Death in the family

[OtisPMerriweather]

Don't know if any of you remember my friend AK. I brought him to the reef a few times and he met some of the "old school" JU crowd. (Asshat era.) Anyways, he just got killed in Afghanistan. Just thought any of you who remember him might want to know.

Two days before Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Aaron M. Kenefick was killed Tuesday in an ambush in Afghanistan, the former Williamsville resident earned a Purple Heart.

Shrapnel hit his forearm, but it could have been worse.

"A fellow Marine next to him died in the rocket attack, and a sandbag saved my brother," Kenefick's younger sister, Jade Myszka, said. "He told me he loved me."

In what would be her final telephone conversation with him Sunday, Myszka said she suddenly realized just how dangerous her brother's situation was. But she also knew that he was where he wanted to be -- on the front lines defending his family and country as a United States Marine.

Twice, he had been named Marine of the Year, family members recalled Wednesday.

But his 12-year military career, punctuated time and time again with honors, would end early Tuesday when his unit came under heavy fire in an ambush by insurgents.

The Marines and Afghan military were on their way to meet with elders at Ganjgal, a fortified village in the east, near the Pakistan border.

Three other Marines and several Afghan troops also died in the attack that, according to an eyewitness account by an embedded journalist from McClatchy Newspapers, left the troops without support from U.S. helicopters for more than an hour, despite previous assurances air support would be five minutes away.

Reading from a military dispatch she received providing some details of her 30-year-old son's death, Susan Price said, they were "en route to a key leader engagement in Ganjgal Village, Kunar Province, when his element [vehicle] was attacked by a complex ambush."

The dispatch, Price said, indicated that her son apparently died while being transported to a medical facility.

Out of respect for her brother, Myszka said she would not fault the military for delaying backup support.

"My brother told me he will never speak bad of the Marine Corps. "That is my job, and whoever is in command at the time is my boss,'" Myszka said, recalling her brother's words.

http://fotos.fotoflexer.com/21457398bcc9d4905d16de99ab7c23f9.jpg

[OtisPMerriweather]

Eyewitness account by an embedded reporter.

GANJGAL, Afghanistan — We walked into a trap, a killing zone of relentless gunfire and rocket barrages from Afghan insurgents hidden in the mountainsides and in a fortress-like village where women and children were replenishing their ammunition.

"We will do to you what we did to the Russians," the insurgent's leader boasted over the radio, referring to the failure of Soviet troops to capture Ganjgal during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation.

Dashing from boulder to boulder, diving into trenches and ducking behind stone walls as the insurgents maneuvered to outflank us, we waited more than an hour for U.S. helicopters to arrive, despite earlier assurances that air cover would be five minutes away.

U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren't near the village.

"We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We've lost today," Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter's repeated demands for helicopters.

Four U.S. Marines were killed Tuesday, the most U.S. service members assigned as trainers to the Afghan National Army to be lost in a single incident since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Eight Afghan troops and police and the Marine commander's Afghan interpreter also died in the ambush and the subsequent battle that raged from dawn until 2 p.m. around this remote hamlet in eastern Kunar province, close to the Pakistan border.

Three Americans and 19 Afghans were wounded, and U.S. forces later recovered the bodies of two insurgents, although they believe more were killed.

The Marines were cut down as they sought cover in a trench at the base of the village's first layer cake-style stone house. Much of their ammunition was gone. One Marine was bending over a second, tending his wounds, when both were killed, said Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, 21, of Greensburg, Ky., who retrieved their bodies.

HISTORY OF RESISTANCE

A full moon was drenching the mountains in ghostly light as some 60 Afghan soldiers, 20 border police officers, 13 Marine and U.S. Army trainers and I set out for Ganjgal at 3 a.m. from the U.S. base in the Shakani District.

The operation, proposed by the Afghan army and refined by the U.S. trainers, called for the Afghans to search Ganjgal for weapons and hold a meeting with the elders to discuss the establishment of police patrols. The elders had insisted that Afghans perform the sweep. The Americans were there to give advice and call for air and artillery support if required.

Dawn was breaking by the time we alighted for a mile-long walk up a wash of gravel, rock and boulders which winds up to Ganjgal, some 60 rock-walled compounds perched high up the terraced slopes at the eastern end of the valley, six miles from the Pakistani border.

Small teams of Afghan troops and U.S. trainers headed to ridges on the valley's southern and northern sides, setting up outposts as the main body headed slowly up toward the village and, unbeknownst to us, into the killing zone.

The terrain — craggy ravines and sweeping, tree-studded mountains riddled with boulders and caves — was made for guerrilla warfare. The ethnic Pashtun villagers pride themselves on their rejection of official authority, their history of resistance and their disdain of foreign forces that many regard as occupiers.

