Every Day Heroes

How often do your hear heroic stories told of our troops... on say CNN or read about them in the New York Times?

Try searching "Hero" in any of the MSM's search window. Try searching "Hero" in Google News or Yahoo news and see what you find.

Can the everyday American (who hasn't been exposed to milblogs) name a single Hero of this war? No. Why? Because in the MSM's eye's, the epitome of a hero is ...a sports figure.

How is it, the headlines are filled with the casualties of our warriors but having none honoring their heroism?
They list them only as a veritable number. And if our warrior should so live thru a ferocious battle committing heroic deeds, they do not even get a mention of their valor.

Why does it take someone like Bruce Wllis to make a hero out of our heroes.

I'm astounded daily by the MSM's representation of our troops.

Here are just a few of our latest heroes, honor them by remembering their names :

Spc. Andrew “Doc” Suchanek

Spc. Suchanek provided immediate life-saving treatment for an Iraqi police officer under heavy enemy fire.

“I didn’t have time to think about it,” said Spc. Andrew “Doc” Suchanek, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. “I just knew I didn’t want that guy to get hurt even worse. I just reacted.”

While on a routine patrol in west Baghdad, Suchanek and other Soldiers of C Company, 1/87 Infantry responded to assist Iraqi Police who had come under fire from automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Encountering a critically-wounded police officer, Suchanek began immediate life-saving treatment.

Then a terrorist suddenly fired an RPG at both of them. Without hesitation, Suchanek threw himself on the police officer, shielding him from danger. The grenade exploded harmlessly and Suchanek continued treatment to save the life of the policeman. As his fellow Soldiers secured the area, Suchanek coordinated evacuation for his patient to a local hospital.

Spc. Dean Levy

Gunner Goes Head-to-Head with a V-Bed, Saves Crew

Called ‘V-beds’ for short, vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, are one of the deadliest weapons in the insurgents’ arsenal – mobile car bombs and tools of terrorism faced by Iraqis, Iraqi security forces and Coalition Forces in their fight against the insurgency.

Last May, Humvee gunner Spc. Dean Levy of Plymouth, Mass. went head-to-head with a V-bed and won - saving the lives of his fellow Humvee crewmen.

... “I waited for his left front tire to swerve onto the median,” Levy said. “At that moment he turned and drove straight at us. I put three to four rounds into the ground in front of him. It was still coming at us, so I put three to four more into the engine block of the vehicle.”

But the vehicle kept coming. Levy raised his 240 Bravo machine gun, fired seven to ten shots through the windshield, and the vehicle exploded - “a huge flame of smoke, body and car parts,” according to Flynn

***
Levy suffered second-degree burns to his face from the explosion, which also melted his goggles and damaged the Humvee.

Lance Cpl. John T. Shepard

Three-time Iraqi War Veteran Awarded Purple Heart

Lance Cpl. John T. Shepard, a 31-year-old boat mechanic formerly with Small Craft Company, Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, and several members of his unit had been conducting a foot patrol through Ramadi’s streets in August when they were ambushed by several insurgents.

“One guy threw a grenade in our direction, and (the blast) threw me back,” explained Shepard, a former University of Georgia student, as he recalled the attack on his unit. “I took shrapnel in the face, lip and leg, and I suffered a concussion. My squad leader was also shot in the face that same day.”

Currently, Shepard, a Marine who has deployed to Iraq three times during his four-year-long enlistment, is recovering from periodic back pains and headaches that he claims are “no big deal.”

Can't imagine why this next story didn't make the headlines, plenty of blood and gore for the typical news story.

Seaman Nathaniel Leoncio

Corpsman continues to care for Marines after losing leg

It is unadulterated courage in the face of horrifying danger and risk. It is being able to perform under fire while knowing you are probably going to lose a leg. It is taking care of your Marines when everything is on the line. It is duty, courage and love all together. It is what Nathaniel Leoncio showed the Marines of Company L the morning of Oct. 4.

***
“I helped pull Hospitalman Leoncio into the medevac Humvee and personally saw him wince in pain as he rolled over, opened his medical kit and treated (the fourth Platoon commander’s) shrapnel wound,” said Watson. “When he saw that the bleeding had stopped, he gave Cpl. Bellmont and me instructions on how to best care for him. He was calm, alert and responsive the entire way to Ramadi Medical. The only thing he asked for was that someone hold his hand to keep him awake and give him sips of water.”

This last story is of a fallen warrior from the battle of Fallujah. He was mentioned all over the blogosphere last year. However not so much in the MSM. The anniversary of his death was last week. He was buried a year ago, yesterday.

Captain Sean Patrick Sims

He was willing to make that sacrifice’

Sean served as a platoon leader and executive officer in the 101st Air Mobile Division in Kentucky for about three years before being assigned to Germany. After spending 10 months in Kosovo, his unit was tapped to go to Iraq.

Sean received the Silver Star

Sims planned and executed the task force's main attack against entrenched enemy forces, then held position under constant fire to establish a foothold in northeast Fallujah. He led a 14-hour house-to-house fight, frequently leaving the safety of his Bradley fighting vehicle, then led a fight to seize, then hold Highway 10 against constant enemy counterattack. His company killed more than 40 enemy fighters, destroyed 35 homemade bombs and a dozen weapons caches.

But now I want you to meet another kind of hero, one that is facing a different kind of battle and showing immense bravery... Capt Sims wife.

Heidi Sims

She has been blogging about her new life as a widow and single mother. Her Blog is " Learning to Live". I've been reading her since she started her blog in October. I've hesitated in linking her only because it is a personal struggle she is going thru and I did not want to exploit her grief but she shares with us the experience so many of our fallen families are experiencing, and she does it with grace, courage and honor.