Specalist
Specalist
I received a call from my son after he returned from an exercise earlier this week. Said he is no longer a PFC and is now a Specialist. This was good news as I didn't think he would be promoted until after Ranger School. He also mentioned he will most likely extend a year to be able to attend the School. Said he will have some leave shortly and we will talk about it then. I am thinking his life just got a little better in Batt. I also plan on introducing him to this site as I think he will enjoy it as much as I have.
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Spartan
That is very good news indeed. Congratulations.
I don't know how it is for those young men as far as how they are treated, being a SP4 with no Ranger Tab. But I would think that the CIB and Gold Star on the jump wings more than make up for it.
Can you shed any light on that for us, Proud Ranger Dad?
I don't know how it is for those young men as far as how they are treated, being a SP4 with no Ranger Tab. But I would think that the CIB and Gold Star on the jump wings more than make up for it.
Can you shed any light on that for us, Proud Ranger Dad?
Thanks Rangers for the congrats. Ranger Neves, thanks for asking that question. I can now tell you yes he earned his CIB in Afghanistan early last year without sounding too boastful. He still does not have a combat jump as far as I know. I will try to relocate a URL I had to a newspaper that had an article about B co. and a certain little dam in Iraq and post it here. It was released by Batt. so it would not be a problem with opsec. I will post it as soon as I can find it. They did some amazing stuff.
Posted on Sat, Apr. 26, 2003
Fight for Dam was 'classic'.
3rd Battalion took Hadithia dam and held it for 21 days
BY TONY ADAMS
Staff Writer
The battle for Haditha dam in Iraq will be chronicled as a "classic,"a U.S. ArmyRanger battalion commander said Friday morning upon returning to Fort Benning.
The 75th Ranger Regiment's 3rd Battalion was ordered to seize the dam northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad because U.S. fears it would be blown up and flood a vital pass at Karbala. Fort Benning's 3rd Brigade, an armored fighting force, would later use the Karbala Gap as its gateway to Baghdad.
"We sent a very small Ranger force to seize that dam. We were tasked initially to hold it for only 24 hours, but we ended up holding it for 21 days," said Lt. Col. Steve Banach, commander of the 600-troop 3rd Ranger Battalion. He was among 100 soldiers to receive a rousing standing ovation from wives, children and friends as they marched into an aircraft hanger at Lawson Army Airfield.
The initial battle for Haditha dam, located on the Euphrates River, was intense and covered nine days. Banach said. Several hundred Iraqi soldiers had taken up position near the dam and were raining artillery and mortar rounds down on the Rangers as they moved to take it.
"We got pretty accurate mortar fire from the Iraqi troops," said Sgt. Nick Hunter, 26, a fire team leader with the battalion. "You could feel the shrapnel landing on the groung next to you."
Banach said the Rangers eventually grabbed a key piece of terrain and turned the tables. In the process, the Fort Benning troops, with help from 600 Air Force bombing runs, either killed or wounded between 300 and 400 Iraqis. They knocked out 29 tanks, nearly 30 artillery pieces, 23 anti-aircraft guns and numerous other armored fighting vehicles.
"We interrogated enemy prisoners of war," Banach, 44, said. " Their information back to us is that we hurt the Iraqis in that area very badly."
The 100 Rangers being welcomed home Friday morning weren't the first to return. Carol Darby, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., said about 80 soldiers flew back to Benning on Thursday. Large amounts of equipment and ammunititon accompanied them.
A second flight Friday was to raise the day's total to 150, while another 200 Rangers are expected to return to the post today, said Sgt. 1st Class Paul Fuentes, a spokesman for the 75th Ranger Regiment. All of the 3rd Battalion troops should be home by May 1, he said.
Fort Benning commander Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton said he has not received word on when the post's 3rd Brigade and its 4'000 troops will begin returning from combat duty in the Persian Gulf. The fst Armored Division based at Fort Hood, Texas, is in the region now and moving north toward Baghdad.
"That would seem to indicate that there is going to be a battle handoff," Eaton said, " but I do not know the timeline."
Becaause of the sensitive nature of their missions, the Rangers had not been allowed to communicate with loved ones since their mid-February departure. Friday's homecoming offered sweet moments for many, with families and friends smiling, hugging, kissing and shedding tears.
"It was terrifing with the media coverage," Mary Katherine Jones, 22, said of the two-month separation from her boyfriend, Capt. Will Weing. "My generation hasnever seen this before, and to actually see what was going on, I couldn't believe he was there. I've had nightmares almost every night.
Weing, 26 said he only had two hot meals and one shower the entire stay in Iraq. But it wasn't the combat and austere conditions that have been etched in his mind. It is the return flight home aboard the Continental Boeing 777 aircraft. Approching New York, the pilot told his uniformed passengers to peer out their windows and take a peek at what, essentially, had sparked the war against terrorism and the war with Iraq.
"They told us that we had been authorized to fly over ground zero," Weinig said, to view the crater left by the Sept. 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center's twin towers. "They said it was actually the first commercial airliner that's come that close to groung zero since Sept. 11. That was just a very, very surreal experience to fly right over it and know the last airliner that was there was crashing into the towers."
Aside from the Haditha dam fight, Banach said his Rangers helped put out a major oil well fire near the Hiditha dam. They also preformed a number of raids and airborne assaults, including seizing an airfield in western Iraq to allow the U.S. military to airlift in Abrams tanks for a second front west of Baghdad.
2003 Ledger-Enquirer
Fight for Dam was 'classic'.
