American Heroes Read online

  American Heroes, Digital Edition

  Based on Print Edition

  © 2012 by Oliver L. North and FOX News Channel

  All rights reserved

  Printed in the United States of America

  ISBN: 978-1-4336-7710-6

  Published by B&H Publishing Group,

  Nashville, Tennessee

  Dewey Decimal Classification: 355.3 Subject Heading: TERRORISM MILITARY PERSONNEL

  Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible® copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Other Bibles quoted are the King James Version (KJV) and the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

  For Betsy

  With thanks for your patience and prayers while I keep company with heroes

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  INTRODUCTION: HANGING AROUND WITH HEROES

  1 THE JIHAD

  Wake-up Call

  Who Is the Enemy?

  Oil Fuels the Jihad

  The "Lands of the Prophet"

  We Don't Get It

  What Do They Want? Why Do They Hate Us?

  2 COUNTER-ATTACK

  Fighting Back

  A New Kind of War

  The First American Casualty

  The Marines Enter the Fray

  Into the Hindu Kush

  Karzai's Courage

  3 EXPANDING THE WAR

  The Case Against Saddam

  Preparation for Preemption

  WMD: The Casus Belli

  Preparing for the Road to Baghdad

  Embedded—Finally

  Good to Go

  4 HOSTILITIES HAVE COMMENCED

  Into the Fight

  Helicopter Down!

  Cas-Evac!

  5 TO THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES

  An Nasiriyah, the Bloody Gauntlet

  With HMM-268 & RCT-5

  6 MOTHER OF ALL SANDSTORMS

  7 TO THE GATES OF BAGHDAD

  They All Fall Down

  Quagmire

  Make Ready to Move Out

  Drive North

  Across the Tigris

  Press on to the Capital

  8 INTO BAGHDAD AND BEYOND

  The "Thunder Runs"

  9 LIBERATION LOSES ITS LUSTER

  Tikrit, Iraq

  Bayji, Iraq

  Missteps and the Rise of the Insurgency

  Dying to Kill Us

  10 BLOODY ANBAR

  "The Most Violent Place on the Planet"

  Battlefield Innovation

  "No Greater Friend, No Worse Enemy"

  No Good News?

  Hearts and Minds

  The Fight for Fallujah

  11 WILL DEMOCRACY WORK?

  The Election in Afghanistan

  Iraqi Vote I: National Assembly Election

  Iraq Vote II: The Constitutional Referendum

  Iraq Vote III: The New Government

  12 TURNAROUND

  Closing the Terror Pipeline

  Ramadi: IED Central

  The Awakening

  13 HERO VALUES

  Courage

  Commitment

  Compassion

  Faith

  14 WOUNDED WARRIORS

  Sgt Luke Cassidy

  Sgt Gregory Edwards

  2nd Lt. Andrew Kinard

  LCpl Aaron Mankin

  The Bottom Line

  15 THE "OTHER HEROES"

  When Dad Is at War

  Keeping It Together at Home and at War

  E-mail Cuts the Time but Can't Close the Distance

  16 GETTING IT DONE!

  How Iraq Has Changed

  Why Don't We Hear More of This Kind of News?

  How They Did It

  Can It All Still Go Wrong?

  Where We Could Do Better

  17 DISPATCHES FROM A FORGOTTEN WAR

  Index

  Glossary

  Image Credits

  Freedom Alliance

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Left to right—Andy Stenner, Chris Jackson, Greg Johnson, Oliver North, and Chuck Holton in Afghanistan (August 2008)

  FORWARD OPERATING BASE

  DWYER HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

  15 AUGUST 2008

  If our lives are defined by those with whom we keep company, I am in good shape—because my companions are heroes. Shortly before this photo was taken, Chris Jackson, our cameraman, and three U.S. Marines were wounded by an improvised explosive device. Chris risked his life to save one of the Marines. A few days later, we accompanied U. S. Special Operations Command troops on night raids into Taliban strongholds. Those and many more stories are contained in the pages of this book—all composed during more than a dozen protracted "embeds" with U.S. forces battling radical Islamic terror.

  That we have spent so much time accompanying the young Americans and our allies engaged in this fight is a tribute to the vision of FOX News president, Roger Ailes, and David Shepherd and Brad Waggoner at B&H Publishing. Their collaboration made possible this salute to the American heroes who are fighting and winning this war.

  Many others contributed to this work as well. Gary Terashita, my friend and editor, made this new account possible. Former Army Ranger and friend Chuck Holton edited my fractured prose and accompanied us to Iraq and Afghanistan to shoot some of the photos for this book.

  As for shooting, FOX News cameramen Malcolm James, Christian Galdabini, and Chris Jackson have seen a lot of it in our years covering our troops. They braved improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers, and enemy gunfire to capture some of the most dramatic and dangerous frames and footage from any conflict.

