CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

All we hear is about how badly the US soldiers treated some Iraqi prisoners of war.(and they make it seem like they are innocent civilians, all of them....) How about the heroes of the War, the Real Deal Patriotic Americans some who've given their life?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38570
(aricle has the story and picture...)

Hero's story told on Net
Column hailing Marine's deeds in war makes round

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Posted: May 20, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

A column hailing a U.S. warrior in Iraq is making its way around the Internet, as the writer hopes to publicize heroic deeds of U.S. military personnel to counter the media coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse scandal.


Capt. Brian Chontosh, right, receives Navy Cross.

"Maybe you'd like to hear about something other than idiot Reservists and naked Iraqis," begins Bob Lonsberry's May 7 column.

"Maybe you'd like to hear about a real American, somebody who honored the uniform he wears.

"Meet Brian Chontosh."

Lonsberry, a talk-radio host in Salt Lake City, Utah, goes on to tell the heroic story of Chontosh, a captain in the Marines, who recently received the Navy Cross for his bravery in combat.
The columnist decries the media for failing to report the brave actions of U.S. fighters:


The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are doing.
Oh, sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have fallen. And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out. And we're almost on a first-name basis with the pukes who abused the Iraqi prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and how we lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and how the world hates us.

We get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom.

But we don't hear about the heroes.

Lonsberry relays the story of Chontosh as platoon leader guiding his men into Baghdad a year ago. The unit came under heavy fire – "ambush city," as Lonsberry puts it.

Chontosh ordered his humvee to drive directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing at them, leading his men in a counter-assault.

Writes Lonsberry:


Over into the battlement the humvee went and out the door Brian Chontosh bailed, carrying an M16 and a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps pride. …
He fought with the M16 until it was out of ammo. Then he fought with the Beretta until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up a dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo.

At one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion.

When he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many more.

Lonsberry's account of Chontosh's valor has been posted on sites other than his own as his desire to get at least one Marine's story out strikes a chord on the Net.

"I was just doing my job; I did the same thing every other Marine would have done," said Chontosh upon receiving his medal two weeks ago. "It was just a passion and love for my Marines."

They won't. I'm in the Army, and one thing I learned a long time ago is that the media is very liberal and will spin anything to influence people into the same mind set as they are. They are making a big deal about losing 800 soldiers in a year when we lost more than that in the Army last year just due to traffic accidents in the states. Perspective. We lost more than 800 soldiers during the first 2 HOURS of D-Day.

The media does what the media wants, and God help everyone during a slow news period. Remember last year when it seemed like every 8 year old girl in the nation was going to be abducted the way the media spun it? Well we had more kidnappings during the year before it but no coverage. Can we say slow media day? So they all start harping about something to where they can feel like they are important again.

I think the worst idea ever was allowing jounalists into the fighting force in the middle of military operations, but its not my decision...lol

I believe that jounalists are just as bad as lawyers, and sometimes more so.

IMHO

Totally agree with you Raven, thousdands and thousands of people die in traffic accidents each year. And they forget how many people died 9/11 .....and how many people are getting blown up in Israel all the time!

El Al Airlines is now incorporating women into the ranks of undercover armed guards on its passenger flights, continuing a trend of Israeli women breaking into traditionally male-dominated defense positions.

A report in the daily Yediot Achronot said Israel's national airline is using as air marshals females who undergo the same rigorous training as their male counterparts.

The female guards all must be graduates of IDF combat units and are put through a difficult, hands-on program supervised by the Shabak, Israel's General Security Service.

Several Israeli women have in recent years been admitted into previously all-male Israel Defense Forces units, including air force combat pilots, front-line infantry and Israel's equivalent of the secret service.

According to the report, female bodyguards protecting Israeli leaders have performed as well as their male counterparts.

"If a woman can pilot an F-16, there is no reason she can't protect a pilot and passengers," an unnamed security official told the paper.

El Al is known to have the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security, and recently became the first commercial airline company to install an anti-missile system on its aircraft.

Despite several wars and endless violence in Israel, El Al has only had one hijacking, in 1968, before the airline implemented its sophisticated security apparatus.

