"Roger that, sir. Thank-you."

[CA-35]

The mother of a Navy SEAL killed in a firefight in Afghanistan christened a warship bearing her son‘s name. The USS Michael Murphy (DD-112).

Already shot and disregarding his own safety, Murphy left his protected position and went to a clearing — where he was exposed to a hail of Taliban gunfire — to get a clear signal to contact Bagram Airfield to relay the dire situation. He dropped the satellite phone after being shot a second time but finished the call and even signed off, “Roger that, sir. Thank you.”

Fair wind and a following sea. RIP Michael
Here's a link to the article:
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2011/may/05/bc-us-seal-hero-warship/?news&nation-world

 

[capnjuan]

... Yep..you can't pour water on the bad guys face, but you can vaporize them with a missile from a Predator drone. It's a crazy world!

.. and one with limits. For example, we can't vaporize bad guys with drones while they're in our custody and it's too difficult to dump water on them from 10,000 feet ... although a good pilot ... with fair weather ... maybe we should look into it.

We have enemies at the gates folks and all the joining of hands while singing Lennon's 'Imagine' isn't going to do much except annoy people who can't get past the images of The John striding down Park Avenue in his exotic fur coat, hair streaming back, walking his Afghans (dogs ... not Afghanis) back to his lux digs at the Dakota ... or curled up in the Primal Scream fetal position longing to return to the womb; I guess these were his efforts at promoting whirled peas ... it looks like it was a good business for him to be in.

It's not like I know for sure but I think we're marching around in Afghanistan to do two things; reduce external Islamic fundamentalist pressure on the Pakistani government - which has nukes - by taking away the hiding places of the Hole In The Wall Gang ... thereby making it easier for the Pakistanis to control pretty much the same internal pressure there.

Being in Afghanistan and Iraq simultaneously also puts boots on the ground east and west of Iran - who wants to make nukes. These days, Iran can't seem to play nice in the sandbox and hangs out with the wrong crowd; (You Go!) Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong-il, and other questionable characters. It doesn't matter to me whether these are the stated the goals or not (I don't go to the news conferences anymore); they are the self-evident consequences of our being there.

At least seeing it this way allows us to rationalize and honor Mr. Murphy's sacrifice .. otherwise it's unconscionable that it was for nothing more than protecting American's God-given right to drive around in over-sized, gas-guzzling, 3-ton urban commando vehicles.

 

[Scratch]

Lt. Murphy's heroics are very well documented in Marcus Luttrell's book 'Lone Survivor'. It's a great read with in depth perspective on what those guys go through.

The word 'Hero' should be reserved for Lt. Murphy and the selfless warriors who without hesitation give their all that their team mates might live and that in the greater scheme, we can live freely.

 

[dapmdave]

Lt. Murphy's heroics are very well documented in Marcus Luttrell's book 'Lone Survivor'. It's a great read with in depth perspective on what those guys go through.

The word 'Hero' should be reserved for Lt. Murphy and the selfless warriors who without hesitation give their all that their team mates might live and that in the greater scheme, we can live freely.

Agreed. Great book.

Dave