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April 23, 2006Hero is as hero does - UPDATED
Here’s the thing about real heroes: they never think they’ve done anything heroic. While we’re listening to the press and the left begin to spin the leaking of classified information (which was NOT leaked, btw, in 1998 when Clinton put the rendition policy into effect - as well it should not have been) into something noble, let’s read about a real hero. The bomber had targeted an Iraqi army recruiting drive at the combined Iraqi and American forces base here in northwest Iraq. Although no U.S. soldiers were injured, soldiers from the 2nd, or “Gunners,” Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, out of Giessen, Germany, dealt with the aftermath. So it was with no small amount of suspicion that Staff Sgt. Martin Richburg observed an Iraqi civilian pacing nervously near the camp’s crowded Internet cafe that same evening. It was around 9 p.m. on March 27, and Richburg was sitting behind the wheel of his “bongo” flatbed truck in the parking lot, talking to his wife on a cell phone. “I saw this guy duckin’ and peepin’ outside the Internet [cafe],” said the 44-year-old Baltimore, native. “I said, ‘Let me keep an eye on this guy.’ ” Unknown to Richburg at the time, the man was an insurgent who had managed to get a job at the camp’s Iraqi army noncommissioned officer academy. Part of a cell that had planned a series of attacks, the insurgent had constructed a bomb within the camp after smuggling components in piece by piece. Richburg, a heavy-vehicle mechanic assigned to the 142nd Maintenance Company, grew increasingly suspicious as the man peered into the cafe window, walked away, and then returned with a plastic chair and a package. [...] The package looked like something bulky wrapped in a blue plastic shopping bag. Richburg’s suspicion grew to alarm when the man stepped onto the chair, placed the bag on top of the window’s air conditioning unit and then took off running. Throwing down his cell phone — his wife was still on the line — Richburg dashed after the man and brought him down with a swift kick to the back of his legs. By this time, Richburg had drawn his 9 mm pistol and, holding the man down, called for another Iraqi he knew to translate. “I asked him if he knew who this guy was and he said, ‘No,’” Richburg said. “I told him I saw him put a package on the air conditioner and asked him to find out what was in it. Then I charged my weapon to scare him.” The man answered back quickly. He said he had placed a bomb on the air conditioner. Richburg asked how much time they had before it exploded. “Five minutes,” the man said. Dragging the insurgent in one hand and waving his pistol in the other, the burly mechanic rushed to the cafe entrance and began shouting at everyone to get out. Shocked by the sight of Richburg waving a pistol and swearing at the top of his lungs, a dozen soldiers and five civilians piled out of the cafe. The mechanic yelled at them to take cover behind a line of concrete blast barriers. The soldiers braced themselves. After roughly 15 minutes, the package exploded with the noise of an artillery shell. The windshield of Richburg’s truck “crystallized” by the blast, and a Porta-John was flung into a nearby meadow. The window of the Internet cafe was destroyed, driving glass and shrapnel deep into the walls and computer booths. Since the cafe had been cleared, nobody was injured. [...] Richburg has since been awarded the Army Commendation Medal with “V” device for valor, and has been nominated for a Bronze Star for his actions on that evening. “I suppose anyone else would have done it too,” Richburg said of his actions. “It was the way the guy moved. If he walked away normally I might not have done it.” Outstanding. Thank you, Sarge! And thanks, Mrs. Richburg! Slightly O/T, but still mil, Baldilocks is talking up Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks for the new WH Press Sec’y - go check it out. He is…ummm…pre-tty easy on the eyes - a nice change from poor, hapless Scotty, and if Baldi likes him that says a lot for me! More: Tennessee welcomes home its soldiers. WELCOME: Blackfive and Mudville readers. While you’re here, please look around. Today we’re also discussing whether Bush and Blair are still on the same page re Iraq, and we’re remembering Rick Monday rescuing the flag from burning during a Dodger game. We’re also looking at a 9 year old who will be a good man, and a 16 year old who understands the value of time. We’re talking gas prices and Bush-bashing, those meaningless aluminum tubes, what Natan Sharansky knows that so many on the left do not, and we’re looking at an Alternative to the voo-doo doll. Also don’t miss Shrinkwrapped’s musings on the meaning of “left” and “right” and his miltribute at the end. http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/04/23/hero-is-as-hero-does/trackback/ 9 Responses to “Hero is as hero does - UPDATED” |
April 24th, 2006 at 7:50 am
We Witness
Acts of heroism, from the Anchoress….
April 24th, 2006 at 7:50 am
[...] Acts of heroism, from the Anchoress. [...]
April 24th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
“The Military Scares Me”
Glenn Reynolds links to a story today about A BIG MARCH IN KNOXVILLE. Up to 20,000 people turned out Saturday for a parade to welcome home the National Guard’s 278th Regimental Combat Team, providing a big-city atmosphere powered by small-town
April 25th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
[...] Heroes in action. You need to read this post at the Anchoress about an American soldier who, through keen observation and quick thinking, captured an insurgent and protected the lives of many civilians in an internet café in Al Kisik, Iraq. It is one of those WOW readings. Explore posts in the same categories: War, Iraq [...]
April 25th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
[...] Everyday hero in Iraq: The Anchoress [...]
October 31st, 2006 at 11:53 am
[...] In fact, he’s not worthy to shine the shoes of any of the men and women serving honorably in Iraq, regardless of whether they have an ivy league degree, or a simple GED diploma, because the ignorant crap that comes out of his mouth proves he is nothing but a flip-flopping knucklehead who seems to be too stupid, too caught up in his insecurities and his Beacon Hill pretensions, and just plain too dishonorable to even understand what our military men and women are doing…or that it takes some serious smarts to cover men from a crippled chopper and then land it safely (or to fly a fighter jet) and it takes enormous personal courage to put yourself at risk to save your platoon [...]
November 1st, 2006 at 10:11 am
[...] She says if the Dems fail (we say, ‘when’ because regardless of election results) , Kerry will take the fall. In an earlier post, she implies an inviolate line was crossed’ Of Kerry she notes In fact, he’s not worthy to shine the shoes of any of the men and women serving honorably in Iraq, regardless of whether they have an ivy league degree, or a simple GED diploma, because the ignorant crap that comes out of his mouth proves he is nothing but a flip-flopping knucklehead who seems to be too stupid, too caught up in his insecurities and his Beacon Hill pretensions, and just plain too dishonorable to even understand what our military men and women are doing…or that it takes some serious smarts to cover men from a crippled chopper and then land it safely (or to fly a fighter jet) and it takes enormous personal courage to put yourself at risk to save your platoon. [...]
November 1st, 2006 at 1:21 pm
[...] But, wait, the best yet! The Anchoress just nails the snobby, elitist bastard to the wall. (Geeeee, that picture of Kerry at Yale looks alot like Herman Munster, don’t you think?) In fact, he’s not worthy to shine the shoes of any of the men and women serving honorably in Iraq, regardless of whether they have an ivy league degree, or a simple GED diploma, because the ignorant crap that comes out of his mouth proves he is nothing but a flip-flopping knucklehead who seems to be too stupid, too caught up in his insecurities and his Beacon Hill pretensions, and just plain too dishonorable to even understand what our military men and women are doing…or that it takes some serious smarts to cover men from a crippled chopper and then land it safely (or to fly a fighter jet) and it takes enormous personal courage to put yourself at risk to save your platoon. [...]
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:26 am
[...] So the Wesley Autrey saves the life of another man, says, “you’re supposed to come to people’s rescue” and then goes to work. Awesome. And humbling. Real heroes never think they’ve done something heroic. [...]