Video of the Week! The PARAS have landed - in Kenya

From British Forces News:

Published on Dec 4, 2013

 

3 PARA has parachuted into Kenya for the first time in more than ten years.

The soldiers jumped from an operational height of 800 feet - giving them just 20 seconds in the air.

Parachuting with heavy loads from such low heights carries risks, and 10 in every 100 paratroopers are expected to be injured on landing.

Medics were on hand and treated two men who were airlifted to hospital but were not seriously hurt...

Seems I can't embed this one, so go over HERE to watch it.  

[I'm away to check my mail box for my invite!!]

Red Shirt Friday

Welcome home!!!

From the British Army:

More than 180 soldiers of the Household Cavalry Regiment marked their final return from Afghanistan by marching through the streets of Windsor today before being presented with their operational service medals by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.

As the soldiers of the Household Cavalry Regiment filed past the historic Guildhall, The Princess Royal took the salute with Councillor Andrew Jenner, Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Over a six month tour, their sixth in the Afghan campaign, the soldiers of B Squadron formed the Brigade Reconnaissance Force and helped to achieve security in the transition as Task Force Helmand reduced its presence in country. This became possible as the Afghan National Security Forces began to take over the task with a growing confidence and greater numbers.

Images by Sergeant Adrian Harlen; Crown copyright

Wednesday Hero

This post was suggested by Michael



  Maj. Don Beerbower22 years old from Hill City, Minnesota
353d Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force
August 26, 1921 - August 9, 1944


A fighter pilot who has brought down five or more enemy aircraft was called a flying ace. From December 1943 to Aug. 9, 1944, Beerbower became a triple ace, shooting down more than 15 German planes, making him the second highest ace in the 9th Air Force.

Due to pilot losses and Beerbower’s own advancements based on flying and leadership skills, Beerbower was promoted to major and made squadron commander in June 1944 — less than nine months after his arrival in Europe. At only 22 years old, he already was a great fighter pilot, respected and liked by the men in his squadron.







You can read more about Maj. Beerbower here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Royal Marine earns Conspicuous Gallantry Cross

From The Telegraph:

'Lawrence of Helmand' marine awarded Afghan gallantry medal

A Royal Marine has received a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his work living and fighting alongside a band of Afghan police militiamen 

 Captain Owen Davis, Royal Marines, who was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for great courage in the face of the enemy whilst serving in Afghanistan Photo: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY FOR THE TELEGRAPH

By Ben Farmer, Defence Correspondent

28 Nov 2013

A young Royal Marine officer likened to Lawrence of Arabia for immersing himself in an Afghan police unit to live and fight alongside them has received one of the highest awards for gallantry.

Capt Owen Davis learnt fluent Pashto, grew a long beard and bonded with his Afghan militiamen comrades in Helmand over poetry and cricket. 

He fought alongside them almost daily against local Taliban insurgents and was nearly killed when a grenade landed at his feet during the storming of one compound. 

The 25-year-old from Swansea received a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, second only to a Victoria Cross, for his courage and “exemplary” leadership....

More details here.

In case you missed it, from the MoD here's the Operational Honours List from October.

Heroes, every one.

US Border Agents attacked

From NBC SanDiego:

 Officials: Attack on Border Patrol Agents Was a Planned Event

Officials say a flier distributed prior to the clash at the border told people to meet there so they could cross into the U.S. together

By Greg Bledsoe and Monica Garske

|  Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013

 

Investigators say a clash at the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego involving more than 100 people pelting Border Patrol agents with rocks and bottles was an event organized long before the chaos began.

“We are still looking into who organized it, but clearly this was an organized event,” Chief Border Agent Paul Beeson told NBC 7 San Diego on Wednesday.

The border riot involving the unruly crowd happened Sunday in the Tijuana River Channel, near the San Ysidro Port of Entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said the crowd began hurling rocks and bottles at agents as they tried to illegally cross into the United States.

Now, a video and piece of paper proves the event was planned, according to officials....

Much more - plus video - here.

Check out this report, too.

I have reported on this a few times over the years. But don't forget 'our borders are safer than they ever were'!

Today's WTHHHHH story: Khadr files lawsuit for $60m

From the 'Believe it or not' file:

Omar Khadr sues for $60 million

Lawyers accuse Canadian government of a ‘conspiracy’ with U.S. to keep Khadr behind bars

by Michael Friscolanti on Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Omar Khadr is still behind bars, 11 long years and counting after he was shot and captured by U.S. troops in war-torn Afghanistan. But his next fight—a battle with Ottawa over financial compensation—is just ramping up.

Khadr’s lawyers, due in Federal Court later this month, are asking a judge to approve yet another round of amendments to a lawsuit that’s been inching its way through the system for almost as long as he’s been locked away. Originally filed in 2004 as a mere $100,000 claim (and later bumped up to $10 million), Khadr’s latest submission says he now deserves $60 million from the Canadian government: $20 million for breaching his Charter rights, $20 million in punitive damages, and $20 million for failing to treat him like the 15-year-old child soldier he was. [Bratnote:  Christopher Speer is unavailable for comment]


The dollar figures, of course, are completely arbitrary. If Khadr ultimately wins his case against the feds, a judge will decide the value of his award, regardless of whether he asked for $1 or $1 billion. In fact, one of Khadr’s lawyers says the $60-million tally listed in the lawsuit isn’t quite accurate, even though the document says so. “We perceive the claim as being a $20-million claim,” says John Kingman Phillips, who plans to correct the record when he appears in a Toronto courtroom Dec. 18. “That’s what it’s intended to be.”...

There is more here.

If you need a sense of what I really think about Omar Khadr, just put his name in the search bar above.  Other than that, I'll repeat what I say so often:  PAY ATTENTION!