Because this sort of thing doesn’t happen with everyone:
DESPITE being shot twice during an ambush in Afghanistan, an SAS soldier lashed himself to the front of his patrol vehicle so he wouldn’t be left behind if he passed out from loss of blood and kept on fighting…
Suffering from serious upper body wounds, the soldier struggled on to the front of his SAS long range patrol vehicle (LRPV) and, under heavy fire, used a rope to attach himself firmly between the vehicle’s bull bar and radiator.
Once he was secured, and there was no chance that he would fall off if he fainted, he picked up his rifle and resumed firing at the enemy during a two-hour fighting withdrawal…
The Digger, who cannot be identified, faded in and out of consciousness, emptying several magazines as volleys of enemy rounds and rocket propelled grenades, rained down around him.
Damn.
Happily the MoD bureaucracy is recognizing the bravery of their deployed soldiers in time-honored fashion:
While the Diggers fought for survival, bureaucrats in Canberra docked the pay of more than 100 SAS men, including many serving in Afghanistan.
Several troops had been told they had debts of $30,000 for allowances that shouldn’t have been paid and were being forced to repay the funds.
Some mistake in the autopay system, apparently.
There are soldiers, and there are bureaucrats. We only fight alonside the former.
Wouldn’t you think that Hollywood, which stopped looking for genuine, real-life heroes a looong time ago, would want to make a movie about that brave soldier? But nooo. They fund and release a movie, a “hit” piece about a sitting President of the United States filled with BS about BDS. It’s called “W” and the owner of the Hair Salon where I went this morning asked me if I had seen it. I said “Of course not. I wouldn’t waste any of the diminishing time I have left on this earth.” She gasped and said, “You like the Bushes?” I answered, “Of course I like the Bushes. They’re good people and two of them were good Presidents.” I left then, but I wonder if they’ll let me back in.
Oh well, good Presidents are far thinner on the ground than good hairdressers.
Marianne
Good for you Marianne. I see too many people acting apologetic for liking the President. You know…the worst president ever. That’s what the media wants us to think anyway.
And as for the SAS soldier, I hope that rope was payed for, so it won’t come out of his allowance.
All joking aside, we are lucky to have allies like these. Wish we had more.
a toast to the Diggers!
huzzah!!
Well done, Marianne!
Diggers! Hoo Rah!
I wonder if that Digger has read The Odyssey. Is the sound of gunfire the Sirens’ song for them?
Lex, in a post not too long ago, you quoted a departed SOCS who told his sailors, “All in, all the time.”
I think this Digger fits the bill.
It seems like every time some of us have to stand and take our places in the line, a few Aussies and Kiwis take their places on our flank. Fighting alongside them? Not a problem – an honor and a privilege.
Drinking alongside them, on the other hand…
It’s always been like that. My Father, a WW II Company Commander with the 42nd Rainbow Div. told the story of having lost a pair of binoculars on maneuvers in GA while as an enlisted type with the Big Red One in 1942. (for which his pay was docked at the time, btw) Three years later, in northern Germany under heavy artillery fire, a runner(crawler) at great risk to his life, locates my Father’s fox-hole. “Urgent msg for Capt_____, he shouted, shoving the pouch into my Dad’s hands before scurrying away. “What’s this,” Dad thought, Orders to retreat, attack redeploy? ! His mind raced. Could something have happened to my Mother or me–his newborn son–or both? He was half afraid to open the pouch……. Inside was a bill from the Quartermaster Corps dunning him a second time over for $75.00 and threatening to take it out of his pay if not remitted within 2 wks.
Gotta keep focused on the “really important” things, dont’cha know…
Dad used to remind me of the old Army saying about there being three ways to accomplish any given task: “There’s the right way; there’s the wrong way–and then there’s the Army way.” Some things are the same the world over. And never change.
I understand the SASR, like the other Commonwealth SAS units, are real close-to-the-vest about the identities of their active-duty personnel, so for reasons which I think should be obvious, I’ve dubbed our man here “Trooper Max Rockatansky”.
That is one hardcore, no-sh*t fighting man.
Ya know, we could stop the last example of ch*ckensh*t behavior real easy. Just make all orders requiring a payment from the soldier back to the army, or a dock in pay, required to be delivered in person by an officer from the quartermaster corp of rank O4 or higher and signed for by the receiving soldier.
As for The Digger? I hope he heals fast and can return to duty with his squad-mates soon. Every fighting man and woman out there can use a man like him along side them.
– Max
Marianne: good for you!!! I had a similar experience recently, though I think I may have had a little more luck with mine than you did.
I may have changed someone’s mind about voting for Obama. I’m serious! In the liberal wasteland that is New England… miracles can happen.
And once again we are prompted to ask the question that seems to have no answer…
Where do these men come from?
My dearest friend’s nephew is in Iraq right now – his first deployment as a Marine. Of all the things on his mind, all the things that he needs to know, pay attention to and worry about – one of the top items on his list of things for care packages?
Shaving blades. To be specific and in his own words:
“Yes the expensive Gillette 5 blade Fusion one’s. I still need to look pretty here.”
God love the lads from Oz. You can always count on them bringing their A game.
As with the inscriptions on the Blaine Peace Arch, “Children of a common mother”, and (may we) always be “Brethren dwelling together in unity.”
Raise a glass, indeed. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere isn’t it?