By Cheryl Masters
This is what you either heard or read: “Eight U.S. soldiers were killed in a firefight in Afghan attacks.”
This is what you didn”t hear or read: 200 Taliban, armed with rifles, grenades and RPG”s attacked Combat Outpost Keating. The fighting was fierce. During the battle, wounded soldiers refused to be medevaced because they were able to continue to fight. Some donated blood while fighting to save other soldiers” lives. During the battle they saw everything they owned go up in smoke when their living quarters were hit. The camp was breached at one point. Eight soldiers died. One of the survivors e-mailed home that “no one knows, and no one gives a s–t.” Fifty-six soldiers survived and only had the clothes on their backs. A second e-mail came; they had no food. They were eating once a day, because they had to ration what they had found in the ruins. The Army would reissue some things, but no help had come yet.
When the family receiving the e-mails contacted the American Legion and Soldiers” Angels with the “rest of the story,” both organizations put out a call for help. They focused on personal items first, everything from briefs to soap and toothpaste. Next, they focused on comfort things such as bedding, etc. Some people began donating money to help. Pooling resources, they were able to buy iPods, DVD players, DVDs and TVs. When the second e-mail came, the call went out for food donations. The American Legion chartered a series of plane flights and made the connections so the supplies could be delivered to COP Keating. They did this in 36 hours. One little old lady stuck in a picture of herself holding a sign that said, ” I give a s–t.” The 56 COP Keating survivors had everything back that they”d lost, plus one more thing … they found out Americans do care, when they find out what happened.
The eight brave soldiers that didn”t survive are Obama”s department. The Associated Press simply added them to “the mounting toll as the U.S. and NATO decide whether or not to send more troops.”
Cheryl Masters
Clearlake