A possible clue to what was to come occurred when the lights in Ganjgal suddenly blinked out while our vehicles were still several miles away, crashing slowly through the semi-dark along a rutted track toward the village.

NO AIR SUPPORT

The first shot cracked out at 5:30 a.m., apparently just as the four Marines and the Afghan unit to which they were attached reached the outskirts of the village. It quickly swelled into a furious storm of gunfire that we realized had been prepared for our arrival.

Several U.S. officers said they suspected that the insurgents had been tipped off by sympathizers in the local Afghan security forces or by the village elders, who announced over the weekend that they were accepting the authority of the local government.

"Whatever we do always leaks," said Marine Lt. Ademola Fabayo, 28, a New Yorker who was born in Nigeria and is the operations officer for the trainers from the 3rd Marine Division. "You can't trust even some of their soldiers or officers."

Sniper rounds snapped off rocks and sizzled overhead. Explosions of recoilless rifle rounds echoed through the valley, while bullets inched closer to the rock wall behind which I crouched with a handful U.S. and Afghan officers.

Lt. Fabayo and several other soldiers later said they'd seen women and children in the village shuttling ammunition to fighters positioned in windows and roofs. Across the valley and from their ridgeline outposts, the Afghans and Americans fired back.

At 5:50 a.m., Army Capt. Will Swenson, of Seattle, WA, the trainer of the Afghan Border Police unit in Shakani, began calling for air support or artillery fire from a unit of the Army's 10th Mountain Division. The responses came back: No helicopters were available.

"This is unbelievable. We have a platoon (of Afghan army) out there and we've got no Hotel Echo," Swenson shouted above the din of gunfire, using the military acronym for high explosive artillery shells. "We're pinned down."

The insurgents were firing from inside the village and from positions in the hills immediately behind it and to either side. Judging from the angles of the ricochets, several appeared to be trying to outflank us to get better shots.

"What are you going to do?" Maj. Talib, the operations officer of the Afghan army unit, asked Maj. Williams through his translator.

"We are getting air," Williams replied.

"What are we going to do?" Talib repeated.

"We are getting air," Williams replied again, perhaps knowing that none was available but hoping to quiet Talib.

At 6:05 a.m., as our position was becoming increasingly tenuous, Swenson and Fabayo agreed that it was time to pull back and radioed for artillery to fire smoke rounds to mask our retreat.

"They don't have any smoke. They only have Willy Pete," Swenson reported, referring to white phosphorus rounds that spew smoke.

Fifty minutes later, as a curtain of white phosphorus smoke roiled across the valley, Swenson and Fabayo unleashed an intense volley of covering fire while the rest of us sprinted back some 20 yards to a series of dirt furrows, weighed down by our flak vests and water carriers.

The two officers raced back to join us. Everyone jumped up and ran for the next stone wall. Everyone but me. Afraid that too many people were jammed together as they raced, offering easy targets, I waited behind for a break in the gunfire, an Afghan border police officer crouched next to me.

TIME TO MOVE

We soon noticed that the insurgent snipers were trying to outflank us again. I saw one up on a small rise fire and miss us by several feet. My companion decided that it was time to go and bolted away across the wash, but the gunfire grew too intense, and again I pulled my body into the dirt and rocks.

I wasn't as terrified as I was angry: angry at the absence of air support, angry that there was no artillery fire, angry that Williams' interpreter had been killed, angry at the realization that the operation had obviously been betrayed and angry at myself for not bolting with the others.

I knew it was time to move when I saw a gaggle of Afghan soldiers pounding through the boulders past me, their commander, a bright 26-year-old lieutenant named Ruhollah, hopping between two of them, a bullet wound in his groin. Staying put was no longer an option.

Bundling my legs beneath me and grabbing the small bag I use to carry my pad, pens, glasses and other necessities, I sprang and ran, trying to weave as bullets kicked up dust around me.

I reached the next wall and plunged behind it, nearly falling on top of Swenson, Fabayo and several badly wounded U.S. soldiers.

As Fabayo cracked off rounds, Swenson lay flat on his back, clasping a pressure bandage to the shoulder of one soldier with one hand and holding the microphone of his radio in the other, calling out insurgents' positions to two U.S. helicopters that finally had arrived.

It was now 7:10 a.m., and with the helicopters prowling overhead and firing into the hillsides, the incoming gunfire slackened enough for us to move again.

I stumbled down the valley to safety after I helped one of the injured soldiers into a medivac helicopter. Capt. Swenson and Lt. Fabayo headed off to find vehicles and, together with Cpl. Meyer, crashed back up the way we'd just fled to retrieve the bodies of the dead Marines and any other casualties they could find.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/75036.html

[dk]

Did I meet him?

