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Wounded U.S. Soldiers Refused to Leave Taliban Fight
ABC News ^ | 10/5/2009 | Karen Russo

Posted on 10/05/2009 6:20:36 PM PDT by Saije

Flying into the besieged Afghan base during a nighttime firefight this weekend was a harrowing mix of overwhelming noise, stomach dropping maneuvers and shadows hurrying through the gloom.

When the chopper lifted off moments later with three wounded soldiers, it left behind others who were wounded but refused to be MEDEVACED out of the combat zone so they could return to fight with their buddies.

Fighting raged at two remote U.S. outpostsnear the Pakistan border this weekend, that left eight U.S. soldiers dead and 24 wounded. The battle was fought from Friday night through Sunday as hundreds of Taliban insurgents and their allies tried to overrun the Americans.

During the fighting, the insurgents succeeded in breaching the outer defense of the base at times before being repelled with the help of attack helicopters, fighter jets and drones. It was the bloodiest battle in a year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

During the fight, the MEDEVAC team at a nearby base waited - with both patience and frustration.

MEDEVAC teams are known for flying into some of the most deadly areas in the world to rescue injured soldiers. MEDEVAC helicopters are unarmed so they often need supporting aircraft to protect them, and sometimes the cover of darkness is their only defense...

As we were flying into the attack space, the MEDEVAC team with one medic and a doctor were preparing for the oncoming patients, setting up IV's, pulling out medical equipment...

One of the pilots said that even though he had night vision goggles and ordinarily he can see in that sort of situation, because the fighting was intense there was so much smoke it was actually fogged over and it was difficult for him to see. Fortunately he could make out the landing zone, but it was touch and go.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; battle; medevac; wounded
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ABC News' Karen Russo was the only reporter to get to the scene of this weekend's bloody firefight between U.S. troops and hundreds of Taliban insurgents when she went in on a MEDEVAC helicopter. Here is her report...

It's easy to make fun of reporters and question their bias but I give credit to this reporter for being there. Had to be scary as h*ll. And no surprise that wounded soldiers wouldn't leave. Committed is more than a word.

1 posted on 10/05/2009 6:20:37 PM PDT by Saije
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To: Saije

Pray for the return of Christ to protect these brave men. No one else will help them.


2 posted on 10/05/2009 6:23:41 PM PDT by lookout88 (.combat rescue officer's dad,)
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To: Saije

These brave soldiers do not deserve the way our government treats them. It is absolutely disgraceful!


3 posted on 10/05/2009 6:23:50 PM PDT by Islaminaction
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To: Saije

Maybe an ABC reporter can undergo a conversion to what’s right and the truth. Of course our troops never let us down ~ but our nation lets them down quite regularly, and woe betide the third-worlders who make common cause with us because when the Democrats come in there’s going to be genocide!


4 posted on 10/05/2009 6:27:21 PM PDT by muawiyah (qui)
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To: Saije

I am so sad for our fighting military and embarrassed that their CIC thinks they can just wait a few more weeks until he gets around to making a decision whether or not to send them help.


5 posted on 10/05/2009 6:27:35 PM PDT by Wisconsinlady
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To: Saije

Those wounded heroes and the ones who fought so bravely to keep from being overrun by the enemy.....of whom the world is not worthy ....

Obama is not fit to untie the shoelaces of such men!


6 posted on 10/05/2009 6:29:53 PM PDT by Freedom'sWorthIt (Obama's Deathcare ---- many will suffer and/or die unnecessarily.)
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To: Saije; Allegra

GOD bless them... and those on this board that think that we should leave the battle fields in surrender and defeat do not even measure up to licking the blood and sh!t from these HEROE’S boots!

LLS


7 posted on 10/05/2009 6:32:50 PM PDT by LibLieSlayer (hussama will never be my president... NEVER!)
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To: lookout88

You are so right. It absolutely enrages me that these boys and girls are twisting in the wind while that @#$%$# sits up in the White House playing cards and sipping tea. I swear....something’s got to give soon. We are losing heroes every day over there,and it has got to stop.


8 posted on 10/05/2009 6:40:29 PM PDT by gimme1ibertee (Palin-Bachmann Overdrive 2012 !! :)-Thanks anyway,LL)
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To: Saije

Good Lord, please protect them. Please.


9 posted on 10/05/2009 6:43:05 PM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear ('They're drinking the juice.'~ Barack H. Obama)
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To: Saije

God bless these brave troops for standing by and defending their comrades while their Commander in Chief is abandoning them.

It takes a lot of courage to be a medivac pilot in a situation like that. I wonder, did they also send in any air support, or would that have broken the current rules of engagement?


10 posted on 10/05/2009 6:45:58 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Saije

I wonder if the Taliban is developing any respect for our troops yet? Any idea of the number of enemy dead?

parsy, who wishes Obama would make up his friggin mind


11 posted on 10/05/2009 6:50:42 PM PDT by parsifal (Abatis: Rubbish in front of a fort, to prevent the rubbish outside from molesting the rubbish inside)
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To: Saije

Are we as a nation worthy of them?


12 posted on 10/05/2009 6:51:50 PM PDT by VR-21 (If it's a vision of the future you want......)
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To: Saije

Of course Michelle Obama’s sacrifice is more that this solder .... /sarc off ....


13 posted on 10/05/2009 6:53:19 PM PDT by SkyDancer ('Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not..' ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Saije

Maybe she learned something about true Americans.


14 posted on 10/05/2009 6:54:43 PM PDT by Huskrrrr
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To: Saije
KAREN RUSSO
15 posted on 10/05/2009 7:00:34 PM PDT by radar101
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To: Saije

And if you knew a female news reporter were on the scene, NO WAY would you want to leave if you could still stand and pull a trigger.


16 posted on 10/05/2009 7:00:37 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: VR-21

“Are we as a nation worthy of them?”

No, any nation that refuses to give it’s warriors the support they need while they bleed for us is not worthy.
Until we get more troops in there, and change the bullshit ROE we will continue to send our best and brightest to their deaths in vain.


17 posted on 10/05/2009 7:04:39 PM PDT by sean327 (All men are created equal, then some become Marines!)
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To: radar101

Wow.....she’s huge....


18 posted on 10/05/2009 7:09:03 PM PDT by AndrewB (FUBO)
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To: Saije

My initial reaction to this is where was the Ready Reaction Force if the attack lasted from Friday until Sunday. The outpost, to my understanding is only 150 miles from Kabul. No Air Cav anymore?


19 posted on 10/05/2009 7:11:32 PM PDT by jwalsh07 (Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what you can do for Obama.)
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To: RushIsMyTeddyBear

Amen.


20 posted on 10/05/2009 7:28:10 PM PDT by Cathy
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