  Producers Griff Jenkins, Pamela Browne, Gregory Johnson, and Andrew Stenner all went into harm's way—because that is where the heroes are. Producer Steve Tierney went with us to Afghanistan, and Senior Producer Martin Hinton went with me to document how our Special Operators help their Filipino counterparts track down Islamic terrorists in the southern Philippines.

  Much of the work in completing this record of courage and commitment fell on the shoulders of others. My friend and counsel Bob Barnett worked tirelessly with Dianne Brandi at FOX News and David Shepherd at B&H to make this book a reality. War Stories Executive Producer Pamela Browne and Producers Greg Johnson, Steve Tierney, Ayse Weiting, Greg Ebben, Kelly Guernica, and Andy Stenner all pored through miles of our combat video footage to select the best frames for "stills" to illuminate the events described in these pages. And Bill Shine, our immediate boss at FOX News, ensured we would have what we needed to "get it done."

  At B&H Publishing Group, Executive Editor Gary Terashita, Marketing Vice President John Thompson, Sales Vice President Craig Featherstone, Art Director Diana Lawrence, Copyeditor George Knight, Project Editor Lisa Parnell, and Managing Editor Kim Stanford all devoted their considerable talent to ensuring that the eyewitness accounts and images in this work will be preserved for posterity.

  Marsha Fishbaugh, my incomparable executive assistant and Duane Ward's team at Premiere had to bear the brunt of my frenetic schedule in writing this chronicle. I am grateful for their help in making it a success.

  No one gave up more than
Betsy, my wife and best friend of forty years, so I could complete this book. She patiently waited and prayed for my safety while I made more than a dozen prolonged trips to cover those serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, and the Philippines. Her support and encouragement and that of our children, their mates, and our eleven grandchildren made this work possible.

  None of this would have been documented without the assistance of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen, and Marines with whom we have lived, laughed, and sometimes cried over the course of the seven years they have been fighting this war. Some of their names and pictures are in this book. Most are not. They truly are American heroes. For the opportunity they gave us to let them tell their stories, I am eternally grateful.

  Semper Fidelis,

  Oliver North

  INTRODUCTION

  HANGING AROUND WITH HEROES

  Front and center, with several of "the remarkable men and women who serve as our guardians against radical Islam"

  I have the best job in all broadcasting. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen, and Marines—those who fight America's wars—are my only "beat." I hang around with heroes for a living. For some, a hero wears a spandex suit and a cape. My heroes wear flak jackets, flight suits, and combat boots. This book is for and about them.

  In 2001 Roger Ailes hired me to host the War Stories documentary series on FOX News channel. Our idea was to present the perspectives of those who had fought America's past conflicts—World War II, Korea, Vietnam—to offer eyewitness participants an opportunity to tell how they made history.

  Then came 9/11/01—the day nineteen Islamic radicals hijacked four airliners and killed more than twenty-nine hundred people in America. Within weeks of the attack, I was headed for Afghanistan—with a whole new generation of U.S. warriors. Since then I have been privileged to spend more than an accumulated year of my life documenting the remarkable men and women who serve as our guardians against radical Islam.

  In the pages of this book, you will have the opportunity to meet many of those I have encountered in the foothills of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush, the scorching deserts of Iraq, on the waters of the Persian Gulf, in the jungles of the Philippines—and on U.S. military bases and hospitals around the globe. To the extent possible, the accounts here are their words, for no one can tell the story as well as those who live it. This, then, is the first draft of the history they are making.

  My purpose is not to glorify war. No one should do that, for war is terrible. Rather, the photos and words in this book are intended to show these brave young Americans as they really are: all volunteers; part of the brightest, best educated, trained, led, and equipped military any nation has ever had. They are young men and women with incredible courage, untiring tenacity, and astounding technical and tactical competence.

  There is another dimension to these young Americans that often goes unreported—the extra-ordinary compassion and faith that they display. I've spent more than forty years either in uniform or around those who are, and I've never seen so many young men and women so willing to demonstrate their faith—by praying before a mission, leading a Bible study, and kneeling beside a wounded comrade in prayer.

  Perhaps it's because so many of them have been through the crucible of modern American culture. They've heard the debates over whether they can pray around the flagpole or say "under God" when pledging allegiance to the flag. They've made their decision about what to believe, and they know the peace that comes with a strong faith foundation. Or, as a young U.S. Navy medical corpsman put it, "I know where I'm going and I know why I'm going there." He wasn't talking about a trip to the mall.

  Despite the way they are presented by too many in the press and politics, the men and women in uniform today are overwhelmingly good. I've seen our troops willingly put themselves at great risk in order to keep from hurting a noncombatant, holding fire until they are sure their target is hostile, and placing them-selves in danger to protect innocents during an enemy engagement.

