Staff Sergeant Michael J. Gabel and Corporal Joshua C. Blaney were killed in action by a roadside bomb while serving in Afghanistan on December 12, 2007. Both soldiers were proud members of the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade, Sky Soldiers. CPL Blaney was 25 years old and hailed from Matthews, NC. SSG Gabel, a 30 year old native of Baton Roughe, LA was on his third tour to Afghanistan.
His brother David Gabel said Michael had planned to re-enlist next year so he could serve more time in Afghanistan, a country that he loved.
“My brother believed in Afghanistan,” David Gabel said. “He really wanted to see schools, jobs and opportunities brought to the country. It was his third tour in Afghanistan, and the job there was unfinished.”
SSG Michael Gabel, Sky Soldier.
SSG Gabel had only a month before delivered the eulogy for three fallen Sky Soldiers, comrades in arms, friends that were killed in Kunar Provence.
“I will not be bitter,” Gabel said. “I will not shed any tears of sorrow. I’m proud to have known such a good man and a warrior to the bitter end. Until we see each other again, sky soldiers!”
America has given two more heroes to the fight for freedom. I’ll see you on Fiddler’s Green Sky Soldiers. Sgt Hook out.
Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler’s Green.
-Author Unknown
Specialist Cassandra Miles is a combat medic currently serving in Afghanistan with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. She recently returned to duty after suffering injuries from an IED blast, her second time being wounded. SPC Miles is on her third combat tour.
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - A Soldier serving her third combat deployment returned to Afghanistan Nov. 12 from undergoing medical treatment in Germany after suffering her second injury from two Improvised Explosive Device detonations.
New Brunswick, N.J., native Spc. Cassandra L. Miles volunteered to return after suffering a mild concussion and possible Mild Traumatic Brain Injury as a result of the IED attack she survived on Oct. 28 and another attack earlier this year when she suffered minor headaches and burns.
Serving as a medic attached to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, an IED exploded near her Humvee door during a patrol in Logar Province.
WASHINGTON (Oct. 12, 2007) - When Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty put himself between a suicide bomber and the bomber’s intended targets at the grand opening of a new medical facility in Khost, Afghanistan, he wasn’t thinking of the strategic, or even tactical, importance of his actions.
All he wanted was to protect his fellow soldiers, the Afghan people they were helping and the new emergency room his provincial reconstruction team had spent months working to make a reality.
—
Staff Sgt. Fetty said he remembers hearing the blast of weapons from other members of the security team firing at the attacker. He shot again, at the man’s stomach. He’d heard that it’s safe to fire into a suicide vest, but didn’t want to test his luck by firing into the attacker’s chest. “That’s a bad way for me to end up in a bunch of pieces,” he said.
Then the attacker looked at Staff Sgt. Fetty with “the scariest face I’ve ever seen.” The standoff had turned personal. “Earlier, he just looked crazy, but now he wanted to kill me,” Staff Sgt. Fetty said. “I knew what his intent was, and I abandoned all hopes of killing the guy before he would explode.”
Staff Sgt. Fetty took three steps before making a “Hollywood dive.” The blast came as he hit the ground, peppering him with shrapnel in the face, leg and ankle. All that remained where he had struggled with the attacker was a big hole in the ground.
—
Although he’s proud to receive the Silver Star, Staff Sgt. Fetty said anyone in his shoes would have acted the same way. “I don’t really believe in valor that much,” he said. “It’s more like the set of circumstances you’re put in. I think there are plenty of people over there who are just as brave as I am, who fortunately never found themselves in that situation.”
Well done Soldier. I’m proud of you. Sgt Hook out.
You may recall the story of Rambo, an Afghan security guard who recently stopped a VBIED attack on an FOB operated by U.S. forces. It looks like he’s been recognized for his quick thinking and bravery in protecting the coalition forces serving in Afghanistan. And oh-by-the-way, Rambo had help. Sgt Hook out.
Longtime reader Kim shared with me the following email that she received from an Army Captain currently serving in Afghanistan…
Hi everyone.
I’m still alive but freezing my tail off. We got 8 inches of snow last week and it reached 5 degrees below zero that night. That’s not why I’m e-mailing though. You may have heard about a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul last Thursday. It was at one of our FOB’s (Forward Operating Bases) about 27 miles from here. But the real story is why no one was killed.
We employ several thousand Afghans on our various bases. Not to mention the economy that is fed by the money these locals are making. Some are laborers and builders, but some are skilled workers. We even have one Afghan that just became OSHA qualified, the first ever. Some are skilled HVAC workers.
Anyway, there is this one Afghan that we call Rambo. We have actually given him a couple of sets of the new ACU uniforms (the new Army digital camouflage) with the name tag RAMBO on it. His entire family was killed by the Taliban and his home was where our base currently resides. So this guy really had nowhere else to go. He has reached such a level of trust with US Forces that his job is to stand at the front gate and basically be the first security screening. Since he can’t have a weapon, he found a big red pipe. So he stands there at the front gate in his US Army ACU uniform with his red pipe. If a vehicle approaches the gate too fast or fails to stop he slams his pipe down on their hood. Then once the gate is lifted the vehicle moves on the 2nd gate where the US Army MP’s are. So he’s like the first line of defense.
Last Thursday at 0930 hrs a Toyota Corolla packed with explosives and some Jack Ass that thinks he has 72 Virgins waiting for him approached the gate. When he saw Rambo he must have recognized him and known the gig was up. But he needed to get to that 2nd gate to detonate and take American lives. So he slams his foot on the gas which almost causes the metal gate to go up but mostly catches on the now broken windshield.
