Archive for July 10th, 2009

Profiles of Valor: U.S. Army Pfc. Moss

July 10, 2009

Profiles of Valor: U.S. Army Pfc. Moss

Moss with family

Pfc. Channing Moss of the United States Army was serving in Afghanistan in March 2006 when disaster struck. His convoy was attacked by Taliban fighters with small arms and rocket propelled grenades. Moss, manning an MK 19 machine gun in the turret of his Humvee, was struck by an RPG — and survived. Though Moss was impaled through the abdomen with live ordnance, his comrades didn’t leave him to die. Army regulations dictate that MEDEVAC choppers should never carry a wounded soldier with a live round in him, yet the flight crew did just that. “[A]t the time, I really didn’t think about it,” said flight medic Sgt. John Collier, then a specialist. “I knew [the RPG] was there but I thought, if we didn’t do it, if we didn’t get him out of there, he was going to die.” Protocol also dictates that soldiers in Moss’s condition be placed in a sandbagged bunker and considered “expectant” — expected to die. But Maj. John Oh, 759th Forward Surgical Team general surgeon and a naturalized Korean immigrant, performed the life-saving surgery while wearing body armor and a helmet and assisted by a member of the explosive ordnance disposal team and other brave volunteers.

The Military Times has more on this incredible story here and a moving video here (warning: graphic content).

Three months after surviving the attack, Moss witnessed the birth of his second daughter, Ariana. That would not have been possible without the heroic efforts of Maj. Oh, Sgt. Collier and the crew of the 159th Medical Company. “They saved my life,” said Moss. “I hope God watches over them if they get deployed.” Indeed.

SOURCE: Patriot Post

My comment: Every single person involved in this deserves a “Brass Balls” award; signed, Patrick Sperry

N.R.E.M.T.-Paramedic retired.

Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Men's Issues, Military Science, News, Profiles in Valor, War, Warfare | 2 Comments »

Obama to Cut U.S. Nuclear Capability

July 10, 2009

President Barack Obama and his Russian comrade, President Dmitri Medvedev, agreed this week on the framework of a nuclear weapons treaty, planning to cut both nations’ inventories by as much as a third. The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires December 5. The Wall Street Journal reports, “Under the agreement, deployed nuclear warheads targeted at each country would be reduced to between 1,500 and 1,675 over seven years from the current ceiling of 2,200.” Additionally, “Nuclear-weapons delivery systems would be reduced to between 500 and 1,100 from the current ceiling of 1,600. The wide gap reflects continued division over four U.S. Trident submarines, the entire U.S. B-1 bomber fleet and dozens of B-52s that have been either converted to release conventional weapons use or mothballed.” The Russians want them counted; the U.S. does not.

Obama declared, “As the world’s two leading nuclear powers, the United States and Russia must lead by example…. It is very difficult for us to exert that leadership unless we are showing ourselves willing to deal with our own nuclear stockpiles in a more rational way.” By rational way, of course, Obama means to systematically get rid of them. Not exactly peace through strength.

SOURCE

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