Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
A Team, 2nd Bn, 5th Special forces Group 1994, Mogadishu, Somalia
Thursday, May 27, 2021
These were the guys who provided liasion to the Quick Reaction Force for fire support.
Bravo Company of 7th Mech, was the Quick Reaction Force for UNOSOM 11. The Company Commander was Major Christopher Joseph whilst the 2nd in command was me. Type of fire support provided was AH64D (Apache Attack Helis) and AC-130 (Spectre), is a Hercules aircraft with a 105mm gun. It is fired from 6000 ft, also has an assortment of smaller calibre guns. Later an ANGLICO team from the US Marines joined in to complement the A team. The ANGLICO team was from the USS Pelulu.
These were for fire support from the ships. They, the guys in the picture and the Anglico (No pictures) were true brothers in arms. They stayed with us throughout, firefights and all. To be cool we brewed coffee in our Infantry Fighting Vehicles whilst under fire, we have electric water heaters and hot plates in our Condors. Once the coffee was ready we dashed across to these Green Berets , to pass them the styrofoam cups filled with coffee for them. They used to look at us spellbound. Stupid ?
Maybe. Small things, yep, but binding ties. Worth the relationship, they stuck with us through thick and thin. We also cross trained with them, on FIBUA (Fighting in a built up area) or in some countries they call it MOUT (Military operations in an urbanized terrain).
We trained with live rounds supported by Apaches, sometimes the tanks (M1A1 Abrams) and Bradleys did join us. We did cross sniper training with them too. There were "hide" positions manned by the above Green Berets, sometimes SEALs and always 7th Rangers (Mech). "Hide" positions are positions taken by snipers to take out (kill) targets.
One of the hide position was in the centre of an Egyptian unit's base. It was a tower, had a very good view into the centre of Mogadishu. From that position, many a militia was taken out. I was the sniper employment officer for the Malaysian Rangers. Of course, the Egyptians were very unhappy about it. They stayed with us for around 4 months. Okay these were the guys I was wanting to get in touch with in an earlier post, if any one of you out there know these guys, mention this blog to them. Click on the picture to get a clearer view. This photograph was taken in the compound of University Mogadishu.
Okay, seated from left to right : Sgt. Brian, Sgt Ray Van Horn,Captain Dan Maroun and Sgt "Chuck". 2nd row L to R : Sgt Tim "Little", Sgt Dwight (Sniper), Standing L to R : Sgt John, Sgt Dwayne Rogers and Sgt Rich.
United States of America 1. Captain Dan Maroun of the 2nd Battalion,5th Special Forces Group. (Somalia 1993 /1994). Last known address : 503, Cambridge Dr. Hopkinsville, KY 42240 USA 2. Sergeant Ray Van Horn, 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Somalia 1993/1994) Last known address :4193 King Arthur Ct. Palo Alto, California 94306 USA
3. Captain Spencer MacDonald, ANGLICO, USS Pelulu (Somalia 1994) His favourite quote, mocking (in jest) us Malaysians just because we were colonised by the British was, "Hip, hip cheerio !" Last known address : (714)707-1427, 2501, Mammoth Circle Lake Forest CA 92630 USA 4. Sergeant Dwayne Rogers, 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group.(Somalia 1993/1994) Last known address :1762, Lewis Rd. Crofton KY 42217 USA 5. Captain Bob Mc Govern (Somalia 1994 - ANGLICO USS Pelulu) Last known address : 128, Los Padres Drive, Oceanside CA 92054 USA Well, there are many others out there.
