COMBAT STORIES FROM AFGHAN./IRAQ/OTHER

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Showing : AFGHAN./IRAQ/OTHER Videos

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  877th Engineer Company,

  As if four combat tours weren't enough, Robert Walton went to a Georgia National Guard unit to train new soldiers. It was one last chance to pass along his knowledge and experience to the Army he loved.

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  Michael Boyce - Marines +3 Total Videos

  USMC, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expedition Brigade, 1st-4th Air Wings

  Mr. Boyce discusses working with many Kurds and Iraqi civilians for about a year following the end of the first Gulf War.

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  Chris Pinkerton - Army +16 Total Videos

  25th ID (ABN)

  2LT Pinkerton dramatically recalls what happened after an explosive projectile slammed into an army truck injuring two buddies and killing an officer all the soldiers respected.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  142nd Field Artillery Regiment

  Being home after a year and a half in Iraq was good, at first. But Robert Walton wasn't ready to deal with civilian life, so he secured a place in a different National Guard outfit and did an individual mobilization from home, joining the unit in Iraq.

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  Peter Sprenger - Army +15 Total Videos

  101st Airborne

  Slammed by powerful explosives, 2LT Sprenger describes the sheer terror of being blinded and badly injured. He relives the heroic efforts of those who helped him scramble to safety.

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  Patty Justice +4 Total Videos

  7303rd Medical Training Support Battalion, 1st Medical Training Brigade

  Justice details a too-close-for-comfort interaction with a vehicle-borne IED. The IED came as a complete surprise and the entire F.O.B. fell into what Justice could only describe as “chaos” immediately following the explosion. She suffered several injuries and had to work with the nurses back in Bagram and depend on the friendship of comrade Colonel Ellison to come back from the injuries.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  California National Guard

  His second tour was coming to a close when Robert Walton was approached by a sergeant major from a California National Guard unit that was coming over to Iraq. Would he be interested in extending with them? His knowledge of the Iraqi roads and his combat experience were highly valued.

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  Mike Schlitz - Army +5 Total Videos

  4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division

  Mike Schlitz tells about the circumstances that led to his injury and all of the life changes that occurred as a result.

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  Stan Seaman - Navy +5 Total Videos

  USS Tarawa (CVS-40)

  Stan Seaman was an aircraft electrician on the USS Tarawa. In addition to those duties, he was assigned as a firefighter during emergencies. The ship performed anti-submarine patrols off the East Coast, along with a sister ship, each taking half the area. There was no shooting war, but the work was still dangerous.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  California National Guard

  He extended in Iraq to help a green unit get on it's feet, agreeing to two months. Robert Walton ended up staying for a year. He had a job to do. When he returned home, it was only a few months before he decided to volunteer yet again. The civilian world did not have the structure and discipline he craved.

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  Charlie Hooper - Navy +3 Total Videos

  USS Scanner (YAGR-5)

  He knew the draft would get him as soon as he graduated college, so Charlie Hooper joined the Navy Reserve and went active. He was assigned to a radar picket ship, which patrolled the West coast in a Cold War defensive operation.

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  Curtis James - Marines +5 Total Videos

  Marine Corps Education Center

  Working as a Marine staff officer at Quantico, Curtis James was in attendance at some pretty high level meetings. During one of these, he was the lunch guest of the most powerful man in the world.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  1436th Engineering Company

  He was a troubled youth, but Robert Walton thought his life might turn around in the Army. His GED wouldn't get him on active duty, but the National Guard was an ideal starting point. He was a talented mechanic, so he came in as a heavy equipment mechanic with an engineering company.

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  Stan Seaman - Navy +5 Total Videos

  USS Tarawa (CVS-40)

  At the induction center, the men were told that some are going to the Navy, some to the Army. When the sergeant got to Stan Seaman, he laughed and said, "You know where you're going!" After basic training in Bainbridge, the next destination was Pensacola.

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  Charlie Hooper - Navy +3 Total Videos

  USS Scanner (YAGR-5)

  It was boring duty on the radar picket ship off California. Charlie Hooper didn't mind that as much as the fact that the crew contained many delinquents, who chose the Navy over jail.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  Halliburton KBR, 48th Infantry Brigade

  He put his mechanical expertise to work in Afghanistan for Halliburton KBR, but Robert Walton returned to the Army with the Georgia National Guard and prepared to deploy to Iraq. He had grueling desert training in California, and then encountered an NCO who set his mind straight.

