 Clinton Romesha |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Romesha Quote from this website…
“Clinton L. Romesha is a former staff sergeant in the United States Army. He is slated to receive the Medal of Honor on 11 February 2013, for actions during the Battle of Kamdesh in 2009 during the war in Afghanistan.
Born in a family with a strong military background, Romesha joined the Army in 1999, and was posted at various times in Germany, South Korea and Colorado. Trained as an M1 Abrams crewman, Romesha had seen multiple deployments, including to Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan before retiring from the military in 2011. On 3 October 2009, he was assigned to 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, deployed to eastern Afghanistan. When a force of 300 Taliban insurgents attacked the base, Romesha was credited with rallying his comrades and leading the counterattack, directing close air support and providing suppressive fire to help the wounded to an aid station. Despite being wounded, Romesha continued to fight through the 12-hour battle.”
Watching the CNN special http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/07/opinion/tapper-clint-romesha/?hpt=us_t2 last night and listening to the interview with Clinton Romesha left me with the following most healing take-away…
“It’s not about me, it was a job and the team…” While Clinton Romesha and his team of combat veterans will be haunted with the memories of the Battle of Kamdesh for a life time, it is clear that his focus is all about the greater good, and the value of team play. It will not be an easy road of healing for Clinton and his battle buddies who survived, but his attitude of making a difference for others will help heal the invisible wounds of that day in October 2009 when his outpost in Afghanistan was attacked and 8 of his team members were killed.
So critical in this battle was recovering the bodies of the fallen, so that mothers and fathers could “see their son one more time…” The emotions are so strong about not allowing the enemy to touch what is sacred in war, surviving soldiers without hesitation put their own lives at risk again and again to leave no fallen comrade behind… This is a bond, a sacred duty of healing. It was deeply touching for me to observe the emotions of Clinton Romesha talking about how their battle buddies were recovered. For this we will never forget and must always honor veterans of all wars for their brave service to America…
Steve Sparks
Author
Reconciliation: A Son’s Story
