5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) honor Gold Star families

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (USASOC News Service, May 25, 2012) – Soldiers, family members, and friends of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), also known as The Legion, gathered together on Gabriel Field to honor their fallen during a Memorial Ceremony May 19....

How Can We Best Honor Their Memory on Memorial Day

I believe we veterans are a living tribute and have a solemn duty to bestow honor upon the memory of our fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters who gave the full measure of devotion in defense of our country and in defense of each other.

As I get older, the depths of my feelings and emotions mature while I seemingly become less wise. Everything, and not just physically, was somehow easier when I was younger. I no longer have all the answers I enjoyed with my youthful wisdom.

Army Ranger named Army’s premier paralegal

FORT BENNING, Ga. (USASOC News Service, May 18, 2012) – A Fort Benning Soldier has been named the Army’s top junior enlisted paralegal specialist.

Staff Sgt. Raymond Richardson Jr. of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, is the 2012 Sgt. Eric L. Coggins Award for Excellence recipient.

He was honored Friday during a ceremony at the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate. Next month, Richardson will receive the award from Lt. Gen. Dana Chipman, the Judge Advocate General, at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

“It really is an extremely significant achievement,” said Col. Meg Foreman, staff judge advocate for the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning. “This doesn’t happen very often in a staff sergeant’s life. The award is meant to recognize what right looks like. We’re very proud to claim him as our own.”

Fallen Special Operations Soldiers Remembered

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, May 16, 2012) – The U.S. Army Special Operations Command will honor 32 Special Operations Forces Soldiers killed while supporting combat operations during the past year in a ceremony, May 25, at 2 p.m. at the Fallen Special Operations Soldiers Memorial Wall adjacent to the USASOC headquarters building....

2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment Award Ceremony

TACOMA, Wash. (USASOC News Service, May 15, 2012) - The U.S. Army Ranger story is typically a closed book, but Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Rangers opened the pages of their latest chapter for an evening last week. The South Sound community had the rare opportunity to join 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, in recognizing its own at the Tacoma Dome, May 10.

More than 50 Rangers received commendations, which ranged from Army Commendation medals to a Silver Star for combat and non-combat action going back to 2005. The battalion also received two Valorous Unit awards for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, 2-75th Rangers has deployed for Overseas Contingency Operations 14 times. Their most recent Operation Enduring Freedom deployment concluded in December. During the five-month rotation they conducted 475 combat operations where they lost four rangers and one attached Soldier.

Staff Sgt. Sean Keough received the Silver Star for courage under fire in Afghanistan last year. The Silver Star is America's third highest combat decoration.