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And since I still think it's internet bullshit, of which you're about to indicate, I'd like something more than what you're stating here. By the way, the overall message content of the original post is a fairly accurate story. As old as I am, I do have folks (yup, my age) over in that sand hole, serving, (his men call him "gramps", makes me feel real good to be a bit older) as well as those there for profit. It's just a shame that the stories of the simple folks who really appreciate us over there are only told in emails that are edited by flakey individuals for their own purposes. So since you too have managed to miss the entire purpose of my original post and call me stupid, fire away with your "proof" that the email is both actual and real. Not, kinda, sorta, but REAL. I'll take the lumps if deserved, but I wonder how many out there understood what I said. You didn't! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 2:41 PM Subject: [COUPERS-FLYIN] You don't get this news from the networks > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > Rich, Al, All Others With Interest, > > I decided to search out Scott Stanger, Lt. Colonel, US Army. It would > appear Rich's sources are a great deal better than yours, Al. The > story is accurate although not an exact quote but a summary. > > I happen to like Mark Twain a lot. So, I looked through his stuff to > see if he had something to say that was appropriate for this situation > and he does. Al, pay particular attention! > > "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it > and remove all doubt." > - Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain > > Ron > > > > > Rich; > At the risk of starting the flames from those who won't understand my > position, I can appreciate you're feelings on this, but I'd rather you > omit > me from any messages of this nature. I consider them just another type > of > spam. 1. They have nothing to do with Ercoupes, and 2. it's probably > fictional internet junk that gets circulated by folks eager to share > their > patriotic passions. I, for one, don't need any semi-professionally > authored > stories to appreciate our men and women who are forced to give up so > much so > that we can fly whenever and almost wherever we want. Please check the > source of your offerings next time and you may better understand where > I'm > coming from. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "McClure, Rich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 5:56 AM > Subject: [COUPERS-FLYIN] You don't get this news from the networks > > > Family and Friends, Whatever you might be doing right now that might > make you think that you don't have time to read this message in its > entirety, you need to stop it. Take the time to read and reflect on > what Lt. > Colonel Scott Stanger, US Army, has to say about today in Iraq. Thanks > to > Ronda (his wife) for sharing with us all. And thanks to Scott and all > of the > other brave men and women who freely give of themselves for others. > > If any one has already gotten this from Scott, You will just have to > forgive me. I received this email from him this afternoon. I am sending > this > to as many people as I could think because I am so proud of my husband > and > his observations will tug at your heart strings. It goes to show all the > good that has come from their efforts. I thank God for men like him who > are > so willing to serve their country, and in return, serve others. > > ~Ronda > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > An Incredible Day. > > Today I got to witness first hand a new democracy take its first steps. > My > day started early....acutely my day started about 4 days ago because we > have > been going non-stop since then, hence no updates lately. I was up at > 5am and > my head was pounding and my sinuses were killing me. I was up and out > with > my team by 5:30am....I had to get at least one cup of coffee in me > before I > left. The day started slow and we had some small arms fire, 8 rockets > shot > at us, and we found one IED. The small arms fire and the rockets missed > us. > The IED was another matter, but we called our bomb guys and they took > care > of it with their bomb robot. Which, by the way, is their third robot. > The > first two died in the line of duty. The polls opened at 7am and that > when > things got interesting. > > The press showed up in droves. It would have been impossible to swing a > dead > cat and not hit a reporter in our area of operation today. I met > Campbell > Brown from NBC. She was likeable, but you could tell she did not want > to be > in Baghdad....she was very jumpy and looked a nervous. I guess we were > that > way when we first got here too but you get used to the shooting. Later, > when > we were dealing with the IED, a guy from PBS filmed the whole episode > and > told me that he was shooting a documentary for PBS. He had the camera > in my > face for about a half an hour while we got set to blow the IED. It is a > little weird trying to get rid of a roadside bomb when guy has a camera > in > your face. I finally got him to leave me alone when I told him we were > going > to blow the bomb in place. Since the bomb was on a bridge there was no > where > to hide so I put him behind my armored hummer and he stayed put. We > blew the > IED and the PBS guy left. > > We had very tight security on the polling sites and all around our area > of > operation. Iraqi police and Iraqi Army soldiers were at every polling > site > defending them. I have been planning for about 8 days for this mission > and > it was the largest we have done to date. Infantry, armor, attack > helicopters, engineers.... you name it, we had it. The Iraqi government > shut > down all traffic in the country so the streets were deserted. At about > 10am > the streets were packed with large crowds of people walking to the > polls. We > were on edge waiting for more attacks that never came. By about 3pm we > could > start to let our hair down and talk to the people. The site was amazing. > > We dismounted from our vehicles and were instantly mobbed by about 200 > kids. > The kids were all over the place playing in the streets while their > parents > voted. The kids walked with us for about 2 miles while we were talking > to > the adults. I have never seen anything like it. People everywhere > wanted to > talk to us and thank us. This is what it must have been like when the > Allies > liberated Paris. Iraqis of all ages wanted to shake our hands and thank > us > for allowing them to vote. The kids were proud to tell us that their > parents > voted. Adult after adult wanted to thanks us for making this day happen. > When the Iraqis voted they dipped their fingers in indelible purple ink > so > that polling officials could tell who had already voted. When we walked > the > streets the Iraqis would hold their purple finger up in the air as a > mark of > pride. They were very proud of their purple finger. The Iraqis > statements to > us were all the same; "Thank you for your sacrifices for the Iraqi > people", > "Thank you for making this day possible" The United States is the true > democracy in the world and is the country that makes freedom possible", > God > blessed the Iraqi people and the United States this day", " We have > never > known a day like this under Saddam", "This day is like a great feast, a > wonderful holiday". I shook more hands today then I have ever in my > life. If > you missed a hand they would follow for a mile to get a chance to shake > and > say thanks. It was nothing like we expected or have ever seen. The Iraqi > people were strong and brave today. The Iraqis stoic to danger, faced > fear, > and went out and voted. Then after they voted the Iraqis stayed on the > streets to celebrate by singing dancing and trying to shake the hand of > any > American that they could find. > > Even though today was a great day for Iraq, the Iraqis took their lumps. > There were 6 car bombs in Iraq today, 2 of them in Baghdad. One I > believe > did more for Iraqi moral then any other event I that I have ever > witnessed > here. A suicide car bomber drove up to a polling site, which was not to > far > from us, and blew up. The bomb did not kill anybody but the bomber > himself. > After the bomb went off the Iraqi voters calmly walked out of the > polling > site and spit on the remains of the suicide bomber. The polling site > stayed > open and the voting continued. That incident ran all day long on Iraqi > TV. > It was a beautiful act of defiance for the Iraqi people. The Iraqi > people > stood up for themselves today and stuck a purple finger in the enemy's > eye. > > Later in the day I thought about our sacrifices that we have made. I > wondered if the three men that my unit has sent home in flag draped > coffins > was worth what I saw today. I am still not sure if that is the case, but > when a grown Iraqi man thank me with tears running down his face it > made me > feel better about what we have accomplished. > > Addendum: > > Much later that night we had two Kiowa attack Helicopters working for > us. > One of our sister battalions was in contact and needed help. We > diverted the > helicopters to the other battalion and watched. A unit of the other > battalion was under attack by 15 insurgents. The enemy was trying to > flee on > foot in the open. That was a mistake. The Kiowa's launched 10 rockets > and > hammered the enemy. The pilots report after they attacked was two words, > "Target Destroyed"! > > Scott > > > > ======================================================================== > ====== > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/ > > ========================================================================== == == > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/ > > > > ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
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