"Give me a second. I gotta go kill these guys first."

A major hat tip to CDR Salamander. for this post.

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Even as the previous post reports, war is less intense than anytime in the past half century. But there are still places where it is necessary to confront men who want to do evil in an attempt to return to a world filled with short brutal violence.

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It was a small battle, but epic in it's intensity. A reinforced platoon of American paratroopers and Afghan soldiers manning an forward operating base in Afghanistan's Kunar province. This story is about the men of an outpost of nine men who bore the brunt of the attack by over 200 heavily armed Taliban.

"Give me a second. I gotta go kill these guys first." Last words heard from Cpl. Matthew Phillips of 2nd Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team as he fought Taliban combatants in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

The first RPG and machine gun fire came at dawn, strategically striking the forward operating base’s mortar pit. The insurgents next sighted their RPGs on the tow truck inside the combat outpost, taking it out. That was around 4:30 a.m.
This was not a haphazard attack. The reportedly 200 insurgents fought from several positions. They aimed to overrun the new base. The U.S. soldiers knew it and fought like hell. They knew their lives were on the line.

This account of the small battle, last week that claimed the lives of 9 American Soldiers is riveting and should make all Americans proud beyond words. We can continue to squabble about Iraq, but Afghanistan is the place that the evil visited upon the United States sprang forth on September 11, 2001. We have a mission to complete and this is the source that everyone, Obama, McCain, the Europeans, even the Iranians agree, is a threat to all who desire connectivity and peace. I would wish that everyone who reads this post takes the time to read this account of bravery. The courage displayed by these soldiers moved me to tears as I remembered others who in a war of my youth were faced with such odds and stood their ground and gave their lives for their fellow soldiers.

Spc. Tyler Stafford paid them this tribute.

"It was some of the bravest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life, and I will never see it again because those guys," Stafford said, then paused. "Normal humans wouldn’t do that. You’re not supposed to do that — getting up and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in over your head … It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ’ em off."

The war in Afghanistan has claimed lives of soldiers from 22 countries. It will claim many more before the job is complete. http://icasualties.org/oef/

The honor roll of these brave souls.

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Brostrom, Jonathan P.
1st Lieutenant
24
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team

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Garcia, Israel
Sergeant
24
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Long Beach
California
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Rainey, Pruitt A.
Corporal
22
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Haw River
North Carolina
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Bogar, Jason M.
Corporal
25
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Seattle
Washington
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Phillips, Matthew B.
Corporal
27
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Wanat (Kunar province Kunar)
Jasper
Georgia
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Ayers, Jonathan R.
Corporal
24
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Snellville
Georgia
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Hovater, Jason D.
Corporal
24
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Clinton
Tennessee
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Abad, Sergio S.
Private 1st Class
21
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Morganfield
Kentucky
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Zwilling, Gunnar W.
Corporal
20
U.S. Army
2nd BN, 503d Infantry Reg (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team