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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Honolulu Dick, post: 1261948, member: 24745&quot;]Many thanks for sharing the the story of a hero having his remains returned home.&nbsp; Good on you!</p><p><br /></p><p>For those of us who were infantry Grunts in Vietnam, the helicopter DoorGunners were our heroes.&nbsp; They kept us supplied with desperately needed ammo, C-rations and life-sustaining potable water to quench our parched throats.&nbsp; No matter how exhausted and grimy with rice paddy mud we were, the sound of in-coming chopper blades and the sight of a DoorGunner waving to us, gave us the extra we needed to keep on keeping on.</p><p><br /></p><p>Even when the bullets were flying, being Grunts, we could crouch down next to a rice paddy dike.&nbsp; Not the DoorGunner, they had nowhere to go.&nbsp; They had to remain fully exposed, in a slowly settling&nbsp;&nbsp; aircraft, to the automatic weapons-fire being thrown at them.&nbsp; They courageously faced the impossible in order that we ground-pounders were kept supplied.&nbsp; Respected them then!&nbsp; Continue to admire them now!</p><p><br /></p><p>Unffortunately, the loss of America&#039;s finest continues.&nbsp; However, a new twist has been added ... the presence of a spouse.&nbsp; Recently lost [KIA 25JUN11, Kunar Province, Afghanistan] an exceptionally courageous young warrior brother.&nbsp; He died being a hero, with the handset of his radio in his hand as he called for fire support to save his pinned-down platoon.&nbsp; Both he and his Army wife were West Pointers, they took airborne training and jumped out of airplanes together, he graduated from the Army&#039;s Ranger School and they both were assigned to the 25th Infantry Division [Tropical Lightning], Schofield Barracks, HI.&nbsp; They deployed to A-stan together.&nbsp; She was assigned to Forward Operating Base [FOB] Fenty, the location of the 3rd Brigade Headquarters.&nbsp; Being an infantry Grunt, he was assigned to FOB Joyce, in the more distant boonies.</p><p><br /></p><p>When his unit became involved in a firefight, his wife was in the Brigade&#039;s Tactical Operations Center [TOC] listening to the radio transmissions.&nbsp; She heard enough to know that her husband&#039;s unit was in deep trouble and had taken casualties.&nbsp; Her worst fears were confirmed when her unit commander and Chaplain approached her wearing solemn expressions.&nbsp; She is now a young, beautiful, 24-year old widow, having lost the one and only love of her life.&nbsp; This is an American tragedy, one that most of us are not aware of.&nbsp; It turns out that the most dedicated among us sacrifice the most to preserve our way of life.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sharing helps.&nbsp; Thanks![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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