  U.S. Army 1SG Todd Hood greets an Iraqi girl in the Dora neighborhood of south Baghdad

  Though I have been in more gunfights than I care to count, I never cease to be amazed at the self-discipline of these brave young Americans. They can endure the adrenaline-pumping violence of an enemy engagement—and then, just minutes later, help school children get safely to their classes.

  A columnist for the New York Times once wrote that our military men and women are "nothing but poor kids from Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas who couldn't get a decent job or health insurance," so they joined the military "because that's all we offered them." A U.S. senator likened those who serve in our armed forces to the armies of Hitler, Stalin, and Cambodia's Pol Pot.

  Those opinions are just dead wrong. No nation—ours included—has ever had a military force better than the one we have today. I'm proud of them. You should be, too.

  A U.S. Navy corpsman carries a wounded Iraqi soldier to a waiting Marine CH-46 helicopter for evacuation

  WHAT IS A HERO?

  My tattered old Webster's defines hero as a "legendary figure . . . endowed with great strength and ability . . . an illustrious warrior . . . a person possessing great courage." There's another important characteristic of heroes: they place themselves at risk for the benefit of others.

  A firefighter emerges from the smoke at Ground Zero

  Nobody doubts that definition fits the first responders who rushed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and to the Pentagon's flame-filled corridors on 9/11. It certainly includes the passengers who rebelled against the hijackers on United Airlines flight 93 in the skies over Pennsylvania that morning. These are legitimate heroes who knowingly placed themselves in grave jeopardy while struggling to save the lives of others.

  Yet, in our celebrity-worshipping culture, the word hero has been corrupted to embrace all manner of people who simply aren't heroic. Record-setting athletes, diamond-studded rappers, auspicious movie stars, and intrepid adventurers out to be the first to accomplish some never-tried feat of daring aren't heroes. They may be brave, they may have overcome all odds before making it big—but they don't meet the definition of hero if whatever they achieve benefits no one but themselves.

  Real heroes are selfless. Those who serve in harm's way in this war have that quality in abundance. And so do their families and loved ones at home. Yet they rarely get the attention, coverage, or press they deserve.

  Unfortunately, the negative stories get more ink and air time than they deserve. The U.S. and international press made the aberrant behavior of a few Americans at the Abu Ghraib prison into front-page, lead-story "news" for nine months. The nonstop coverage created the indelible impression that all members of the U.S. armed forces behaved that way.

  During the furious fight to liberate Fallujah from the Al Qaeda terrorists who had taken over the city, an edited tape of a U.S. Marine firing at what he thought was a wounded, but armed and hostile, enemy combatant was broadcast countless times by our television net-works. Yet when the Marine's court martial resulted in an acquittal, it was barely covered.

  When a group of Marines were under investigation for the death of Iraqi civilians in Haditha, a U.S. congressman described the Americans as perpetrators of "cold-blooded murder" and the media beat the story like a rented mule for months. But when a court martial exonerated them, the story was buried—without apology.

  There is no doubt that dreadful things happen in war. Ground combat is the most horrific experience a human being can endure. When bad things happen—as they always do in war—they should be reported, and they usually are. But those who persevere, who do the right thing in the midst of shocking violence, who give up personal comfort and safety for what is necessary—these are heroes. They deserve—at the very least—equal time.

  Letting their stories be known is important—not just to them, but to all of us. Through self-sacri
fice, fortitude, and action—whether they succeed or fail—heroes provide us with an ethical framework for the life of our nation. The deeds of heroes are waypoints on our moral journey, and they encourage us to be better than we otherwise might be.

  U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jonathan Holsey is such a hero. A nine-year Army veteran, SSG Holsey was serving in the 1st Battalion (Bn) of the 503rd Infantry Regiment—one of the units I've been privileged to cover in Iraq for FOX News. A roadside bomb placed by a terrorist—not an insurgent, not a "bomber," a terrorist—so severely wounded him that his left leg had to be removed below the knee at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He now wears a prosthetic leg, yet he plans to stay in the Army. When I asked him why, he replied, "Because my soldiers need me. We have a war to win—and my country needs me."

  Marine Lance Corporal Jake Knospler is another hero. On 12 November 2004, Jake was leading his fire team in the 1st Bn, 8th Marines, during the fight to liberate Fallujah from terrorists—not "freedom fighters," terrorists. An enemy grenade hit Jake in the face, blowing away his jaw and part of his skull. He miraculously survived his terrible wounds and more than a dozen surgeries since. Doctors at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center reinstalled part of Jake's shattered skull that was removed and sewn into his chest until he was healthy enough to withstand the operation. Jake told me, "I have to get better. My country, my Corps, and my family are counting on me."