Posted on 11/30/2001 11:10:05 AM PST by ppaul
AFGHANISTAN, 30-NOV-2001: US Marines from the 15th MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) raise two flags as 'colors' is called early November 30, 2001 on the Marine forward base in southern Afghanistan. At rear are Cpl Doug Steinman, 22, from Garrett, Indiana, right,and Sgt. Jason Campbell, 23, from Hadley, Pa. who tied the flags to a bamboo pole. In foreground are Lance Cpl Long Vo, 20, from Alron, Ill.(R) and Lance Cpl Jason Buttrill, 23, from Albiene, Tx. raising the flag.The Marines raised two flags this morning; One US flag and one flag given to the Marines from the state of New York City, scene of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center which killed thousands. Marines established a significant military presence in Afghanistan on November 25.
The New York City flag was given to the US Navy Seabees by firefighters and police at the World Trade Center as some two dozen Seabee reservists from the 133 Battalion were assisting the emergency efforts on the scene after the attacks. The Seabees were asked to raise the flag wherever they were mobilized qand it was first raised in Guam and then in the Marine forward base.
:
Beautiful.
Just what we need - two more lefty Senators in D.C.
All I can say is that something big has to be being planned. Frankly, for that sort of mission Marines and Navy are the second string. They have to be holding the Army back for something.
BULL S@#H!!
Tell it to the MARINES!!
Semper fi!
Yes but being an American is most important
Lance Cpl. Ajmal Achekzai, right, an Afghan-born Salt Lake City resident who works as a Farsi and Pashto translator, joins fellow U.S. Marine Michael Sean Leo from Diamondbar, Calif., as they raise the U.S. flag on the Marine forward base near the Taliban's stronghold of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on Thursday.
Twenty years ago, Tor Achekzai, an academic, fled Kabul when he learned he was about to be arrested for his opposition to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
In a matter of hours, Achekzai went into hiding and paid $2,000 to have himself, his wife and two young sons smuggled into Pakistan. From there he made his way to America. Ten years ago, he arrived in Utah.
On Thursday, Achekzai got a fright of a different kind from Afghanistan. The family received a call from a reporter asking about their son Ajmal. The 5-year-old they had smuggled into Pakistan so long ago is now a 26-year-old U.S. Marine. The Salt Lake City family had not heard from him for a week and, like many service families, were worried he was near the fighting.
"When I heard the call was about my son in Afghanistan, I thought, 'Has he been killed?' My wife also was shocked."
Lance Cpl. Achekzai is fine, they were assured. The Associated Press had transmitted a photo of Ajmal and fellow Marine Michael Sean Leo of Diamondbar, Calif., raising the U. S. flag over a secret forward base within striking distance of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Helicopters and transport aircraft landed on the airstrip through the night, bringing in reinforcements and construction machinery. By the end of this week up to 1,100 Marines will be at the base.
The photo, reminiscent of the famous Iwo Jima flag-raising in World War II, made the two Marines celebrities.
"I'm coming back home," Ajmal, who is working with the command on the base as a Farsi and Pashto translator, told the photographer. "I get chills putting this flag up."
His father said Ajmal probably doesn't know how close to his roots he is.
The Kandahar region is the ancestral home of the Achekzai family that later migrated to Kabul. "He is in the land of our great, great grandfather."
Ajmal, an Olympus High School graduate known to friends as "A.J.," surprised his family two years ago when he announced he was enlisting in the Marines.
"He said it was a challenge," his father remembered. "I liked that reason. I told him, 'I wish you the best.' "
Though Tor Achekzai opposed the Soviet invasion of his country, he supports the U. S. intervention.
"The United States is not occupying, they are helping," he said, listing two just objectives: terrorist Osama bin Laden's capture and the toppling of an oppressive regime. "One stone; two birds," Achekzai says.
"I'm proud of my son. He's doing something for good, for the right cause."
In December, Tor Achekzai, who manages a pizza restaurant in Sugar House, will be getting U. S. citizenship. Then, he hopes to apply to the new Afghan government for dual citizenship.
"That's my first country. The United States is my second country," he says. "After years of war the young people have never seen peace. I'd like to go back and help."
The indications are that the Marines are going to secure that as a temporary base then use a larger force (probably one of the light divisions) to take the Kandahar Airport. Note in the other discussion the description of the poorness of the underlying material of the runway.
It was a (humorous) dig at the Marines but also true; the entire Marine Corps couldn't footprint Kandahar.
As to "can't get their tanks", there is an ARMORED BRIGADE prepositioned at Diego Garcia (14 sailing hours from Karachi.) And most of the Marine's gear is being flown in from Saudi out of pre-po stocks.
So much of "there are not even any Pashto translators in the United States Military."
You go, Jarhead. You go.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.