Originally Posted by
SteyrAUG
Even in this example I have to wonder if the individual had been a male, would anyone have taken the time to even notice.
Apparently someone noticed the guy who was with her, he also got a Silver Star, it was later upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross, second highest award for valor:
Kentucky Guard Soldier Receives Distinguished Service Cross
By Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy - February 22, 2007
LEXINGTON, Ky. (American Forces Press Service, Feb. 21, 2007) - A Kentucky National Guard Soldier has become the first Guard Soldier -- and only the fifth servicemember overall -- to receive the Distinguished Service Cross.
The Distinguished Service Cross is second only to the Medal of Honor among awards for valor in battle. Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein received the medal from Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, at the National Guard Association of Kentucky's annual conference here Feb. 17.
Nein originally received the Silver Star Medal for his actions as a squad leader with the 617th Military Police Company during an ambush in Iraq on March 20, 2005, but the award was upgraded, a process culminating with the presentation.
Nein's squad was escorting a convoy of supply trucks near the town of Salman Pak, south of Baghdad, when the convoy came under heavy fire. Without hesitation, Nein and his squad put themselves and their vehicles between the insurgents and the convoy. Nein and Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, the first woman awarded the Silver Star for direct combat action against an enemy, dismounted from their armored Humvees and led the counterattack against the ambush, killing 27 insurgents and capturing seven more. Two Soldiers in the squad were wounded during the engagement, which lasted roughly 30 minutes.
Nein was humble about receiving the award.
"I've read the stories of so many other (recipients of the medal) during my life, from World War II and Vietnam and of all the things they've done. To be put in the same light as them is quite an honor. It's actually pretty humbling to know that people feel the way they do about me for doing things that I feel were just part of our job," Nein said after the ceremony.
Nein said that day in Iraq was all about doing his job.
"Once we had gotten into the position to assault the fighting positions of the bad guys, it never occurred to me we were doing anything other than our jobs," said Nein. "We had taken a couple of wounded, and at that point I knew we needed to start going into the trenches and canal systems to try and eliminate some of those guys."
Nein and his 10-member squad had no idea of the numbers they were facing during the assault.
"I never knew there were about 50," said Nein. "Initially, when we made the turn to flank the anti-Iraqi forces, I counted seven cars, all with four doors open, and I did the math real quick in my head, and I was like, 'That's 28 against 10.' That's 2.8 to 1 odds. That's not very good. Little did I know it was 5 to 1 odds, which is even worse."
Those odds worked against Nein and his Soldiers for a brief period of time.
"One time after assaulting one position, a guy was shooting down from a berm that was about 10 feet above us," Nein said, noting that he was concerned his squad would be overrun. He said he thought about destroying the squad's equipment to prevent it from falling into enemy hands, but that he instead decided the best course was to take the fight to the enemy.
In the end, the squad eliminated more than half of the force it faced and captured seven attackers. Even though nearly two years has passed since that battle, Nein said he still thinks about that day and what happened.
"Even the guys from my squad will tell you, there is not a day that goes by that it doesn't affect us in one way or another, good or bad," said Nein. "I've probably run a hundred different scenarios in my head of how we could have run it better, but I never can come up with anything."
That is to be expected, he said.
"With the right equipment, the right training and the right leadership, there's nothing we can't get done," Nein said.
https://www.army.mil/article/1924/ke..._service_cross
During his November 2004 to November 2005 deployment to Iraq, Staff Sergeant Timothy F. Nein served as the leader of 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon, 617th Military Police Company - a Kentucky National Guard unit - and, in this interview, gives a complete (often harrowing) account of a complex 20 March 2005 enemy ambush southeast of Baghdad that resulted in his squad killing or capturing 34 insurgents and losing not a single US soldier.
Describing his MPs as basically "infantry on wheels," Nein - the recipient of a Silver Star Medal for his actions that day - describes in great detail why it was "one of the best overall pictures of when everything goes right." Tasked with shadowing a convoy of transportation vehicles when they came under attack by insurgents heavily armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, Nein said that "every plan we put into place and everything we practiced went exactly the way it's supposed to; and it wasn't because we were a bunch of superheroes or people who had been doing this for years.
Four months earlier," he explained, "the whole squad had never worked together; but every day we worked to figure out how we could have better load plans in our vehicles, how we could set up our actions on contact, who was going to do evasive fires if one thing happened, who was going to maneuver towards the enemy element if it went this way or that way. We constantly tried to learn from every experience we had."
Nein also recounts the heroics of Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester, the first female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, and tells of an especially grim moment when he actually contemplated destroying his vehicle's Blue Force Tracker because he thought "we were all going to die.
https://books.google.com/books/about...d=-nmpYgEACAAJ
Kentucky Guardsmen set to Deploy
By stacyfloden – January 9, 2020
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky National Guard leadership joined friends and family to say farewell to the 617th Military Police Company during a departure ceremony, at the Lexington Convention Center on Jan. 7.
More than 160 Soldiers will be deploying in support of Operation Spartan Shield supporting the Department of Defense’s operations in the Middle East.
The Richmond-based unit has been deployed twice previously since 2001.
“This is the 3rd time since 9/11 that the 617th have deployed, this is not new for you,” said Col. Joe Gardner, the149th Brigade Commander during the departure ceremony.
The last deployment was in 2011 to Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn. Prior to that, the unit deployed in 2004-2005 to Kuwait & Iraq, where they participated in the historic battle known as ‘Raven 42’.
“This deployment brings some unknowns,” said Capt. Derek Fosson, company commander of the 617th. “I remain confident in the Soldiers and their ability to accomplish the mission; Each Soldier brings a skill set other than military police to the table. We’ll use these skills to our advantage and that’s one of the reasons we’ll be exceptional.”
The unit has had a few notable Soldiers who have received the military’s highest honors.
One Distinguished Service Cross (the U.S. Army’s second highest honor) and 2 Silver Stars were awarded due to actions taken during this conflict. 1st Sgt. Timothy Nein was the first Guardsman in the nation to ever receive the DSC. Nein will deploy as the senior enlisted leader for the unit.
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, who is no longer with the unit and will not be deploying, was the first female U.S. Army Soldier to receive the Silver Star since World War II and the first ever to be cited for valor in close quarters combat.
Confidence was high with the Soldiers and their leaders knowing they were ready and willing to do their part in the defense of the nation.
“As we set forth I know we will overcome obstacles and grow as a team. We are fully prepared for what lies ahead of us,” added Fosson.
The unit now will head to Fort Bliss, TX for train up before heading to their area of operation.
“To the families, we have a great support network,” said Gardner. “Please use that backbone we have established through our family programs. God bless you and Godspeed 617th.”
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Kentucky National Guard has mobilized more than 18,000 Soldiers and Airmen in support of the Global War on Terror.
https://kentuckyguard.dodlive.mil/20...set-to-deploy/
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.
Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee
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