[badkitty]

WOW!! OPM I am sorry. I understand what its like to lose a friend. My condolences to you and to his family. If you wanna talk, holla to your girl!

[Stormracer]

God Bless him and his family! There is never enough words for the men and women who are the true heroes of today!:79:

[gtlm2000]

I haven't met him, but It's sad to hear that..... :(

[OtisPMerriweather]

Did I meet him?

I don't think you did...I know Trail and Six, Tak, and the usual reef crowd have.

[DJ Tak]

fukk. Sorry to hear this man. I'm wondering when the day will come that people I know or have met will stop getting killed.

[Trail]

Otis- I am very sorry. My deepest condolences to you and his family. He seemed like a really,almost abnormally nice, guy and it is too bad he was taken from you all.

[badstreetusa]

My condolences to his friends, family, and fellow servicemen. May we never forget the sacrifices.

[Crazysix]

DAMN, yeah I remember him, he was a good kid...another brother gone......... for me its to many. THANKS OPM, I will be in contact with you a in a few days brotha, thanks for the heads up.

[Crazysix]

SEMPER FI , gone but not forgotten

[z's inmate#2341]

Will see alot more of these unnecessary deaths due to the new policy on avoiding civilian casualties. Well, unless the Germans are involved.

[Crazysix]

Will see alot more of these unnecessary deaths due to the new policy on avoiding civilian casualties. Well, unless the Germans are involved.

WTF are we warriors or boyscouts ...there is no in between

[Biru San]

Otis.. We have never met, my friend, but please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and Gunny kenefik's family... My small town of Bedford,MA still grieves over the loss last year of 2 fine soldiers, one in Iraq, and the other in Afghanistan... Know also that all of you fine American servicemen and women no matter where you are deployed, are always in our thoughts... Many thanks for sharing what I am sure are very personal thoughts and fond memories of a very special friend and dedicated Marine... Bill Damery U.S.C.G. vet.

[Crazysix]

Otis.. We have never met, my friend, but please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and Gunny kenefik's family... My small town of Bedford,MA still grieves over the loss last year of 2 fine soldiers, one in Iraq, and the other in Afghanistan... Know also that all of you fine American servicemen and women no matter where you are deployed, are always in our thoughts... Many thanks for sharing what I am sure are very personal thoughts and fond memories of a very special friend and dedicated Marine... Bill Damery U.S.C.G. vet.

Biru thankyou for your heartfelt message, this was a good guy and those of us who knew him, he will be missed.

[uchinahafu]

i'm sorry to hear that OPM. he is in my thoughts and prayers.

[Trail]

Otis, for some reason this song reminded me of him today. It touched a nerve I guess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5X6sOr9HdA&feature=fvst

[Crazysix]

damn trail, you know how to bring tears to a grown mans eyes
seriously you that know me, know I am one of the most non racist people on this planet but I swear I wish they would glass the whole fuqing area and lay waste to any rag that survived.
My non racist ways are ....no........ have faded

[Crazysix]

yeah................ to a BRO. a FRIEND, MARINE , to a HERO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otbL8blg1vk

[Alana]

This thread hurts my heart, I dont know this man, but i am pretty sure my husband does. Though not at the same location at the time Paul deployed with these guys. My heart goes out to this Marine and the others. I pray every night for their safe return. I cant even look at the title of this thread without getting tears in my eyes, it just seems so much more real now that every time something happens, I feel selfish because all i can think is this really could have been my husband.

[Crazysix]

This thread hurts my heart, I dont know this man, but i am pretty sure my husband does. Though not at the same location at the time Paul deployed with these guys. My heart goes out to this Marine and the others. I pray every night for their safe return. I cant even look at the title of this thread without getting tears in my eyes, it just seems so much more real now that every time something happens, I feel selfish because all i can think is this really could have been my husband.

hey alana paul will be safe, Im not losing another damn friend and brother

[Crazysix]

Four from Okinawa confirmed dead in Afghanistan

By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, September 13, 2009
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Three Okinawa-based Marines and a Navy corpsman were identified as the four servicemembers killed in an ambush Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan, the Defense Department reported Thursday.

Listed as killed are Gunnery Sgt. Edwin W. Johnson, 31, of Columbus, Ga.; 1st Lt. Michael E. Johnson, 25, of Virginia Beach, Va.; Staff Sgt. Aaron M. Kenefick, of Roswell, Ga.; and Petty Officer 3rd Class James A. Layton, 22, of Riverbank, Calif.

All four were assigned to an embedded training team with the Combined Security Transition Command, which trains and equips Afghan security forces, in the Sarkani District of Kunar province.

