People Sleep Peacefully in Their Beds at Night
- Thread starter SANDTRAP
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slick4591
Well-known member
God bless 'em.
jedstivers
Well-known member
That can't be stressed enough.slick4591":uv3fuxpr said:
bigbull338
Well-known member
they do what it takes to protect us.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
They endured a great deal to make the team. They were some of the few and obviously highly talented in the first place. There is no way to put a "value" on this. Their lives go well beyond "priceless."
They're a breed apart and I'm proud to say they're ours.
RIP
RIP
cross_7
Well-known member
i thought this was worth bringing back to the top
cross_7
Well-known member
SANDTRAP":2njscw9f said:People Sleep Peacefully in Their Beds at Night Only Because Rough Men Stand Ready to Do Violence on Their Behalf
Stephen Matthew Mills died doing his job.
"He loved his country, and he felt like what he was doing was right," said his mother, Cheryl Mills.
The 35-year-old former Arlington resident and Navy Seal was among 30 U.S. soldiers, including 21 other SEALs, killed Saturday in Afghanistan when their helicopter was shot down as it rushed to help Army Rangers who had come under fire. All 38 people aboard were killed, including seven Afghan commandos and an Afghan translator.
Mills and all but two of the other SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. Team 6 is the elite counterterrorism unit that killed Osama bin Laden in May, although none of the SEALs killed Saturday took part in that mission.
U.S. and Afghan officials said Sunday that the SEALs and Afghan commandos had been called into Wardak Province as a "quick-reaction force" to assist a U.S. ground unit facing stiff resistance from insurgent fighters.
"This unit was engaged in heavy fire on the ground, and they called for help," said one U.S. official.
The target of the initial mission, which one official said was being carried out by Army Rangers, was a Taliban leader whose network was responsible for a series of attacks and roadside bombs. Special forces are frequently used to target insurgent commanders as part of an effort to force the Taliban's leadership to agree to a negotiated peace. The operations, mostly in the form of night raids, are often carried out by Afghan and coalition special operations forces.
The rescue team had subdued attackers who had pinned down the Rangers and were departing in their Chinook helicopter when the aircraft was apparently hit, one of the officials said. Eight Taliban fighters were killed.
Military investigators spent Sunday in the Tangi Valley, where the Chinook transport helicopter crashed, combing the ground to verify the initial assessment that insurgents had used a rocket-propelled grenade to down the helicopter.
The Taliban claimed responsibility within hours of the crash. It was the single largest loss of American life in the decade-long Afghan war.
The attack on the helicopter has heightened attention on the harsh reality that even now, at the height of the NATO troop presence and not far from Afghanistan's capital, large stretches of the country are perilous and heavily infiltrated by insurgents. Afghan and U.S. officials say that the area where the attack took place has become increasingly insecure even as NATO has stepped up its troop numbers nationwide.
Mills, a graduate of Arlington's Martin High School, joined the Navy 13 years ago, in part as a way to help support his wife and young son. But he soon set his sights on becoming a SEAL — even before finishing boot camp. He trained hard for it, embarking on a rigorous program of swimming, running and weight training to achieve his dream, said his mother, who lives in Bastrop, Texas. "He told me many times. 'Mother, I just can't believe I have the job I've always dreamed of.'"
The Navy commissioned Mills as a SEAL on Sept. 11, 2001, the same day terrorists attacked New York City and the Pentagon. Mills later completed the process that it takes to become a member of the elite Team 6.
"He's always been one that was a protector" and someone who fought against "anything that was unjust or unfair," his mother said. "He just saw that as a role in life he wanted to achieve. He tried his best to be the best at what he did."
Mills' friends and family said he'd been repeatedly in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. They described him as fearless and said Mills, a chief petty officer, rarely discussed his work.
"He definitely didn't brag about it," said his best friend, Casey Hedlund, a Lancaster firefighter. "He was extremely humble about it. He was doing it for me, doing it for you, doing it for everyone. Somebody had to do it, and they couldn't have found anyone better."
Cheryl Mills said her son had great compassion for Afghanis.
"He said they want the Taliban out of their country," she said. "He said they are such fierce fighters. He had much respect for them."
Mills, a father of three children, also recently embarked on a new chapter his life. On April 29, he married his second wife in an outdoor ceremony in Bastrop. Many of his SEAL comrades attended the wedding.
Mills was stationed in Virginia Beach, Va., where he lived with his wife and their 1-year-old son. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His family expects to meet his remains on Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base.
The Associated Press, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
God bless them.
Arkansas
Well-known member
See you down range Battle! *salute*