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  Stan Seaman - Navy +5 Total Videos

  USS Tarawa (CVS-40)

  Before he was in the Navy, Stan Seaman thought the depictions of Navy life in movies was crazy. Then he witnessed the behavior of men on leave getting good and drunk.

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  Charlie Hooper - Navy +3 Total Videos

  USS Scanner (YAGR-5)

  Two officers gave him trouble in the Navy and one of them nearly killed him with incompetent medical care. He relates those stories and describes his successful career path once he left the service.

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  Stan Seaman - Navy +5 Total Videos

  USS Tarawa (CVS-40)

  After ten months in Pensacola, Stan Seaman was transferred to the USS Tarawa, a carrier that was slated for anti-submarine patrols, but first there was months in dry dock and then a training mission to Gitmo.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  48th Infantry Brigade

  During Robert Walton's first deployment to Iraq, the soldiers' hands were not yet tied by the government. They were freely able to eliminate threats. He lost his first friend in a Bradley rollover accident. He was in the vehicle and it was his first big scare.

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  Charlie Hooper - Navy +3 Total Videos

  USS Scanner (YAGR-5)

  Charlie Hooper recalls life aboard ship, the scare of rough seas, the dynamic of enlisted and officer relations and the challenge of playing basketball on an old liberty ship.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  48th Infantry Brigade

  The power plant was supposed to be clear, but when Robert Walton was walking through, he heard voices nearby and they weren't speaking English. It turned out to be not much of a threat. What was a real threat in Iraq was the huge amount of munitions stockpiled by the insurgents to use in IED's.

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  Stan Seaman - Navy +5 Total Videos

  USS Tarawa (CVS-40)

  Based on his civilian work experience, Stan Seaman became an aviation electronics technician in the Navy. His first post in Pensacola was a training facility for aviators and he recalls an eventful take off that nearly resulted in disaster.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  142nd Field Artillery Regiment

  During his second deployment to Iraq, there was the same danger from IED's, but Robert Walton had to deal with a new problem. His own military leadership had decided that there would be strict rules of engagement going forward. Not only that, but a financial shakedown of Iraqi vendors was creating more terrorists.

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  Stan Seaman - Navy +5 Total Videos

  USS Tarawa (CVS-40)

  His ship was preparing for a NATO cruise, but Navy cutbacks led to the discharge of all personnel who were drafted. That meant that, after 21 months in the Navy, Stan Seaman was returning home. That was fine with him since he had a great job at Grumman, where he went on to a long career.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  48th Infantry Brigade

  He was no longer in an engineer company, he was in the infantry, now. Robert Walton deployed to Iraq with a Georgia National Guard unit. At Camp Stryker, it took only a week before getting hit with rocket fire.

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  Tyrelle Felder - Air Force +5 Total Videos

  7100th Combat Support Wing

  Her father was a twenty year Army veteran and Tyrelle Felder thought that the service looked like a good life. She didn't want the Army, though. It was the Air Force for her. Her father was less than enthusiastic, at first.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  48th Infantry Brigade

  When running convoys in Iraq, Robert Walton was a gunner on a Humvee. On his first mission, a local civilian in a Mazda took off at high speed and the commander gave chase. He tapped Walton on the leg and said, "Stop him!" The training kicked in.

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  Richard Jackson - Marines +15 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division

  Richard Jackson was enjoying football games at Camp Lejeune. His battalion was on alert when the word went out to deploy. Thinking it was another exercise, he was astonished to find himself on a plane to Cuba. Unknown to him, the Cuban Missile Crisis was in full swing. He made a fateful decision on that flight.

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  Robert Walton - Army +15 Total Videos

  317th Engineering Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division

  Going from the National Guard to active duty was difficult for Robert Walton. First, they wouldn't count his Guard experience toward promotion. Then, there was an abusive NCO. He had some good training experiences in Egypt, but, when his term was up, he went to work for Halliburton KBR.