Other catastrophes have been averted since. One bomb was found in 1979 in Zurich in the bag of a German passenger who looked nervous – he thought he had been hired to smuggle diamonds. Another bomb was discovered a few years ago in the bag of a pregnant English passenger in London, placed there by her Palestinian lover.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38934

Yeah I think that US Airline Companies could learn alot from El Al Airlines...If they cared enough to look and listen...

3/5 Marines awarded for heroism
Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story by: Computed Name: Cpl. Jeremy M. Vought
Story Identification #: 2004514112222




MCAGCC TWENTYNINE PALMS(May 13, 2004) -- They all charged savagely through enemy trenches — each braving a hail of fire before squashing their adversaries to valiantly represent the fighting spirit of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

That's how four Marines were characterized May 6 in an award ceremony recognizing their combat exploits while serving in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. in 2003.

Two of them were awarded the Navy Cross — the Navy's second-highest award. Two others received the Silver Star, the third-highest combat-only award given by the Department of Defense.

Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Michael W. Hagee, along with Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps John L. Estrada, were on hand for the presentation. Hagee conferred the awards during the battalion's Combined Arms Exercise.

"They are the reflection of (Marines) whose service to the Marine Corps and country is held above their own safety and lives," Hagee said, commending the "bravery" of four "great Marines."

"These four Marines are a reflection of every Marine and sailor in this great battalion," Estrada added.

Three of the awards went to members of Combined Anti-Armor Platoon, Weapons Company, 3/5, for action on a furious day of combat in the first few days of OIF. The fourth stemmed from a battle later on in the 1st Marine Division's march toward Baghdad.

The award recipients:

n Capt. Brian R. Chontosh, 29, from Rochester, N.Y., Combined Anti-Armor Platoon commander, received the Navy Cross for extrordinary heroism on March 25, 2003.

While leading his platoon north on Highway 1 toward Ad Diwaniyah, Chontosh's platoon moved into a coordinated ambush of mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire, according to the award citation.

With coalition tanks blocking the road ahead, he realized his platoon was caught in a kill zone.

Chontosh instructed the driver to move the vehicle through a breach along his flank, where the vehicle immediately came under fire from an entrenched enemy machine gun.

"Without hesitation," the citation said, Chontosh ordered the driver to advance directly toward the enemy position, enabling his .50-caliber machine gunner to neutralize the threat.

He then directed his driver into the enemy trench, where he exited his vehicle and began to clear the trench with an M16A2 service rifle and 9mm pistol, the citation read.

His ammunition depleted, Chontosh twice picked up discarded enemy rifles and continued his "ferocious" attack, according to the account.

When a Marine following him found an enemy RPG launcher, Chontosh used it to destroy yet another group of enemy soldiers.

The attack — described in the citation as "audacious" — cleared 200 meters of enemy trench and killed more than 20 enemy soldiers while wounding several others, it said.

"I was just doing my job. I did the same thing every other Marine would have done," Chontosh said.

He said "a passion and love for my Marines" fueled his onslaught.

n Pfc. Joseph B. Perez, 23, a Houston native, received the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism" while serving as a rifleman with Company I, 3/5, on April 4, 2003.

First Platoon came under "intense" enemy fire near Route 6 during the advance into Baghdad, Perez's award citation read.

Perez, the point man for the lead squad — and therefore the most exposed member of the platoon — faced the brunt of the enemy fire, he citation read.

But he didn't back down.

He continually fired his M16A4 rifle to destroy the enemy while calmly directing accurate fires for his squad, the citation said.

He led the charge down an enemy trench and — amid "tremendous" enemy fire — threw a grenade into the trench, the citation said.

But the enemy wasn't done — and neither was Perez.

With a "heavy volume of fire" still directed toward the Marines, Perez fired an AT-4 rocket into a machine-gun bunker, completely destroying it and killing four enemy personnel, the citation said.

His actions enabled the squad to maneuver safely to the enemy position and seize it, the citation read.

But the job wasn't finished.

Attempting to link up with 3rd Platoon on his platoon's left flank, Perez continued to destroy enemy combatants with his rifle. As he worked his way to the left, he was hit by enemy fire, sustaining gunshot wounds to his torso and shoulder.

