This week there is one less member of the 'Band of Brothers'. Major Richard Winters who lead E company from the the landings in June 1944 through the end of the war. The New York Times reports he died on January 2 in Campbelltown, PA at the age of 92.
While I never met him I am sure the world is poorer for his departure and that his wife and two children have the commiserations of our community.
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Last Patrol
Something I hadn’t expected to see is happening tonight. As I type this the 4/2 Stryker Brigade is driving through Iraq on it's way to Kuwait. Tonight marks the official end to Operation Iraqi Freedom with the withdrawal of the last US combat units from Iraq. While I had heard that it was planned to happen soon I hadn’t truly believed it would be this soon or this significant.
While the US will still have some military personnel in country they will be operating in non-combat roles (ie training, administration, etc). [Something about the nomenclature and caveats being used here makes me want to draw some parallels to the ostensible mission of MAC-V but I feel that would be inappropriate right now and I don't want to bring political concerns into this.] Let us all hope that this change in deployments, posture and mission will be accompanied by an end to casualties for our troops that are still there.
So, as we all watch OIF move into the realm of history tonight let's prepare to welcome those that are returning home and keep those that are still in Iraq in mind as we await the eventual end of their mission and their (hopefully) safe return.
CORRECTION: The actual official end to OIF and the beginning of Operation New Dawn happens at the end of the month. This is the effective end of US combat troops' presence in Iraq. [Wed 20100819-13:32]
While the US will still have some military personnel in country they will be operating in non-combat roles (ie training, administration, etc). [Something about the nomenclature and caveats being used here makes me want to draw some parallels to the ostensible mission of MAC-V but I feel that would be inappropriate right now and I don't want to bring political concerns into this.] Let us all hope that this change in deployments, posture and mission will be accompanied by an end to casualties for our troops that are still there.
So, as we all watch OIF move into the realm of history tonight let's prepare to welcome those that are returning home and keep those that are still in Iraq in mind as we await the eventual end of their mission and their (hopefully) safe return.
CORRECTION: The actual official end to OIF and the beginning of Operation New Dawn happens at the end of the month. This is the effective end of US combat troops' presence in Iraq. [Wed 20100819-13:32]
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