Their deaths marked the largest number of U.S. servicemembers assigned as Afghan National Army trainers killed in a single incident since the country was invaded in 2001 to uproot terrorists and oust the Taliban-led government.

The four deployed from the 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force on Okinawa. Layton went to Afghanistan in July, according to Marine Corps Bases Japan Consolidated Public Affairs. Kenefick and Gunnery Sgt. Johnson were assigned to Combat Assault Battalion and deployed to Afghanistan in April.

First Lt. Johnson was assigned to the 7th Communications Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group. A platoon commander, he also deployed to Afghanistan in July.

Media reports said Layton was administering aid to one of the wounded Marines when both were killed by snipers. Kenefick, according to reports, had been wounded by shrapnel last weekend, but remained with the unit.

“Their loss is deeply felt by Combat Assault Battalion,” Lt. Col. Daniel L. Yaroslaski, Commanding Officer, Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, said in a statement released to Stars and Stripes. “Our hearts go out to their families and loved ones.”

According to a McClatchy Newspapers reporter accompanying the unit, the group of some 60 Afghan soldiers, 20 border police officers and 13 Americans walked into an ambush about dawn as they approached a village close to the Pakistan border.

The incident remains under investigation, according to the Pentagon, but reporter Jonathan S. Landay wrote that requests for supporting artillery fire were denied and air power was delayed.

“U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren’t near the village,” Landay wrote in a story that also appeared in Stars and Stripes.

The Pentagon disputed the report.

“It did take some time for close air support to arrive in this case, but that is not a result of more restrictive conditions in which it can be used,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said in a briefing Wednesday. “It was a result, as is often the case in Afghanistan, of the fact that there are great distances, often, between bases where such assets are located and where our troops are out operating.

“That’s just the nature of the beast in Afghanistan.”

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64723

[Crazysix]

nature of the beast my ass...where was his Air support and Arty

[Trail]

Alana, I'm not much for prayer but Paul will be in mine tonight. If you need support in anyway, let me know. If he needs care packages, let me know. If either of you need anything, let me know.

[Biru San]

damn trail, you know how to bring tears to a grown mans eyes
seriously you that know me, know I am one of the most non racist people on this planet but I swear I wish they would glass the whole fuqing area and lay waste to any rag that survived.
My non racist ways are ....no........ have faded



Never in the history of our nation have we asked our brave and dedicated warriors to engage in combat such an inhumane piece of slime as the cowardly " Radical Muslim ".

If there is such a thing as a humane and peace loving Muslim, I implore him to not cower from this scurge, but rather, to join the effort to remove this blight on humanity... Until that happens, and the rest of the free world takes action, we stand alone once more in the never ending effort towards world peace... God bless America, and all it's brave warriors, and freedom loving citizens... Biru San.

[Richard Burns]

RIP brother.

As far as this war. **** the rules. Blow these mother ****ers off the map. How many Americans have to die for Washington to see being the nice guy don't work. It ain't these punk ass politicians that pay.

It's our fathers, brothers, relatives and friends that pay the price.

[OtisPMerriweather]

nature of the beast my ass...where was his Air support and Arty

Yeah that's bullshit and we all know it. Air support is available within 10 minutes anywhere in Afghanistan. Especially when you got guys outside the wire.

[P_chan]

Usually the air support is held up in some type of bureaucratic BS. Read an article a while ago about how pilots can basically tell the CAS guy no if he feels that too many civilians will be caught in the explosion.

[Crazysix]

Usually the air support is held up in some type of bureaucratic BS. Read an article a while ago about how pilots can basically tell the CAS guy no if he feels that too many civilians will be caught in the explosion.

but from the guy on the ground........his point of view is hella different that that of some zoomie with a moral conflict.........Like the article said...they could see women and children shuttling ammo to the rags...at that point that village should have become a vague memory

[OtisPMerriweather]

I hate to sound like an ass, but I think we're sending the wrong message by trying to avoid civilian casualties. It just lets the enemy know that they can hide amongst civilians and use them to do just as it says in the story, provide aid and comfort.

If it was known throughout Afghanistan that attack would result in a carpet bombing, it just might cut down on the number of villages used to harbor the enemy.

I dunno. I think the Russians tried that approach though. Just thinking out loud, I guess.

[Crazysix]

ok I moved all off topic post here please feel free to continue

http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14303

[Richard Burns]

Like I said I stand corrected. I'm sorry.

But either way this is not the thread for this debate. This thread is to mourn the loss of a HERO. He's my brother too.

*edit* Thread was fixed before I hit send.

[socalheart]

Our condolences, Otis. http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/335/335330bw69aa5ahz.gif (http://www.glitter-graphics.com)