3rd Battalion took Hadithia dam and held it for 21 days
BY TONY ADAMS
Staff Writer
The battle for Haditha dam in Iraq will be chronicled as a "classic,"a U.S. ArmyRanger battalion commander said Friday morning upon returning to Fort Benning.
The 75th Ranger Regiment's 3rd Battalion was ordered to seize the dam northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad because U.S. fears it would be blown up and flood a vital pass at Karbala. Fort Benning's 3rd Brigade, an armored fighting force, would later use the Karbala Gap as its gateway to Baghdad.
"We sent a very small Ranger force to seize that dam. We were tasked initially to hold it for only 24 hours, but we ended up holding it for 21 days," said Lt. Col. Steve Banach, commander of the 600-troop 3rd Ranger Battalion. He was among 100 soldiers to receive a rousing standing ovation from wives, children and friends as they marched into an aircraft hanger at Lawson Army Airfield.
The initial battle for Haditha dam, located on the Euphrates River, was intense and covered nine days. Banach said. Several hundred Iraqi soldiers had taken up position near the dam and were raining artillery and mortar rounds down on the Rangers as they moved to take it.
"We got pretty accurate mortar fire from the Iraqi troops," said Sgt. Nick Hunter, 26, a fire team leader with the battalion. "You could feel the shrapnel landing on the groung next to you."
Banach said the Rangers eventually grabbed a key piece of terrain and turned the tables. In the process, the Fort Benning troops, with help from 600 Air Force bombing runs, either killed or wounded between 300 and 400 Iraqis. They knocked out 29 tanks, nearly 30 artillery pieces, 23 anti-aircraft guns and numerous other armored fighting vehicles.
"We interrogated enemy prisoners of war," Banach, 44, said. " Their information back to us is that we hurt the Iraqis in that area very badly."
The 100 Rangers being welcomed home Friday morning weren't the first to return. Carol Darby, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., said about 80 soldiers flew back to Benning on Thursday. Large amounts of equipment and ammunititon accompanied them.
A second flight Friday was to raise the day's total to 150, while another 200 Rangers are expected to return to the post today, said Sgt. 1st Class Paul Fuentes, a spokesman for the 75th Ranger Regiment. All of the 3rd Battalion troops should be home by May 1, he said.
Fort Benning commander Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton said he has not received word on when the post's 3rd Brigade and its 4'000 troops will begin returning from combat duty in the Persian Gulf. The fst Armored Division based at Fort Hood, Texas, is in the region now and moving north toward Baghdad.
"That would seem to indicate that there is going to be a battle handoff," Eaton said, " but I do not know the timeline."
Becaause of the sensitive nature of their missions, the Rangers had not been allowed to communicate with loved ones since their mid-February departure. Friday's homecoming offered sweet moments for many, with families and friends smiling, hugging, kissing and shedding tears.
"It was terrifing with the media coverage," Mary Katherine Jones, 22, said of the two-month separation from her boyfriend, Capt. Will Weing. "My generation hasnever seen this before, and to actually see what was going on, I couldn't believe he was there. I've had nightmares almost every night.
Weing, 26 said he only had two hot meals and one shower the entire stay in Iraq. But it wasn't the combat and austere conditions that have been etched in his mind. It is the return flight home aboard the Continental Boeing 777 aircraft. Approching New York, the pilot told his uniformed passengers to peer out their windows and take a peek at what, essentially, had sparked the war against terrorism and the war with Iraq.
"They told us that we had been authorized to fly over ground zero," Weinig said, to view the crater left by the Sept. 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center's twin towers. "They said it was actually the first commercial airliner that's come that close to groung zero since Sept. 11. That was just a very, very surreal experience to fly right over it and know the last airliner that was there was crashing into the towers."
Aside from the Haditha dam fight, Banach said his Rangers helped put out a major oil well fire near the Hiditha dam. They also preformed a number of raids and airborne assaults, including seizing an airfield in western Iraq to allow the U.S. military to airlift in Abrams tanks for a second front west of Baghdad.
2003 Ledger-Enquirer
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Bell
proud dad, I'm proud too. That is so fuuuucking AAAAAA!!!
Maybe one day the Army will understand what a Ranger can do. Just give him the order then get out of the way and support him.
You're son is now a warrior. In the greatest sense. I'm sure you've seen him mature quickly since he enlisted. You have every reason in the world to be proud of your son. He will never be a boy again.
RLTW
Bell
Maybe one day the Army will understand what a Ranger can do. Just give him the order then get out of the way and support him.
You're son is now a warrior. In the greatest sense. I'm sure you've seen him mature quickly since he enlisted. You have every reason in the world to be proud of your son. He will never be a boy again.
RLTW
Bell
Congratulations to your son, Proud Dad, and to you. I'm guessing that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. You must have done things VERY right to raise your son to acheive the things he has. Well done!!!!
I never wore a cape, but I still have my dog tags.
Experienced Peek Freak!!
173rd Abn LRRP...'66/'67
C/1/506 101st Abn
B/2/325 82nd Abn
Experienced Peek Freak!!
173rd Abn LRRP...'66/'67
C/1/506 101st Abn
B/2/325 82nd Abn
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Saltbitch
Proud Dad, that is truly commendable what your son and his comrades in arms accomplished. I have the pleasure of being close personal friends with one of the Plt Sgts in Bco 3/75 who was there with your son. I also know what he's been up to lately, and I have to say that those men are truly sacrificing for all of us. I know that you breathe easier this evening; knowing he's safe.
WE breathe easier knowing that brave men like your son are facing down danger in order to keep us safe in this great Nation of ours. Thank you.
RLTW!
WE breathe easier knowing that brave men like your son are facing down danger in order to keep us safe in this great Nation of ours. Thank you.
RLTW!