Although seriously injured, Perez directed the squad to take cover and gave accurate fire direction that enabled the squad to reorganize and destroy the enemy, the citation said.

"It is unreal. It is not what I expected. It is unbelievable," Perez said about receiving the award.

"This is real weird for me, because, I am not big on special events."

n Cpl. Armand E. McCormick, 22, a Mount Pleasant, Iowa, native, received the Silver Star for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" against the enemy while serving as rifleman for Combined Anti-Armor Platoon, Weapons Co., 3/5, on March 25, 2003.

Under heavy fire, McCormick, a lance corporal at the time, exhibited "exceptional bravery" during the aforementioned enemy ambush.

McCormick "fearlessly" drove his light armored vehicle directly at an enemy machine gun position and purposely crashed it into an occupied trench line, the citation said.

Next, he sprang from the vehicle and, along with two other Marines, began an assault.

"Taking direct fire and outnumbered," he pressed forward, firing his M9 pistol despite repeated enemy fire.

As the group ran low on ammunition, he collected enemy rifles and an RPG and continued to press the attack forward several hundred meters.

As a follow-on company began to make their entrance into the berm, he returned to his vehicle and backed it out of the trench.

McCormick's "boldly aggressive actions greatly reduced the enemy's ability to inflict casualties on the rest of his battalion," the citation said.

Despite the glowing language in his award citation, McCormick downplayed his battlefield exploits.

"It's an honor of course. It is just another day in the Marine Corps," McCormick said.

"I'm ready to go it again and help out with the situation," he said about redeploying to Iraq.

Coincidentally, McCormick redeployed to Iraq on Friday .

"To me, I did what I was suppose to do. I did what was expected," he added.

n Cpl. Robert P. Kerman, 21, a Klamath Falls, Ore., native, received the Silver Star for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" in action against the enemy while serving as a rifleman for Combined Anti-Armor Platoon, 3/5, on March 25, 2003.

In the same enemy ambush that precipitated Chontosh's and McCormick's assault, Kerman exhibited "exceptional bravery," the citation said.

As the vehicle he was traveling in drove directly into machine gun fire and into a trench line, Kerman bolted from the vehicle and began assaulting down the enemy- occupied trench.

As enemy soldiers fired at him, he lunged toward them, firing his M16 with "lethal accuracy," the award said.

Continuing to move through the trench, he repeatedly came under enemy fire. Each time, he "calmly" took "well-aimed shots that had devastating effects on the enemy," the citation said.

As the group ran out of ammunition, they pressed forward 200 to 300 meters while firing captured enemy AK-47s.

"I was pretty scared at the time, but we knew what we had to do and we did it," Kerman said. "I did not expect (the award). Maybe I just did the right thing."

In effect since April 1917, and established by an Act of Congress on Feb. 4, 1919, the Navy Cross may be awarded for "extraordinary heroism not justifying an award of the Medal of Honor," according to the U.S. Navy Office of Information Web site.

The action must take place ... "while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or, while serving with friendly foreign forces ..."

The act must have been carried out amid "great danger" or at "great personal risk."

More than 6,000 Navy Crosses have been awarded since World War I.

Established in 1918, the Silver Star is awarded "for gallantry in action" ... of "a lesser degree than that required for award of the Distinguished Service Cross."

i just joined the US Marine Corps. and my brother-in-law is a marine. you all are absolutely right about the press. they like to twist and sway the American opinions and views as much as they can. except for forums like these, very few people actually know whats going on in iraq. instead of making fools of ourselves by releasing the pictures from the iraqi prison, it would have been wise to keep things "hush hush."

I couldn't agree with you more! These baseless liberals are guilty of abetting the enemy! They care nothing about the men and women risking their lives for us, they will do "anything" if it might help them politically! (Why aren't they making a big deal of all the kidnappings/Torture and MURDER of Americans such as Nick Berg, Daniel Pearlman and others?) (Also, though I don't condone sexual abuse of prisoners, I think the Iraqi prisoners probably had it better than if they were sent to a "Regular" prison!) Thanks for the post, I had only read about Chontosh didn't know about the others.