Word: platoons
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...slanted viewpoint presented in the television media is not only the fault of the reporters. Anthony Swofford, a Marine-turned-writer who served in the 1991 Gulf War reflected about his unit’s treatment of journalists. “Reporters visited my platoon and were treated to exactly what we’d been ordered to offer: smiling faces, bare, muscular chests and high levels of support for the coming war. We were ordered not to divulge our fears, our concerns about being uninformed about the long-term intentions of our mission...
...years old, the acting platoon leader for the 2nd Ranger Battalion, D Company. We were charged with one of the most dangerous missions that day, and we had been training for it since April. After we landed on the beach of Pointe du Hoc, which was between Omaha and Utah beaches, we were supposed to climb the 100-foot-high cliffs and take out the German cannons we believed were stationed there. The guns had a 10-to 12-mile range and were a danger to the forces landing at Utah and Omaha...
...wasn't really scared. I was the platoon leader and had an awful lot on my mind. I had no time to think of myself. We had a very difficult mission, and we were thinking of how we were going to cope, and we did a very fine job. All told, 150,000 Allied soldiers came ashore that day. But it had its cost. I landed with 225 other Rangers, and only 90 were left standing at the end of the battle...
...Outside, Mitchell links up with Lieut. Robert Carnahan and two six-man squads from White Platoon carrying M-16s, heavy SAWs (squad automatic weapons) and 240-Bravo machine guns. Flanking them are three Bradley fighting vehicles. Mitchell, 34, briefs his men that a passing farmer has told a sentry about 10 men sweeping around for an ambush. On his command, the Americans run north through the choking red dust and throw themselves on the ground against a nearby railway track. "Jesus, we can't see s___!" says Carnahan. The squads hold their positions as the Bradleys scan the area with...
...clincher on that question came later in the evening. As I returned from a trip to one of the other units at the camp, I discovered that the Brigade Headquarters Area had been surrounded by a platoon of heavily armed infantrymen. I asked a nearby first sergeant if Col. Hodges had asked for the added security during the night and was told, "I don't think the colonel knows. These soldiers volunteered to come do this." I wonder if any of the veterans reading this ever heard of soldiers volunteering to stand guard all night before...