene with fire extinguishers in hand putting out the fire, caring for wounded comrades, and then rejoining the fight. Strykers with dismounted teams were holding a tight perimeter against 25 insurgents that were attacking from 3 directions. An RPG had just hit one of the Strykers and two mortars landed right behind Rat’s Stryker. We had a fix on one enemy position to the SW. We were doing out best to rubble the building with .50 cal and Mark-19 and fast movers were still 5 minutes out. Rat grabbed a SMAW-D which would certainly rubble the building. As he raised up the weapon, 2 more mortars landed in our perimeter within 20 meters of Rat’s Stryker. He fired and the SMAW-D impacted about 30 meters in front us – we even thought it was a larger enemy mortar. Rat smiled, laughed and yelled out over the fire fight – “This one was defective – what do you expect from a Marine weapon…” You see, the SMAW-D was designed by the Marines; however it has to be aimed to hit its target…

Rat did many more amazing things that day that I do not have the time to share. Rat was awarded the Bronze star for Valor for his actions on 11 Dec. He was a hero to all of us. He is now in heaven taking pictures from an incredible vantage point. He is finding and collecting things so that when we join him and go to him and ask if he has a certain item – he will smile and return with just the item you needed.

To the men of Deuce Four we now honor our 14th warrior and sapper to die defending the freedom of an oppressed people that truly do not understand the sacrifices that we make. The only words I think that can describe their sacrifice are not even my words. They are the words of Winston Churchill in WWII describing the sacrifices warriors make. He states:

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few”

You see – there are 26 million people in Iraq whose freedom we are fighting for, against terrorists and insurgents that want a return to power and oppression, or worse, a state of fundamentalist tyranny. Some of these we fight are international terrorists that hate the fact that in our way of life we can choose who will govern us, the method in which we worship, and the myriad other freedoms we have. We are fighting so that these fanatical terrorists do not enter the sacred ground of our country and we have to fight them in our own backyard. We fight for 296 million US citizens in America. We fight for the man on your left and right so that he can return home to his family and loved ones --we fight for each other. LT Aaron Sessan, SPC Tyler Creamean and SGT Ben Morton fought for all of us. Never was so much owed by so many to so few.

These three warriors joined the rest of the Deuce Four Advance Party. CPT Bill Jacobsen is in charge of the formation while 1SG Bordelon called out the names to make sure all are present. SPC Tommy Doerflinger, CPT Bill Jacobsen, SGT Robert Johnson, CPL Jonathan Castro, SPC Lionel Ayro, PFC Oscar Sanchez, SGT Nathanial Swindell, SGT Adam Plumondore, SPC Clint Gertson, SGT Anthony Davis. 1SG Mike Bordelon, SPC Tyler Creamean, 1LT Aaron Sessan, and SGT Ben “Rat” Morton. These 14 warriors now stand high above us overwatching us, providing guidance and direction in the most difficult times. Never was so much owed by so many to so few.

On this day, we ask almighty God to grant us patience and steadfast resolve in all that is to come. We ask the Master Physician to reach down and use his healing hand to heal our wounded brothers. May God Bless Deuce Four, 1st Brigade, and may God Bless America.