Rambo fearlessly ran to the vehicle, reached thru the window and jerked the suicide bomber out of the vehicle before he could detonate and commenced to putting some red pipe to his heathen ass. He detained the guy until the MP got there. The vehicle only exploded when they tried to push it off base with a robot but no one was hurt. I’m still waiting for someone to give this guy a medal or something. Nothing less than instant US citizenship or something. A hat was passed around and a lot of money was given to him in thanks by both soldiers and civilians that are working over here.
I guess I just wanted to share this because I want people to know that it’s working over here. They have tasted freedom. This makes it worth it to me.
-JOHN W. HUNT, CPT, US ARMY
I guess the MSM missed all of that, or didn’t think it worth publishing. Thanks Kim for sharing and thank you CPT Hunt for passing along the rest of the story and a very BIG THANK YOU to Rambo for not only standing up to evil, but for protecting our Soldiers serving in the Stan. Sgt Hook out.
UPDATE: Black5 has a similar letter written by a Staff Sergeant also currently serving in the Stan. A must read.
I am tired of people like Meredith Vieria from NBC asking oxygen thieves like Senator Chuck Hagel questions like “Senator, at this point, do you think we are fighting and dying for nothing?” Meredith might not get it, but soldiers do know the difference between fighting and dying for something and fighting and dying for nothing.
Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai while visiting the Pentagaon was asked if he had a message for your Soldiers. His answer…
“I was yesterday in the Walter Reed hospital. Ma’am, I was — let me find the right word — I was taken by emotions there, to put it in simple terms, of wounded soldiers and of a lady officer who had worked in Afghanistan, having six children, six boys. She was still helping the Afghan people.
“So my message for the American soldiers in Afghanistan is that they have liberated us from tyranny, from terrorism, from oppression, from occupation into a country that is now moving towards prosperity, that is once again the home of all Afghans. I don’t know if it resonates with you. It’s a very important thing for Afghanistan. Afghanistan was not the home of all Afghans. Today it is. Everybody’s back in that country with a parliament, with a constitution, with a market economy, with a free press, with all that.
“Also, that the presence of the American soldiers in Afghanistan, while helping Afghanistan, is also providing security to the rest of world by fighting terrorism. It means also security for America and for Europe.
“Therefore, the continuation of this fight in Afghanistan, in which all of us participate, is actually working for all of us around the world and in Afghanistan, for which we are grateful.”
I’m not sure if it resonates with the vast majority of our society, but it’s good to know the Afghans appreciate our efforts. Sgt Hook out.
The people of Afghanistan have been almost routinely providing coalition forces with information that has thwarted several terrorist and insurgent activities in the area.
In Nangarhar Province, a local civilian led Coalition soldiers to an unearthed Russian made 100 mm anti-tank round. A Coalition explosives team removed the would-be bomb, rendering it harmless.
Later, in Paktika Province, an Afghan impeded terrorists’ intentions by warning Coalition soldiers about two rockets pointed at a Coalition base.
A Coalition patrol located the rockets that were set to launch on a timer, and a strike from an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter destroyed the munitions.
In another incident yesterday, Afghan National Police discovered a remote-controlled, vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in the Ghazni Province ; again, a team of Coalition explosive experts dismantled the bomb.
The willingness of the Afghan people to step forward and defy their enemies, those that wold deny the citizens of the fledging democracy peace, is a sure sign that we are winning.
“The courage these residents display in stepping forward to show us where the ordnance is located is another example of how local Afghan people are helping to improve security and bring the violence to an end,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’re seeing more and more of this all the time.”
“The enemies of Afghanistan will soon realize the futility of their misguided efforts and lay down their arms to support reconstruction of their country instead of trying to tear it down,” Fitzpatrick said.
One wonders what the children of these villages are wearing on their feet? Sgt Hook out.
The other battlefield in the Global War on Terror has seen a productive year in 2005.
KABUL, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Jan. 3, 2006) – One year can change the face of a nation. Afghanistan made significant advancements in 2005 toward autonomy and security. The changes started in the first few days of the new year.
January
The Ghazni Province held a women’s shura, or council, with the help of the Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team. The shura proposed to give the women of Ghazni more of a voice in government and was supported by the governor of Ghazni, Asadullah Khalid.
April
Afghan democracy also took a step forward with the opening of the Guzara and Obe district courthouses in the Herat Province under the Afghanistan Rule of Law Project.
June
The 36th class graduated from the Afghan National Army’s basic training at the Kabul Military Training Center, bringing their troop levels to approximately 25,000.
September
September brought more change with the opening of the first paved road, aptly named “The Road of the Future,” in Paktika Province, The province’s governor, Gulab Mangal, described the road as a visible symbol of the improving quality of life and infrastructure that come with peace in the province. Afghan masons and laborers finished the 2.6-kilometer road in three months using large stones, assuring it will last many years.
On a momentous day, ANA troops and ANP officers, with a little help from Coalition forces, ensured the safety of 6.4 million voters in the national assembly elections on Sept. 18.
This site is a collection of my writings, thoughts, and ramblings and in no way reflects the official positions of the United States Army or the Department of Defense. OPSEC trumps everything.
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In view of a recent tendency to identify characters in fiction with real people, it seems proper to state that there are no real people in this volume: both the characters and their names are ficticious. The names or designations of any military units are ficticious. There are no living people nor existing military units presented in this book.
-Ernest Hemingway
Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.
-Author Unknown
The Blog of War
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