A Heartbreaking Loss of Our Troops

[Lady Cop]

i am so sorry for the the loss of these people...for their families, for us as citizens. of course ALL losses over there are tragic.


WASHINGTON -- The Associated Press has learned that more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden were among those lost in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

The operators from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. That's according to one current and one former U.S. official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified of the loss of their loved ones.

One source says the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew.

The sources thought this was the largest single loss of life ever for SEAL Team Six, known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.



http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/08...?hpt=hp_t1

[Cracker]

It's 31, LC. 38 if you count the Afghans who are trying to fight for themselves. They count, too.

I have checked this every day for years. I want to know the name of every man/woman who gave their life in service to this country. Sometimes I do before work so I can remember to be grateful and not bitch too much.
http://icasualties.org/OEF/Fatalities.aspx

All losses are heartbreaking. I feel both relief and guilt when I find out it wasn't my family.

I can't imagine being on the recovery team. :(

[Lady Cop]

i admit to fearful thoughts for you when i saw the news. because i "know" you. that's just human i guess. i have had a nephew and cousin who returned safely from there to my relief. but my heart truly goes out to all the families.

[Cracker]

I thought I wouldn't stress as much for him the third time. Not so. We have had seven deployments in our family since 2001. We have learned how to suck it up a little, but that's about all. We enjoy the years when everybody is home. Lots of family time and good food.

I learned this year that just because they come home doesn't mean they will live. You won't find a list of troops who died from their wounds once they reached America. They don't publish it. The numbers you see listed aren't the real numbers. There is no glory for the ones who hang on to see their family one more time...

If you add in the ones who die from invisible wounds, the numbers skyrocket.

[Maggot]

I do not know what the "mission" is over there. It seems the Soviets were smart enough to get out when they had the chance. A bunch of mountains and jagged rocks, opium fields and old men that like little boys. You have to wonder what our men are fighting for there. Osama is dead.

[Cracker]

Liberation from the Taliban for the Afghan people and whatever benefits to us that it brings.

We are at war with the Taliban (in Afghanistan...we are giving them weapons in Syria and Libya).

If you look at Afghanistan on the map, you will see it shares a border Iran and Pakistan (and a few other countries). I think that probably has as much to do with it as anything.

[Maggot]

Thats not very comforting.

[Cracker]

You're right. Not a comfort.

I'm sure you remember other wars people have questioned in your lifetime. Your parents remember other wars people questioned before that. We are always off fighting somewhere else trying to keep the harm from coming here. If we wait for our shores to be invaded, we wouldn't have to wonder why we are fighting. Most people are too stupid and short-sighted to see that. They think we are invincible because they didn't have to serve their time. Some don't recognize the debt being paid in their stead. Pearl Harbor and ⁹⁄₁₁ seem like a long time ago. People forget.

I feel badly for the people in countries that have to deal with war in their own lands, but they should have stopped shit before it got to that point. Weak governments will always breed war. Greedy people will always take advantage of the weak. People who don't think will always be victims.

It's fucked up to die. Better, maybe, to die fighting than be mowed down in your own front yard. I'm not sure if you get points for dying for something rather than dying for nothing, but you should.

I get tired of us fighting "other people's wars" sometimes. But that is a classification error. I like to think the decent people in the world are one people and the fuckers are another. Shoot the fuckers before they shoot you. If someone else is shooting the fuckers for you, shut the fuck up about it. If you want it to be different, get off your ass and make it different. If you can't, again, shut the fuck up. It is really that simple.

[Maggot]

I wish it was that easy.

[IMaDick]

Makes a person wonder or at least it does me.

this team had bad luck with helicopters.

almost like it was planned.

[Maggot]

I thought that also.

[Duchess]

almost like it was planned.

Would you care to elaborate on that statement?

[Maggot]

He is saying that there was something these seals saw when they took out Bin Laden that someone does not want to get out. Its a conspiracy thing.

[Midwest Spy]

almost like it was planned.

Would you care to elaborate on that statement?

Well, not reading Dick's mind, I'd venture to say that either, A: he's insinuating that we deliberately set up our own SEALS, possibly to satisfy the Pakistani government for the disrespect we showed them by taking down Bin Laden in their backyard without their knowledge. Or, B: a possible Afghan informant let the Taliban know where and when our SEALS would be in regards to this operation. Knowing the SEALS, I'm sure this was not a 'daylight' operation. Someone would have to be pretty close to get an accurate shot, in the dark, with an RPG.

Dick may be on to something here. Either that, or he's ON something.

[IMaDick]

almost like it was planned.

Would you care to elaborate on that statement?

The 2 times we have heard about these guys they had helicopter problems.

The first time they managed to recover because they had a back up copter, this time the copter went down hard and they were killed.

The beginning of that feeling is a few inches below my belt buckle, do you want to feel it?

[Midwest Spy]

The Chinook transport helicopter has been around for years. It's been used efficiently in its time, but not without tragedy. Do some investigating, and you'll find that it does have a history of mechanical failure.

When I served, I was actually on board a Chinook a couple of different times. Even then (late 80's and early 90's) I was apprehensive about getting aboard. Fortunately for me, I landed safely each time.

I don't know the particulars here. I'm hearing that an RPG took it down, but, as Dick alluded to, the raid on Bin Laden did feature a mishap with one of the two helicopters. I'm assuming it was a Chinook. It's possible that again, this one had problems and had to 'land' hard. So unfortunate. I just want us to be done over there and get our people back home.

[username]

I'm very sad about the loss of those troops. I heard on the radio that we fly missions like that every night that are successful--it's the loss of life on this particular one that makes it unique.

Regarding the conspiracy theories, newsreports say NONE of the SEALS killed on the raid were directly involved in the hit on Osama bin Laden. They were part of Seal Team 6 but didn't participate in the raid on Osama.

I can't help but marvel at the differences between our tolerance today for war casualities vs. those we experienced in prior wars (Vietnam, the Korean War, WWI and WWII). Could we ever stomach a war of those proportions again? Should we? I know combat tactics have changed significantly and hopefully no country would ever have those level of casualties but...war is hell. To hope that we'll be at war in Afghanistan and not incur casualities is just crazy to me. We're either in or we're out. If we're in, sadly, we're going to lose sometimes.

Here ends my sermon. :/

[IMaDick]

Really the news said none of them were members of the team that were in on the raid?

Hell it must be true then.

[BlueTiki]

That damned Chinook is the size of a barn and slow. Any illiterate, goat fucking, Allah luvin', wife beating, bearded, blind fuckwad with an RPG could score a hit if close enough.

Why no perimeter? Where were the drones or Apaches?

[IMaDick]

The news has already taken care of the question of if any of them were the men that took part in the bin laden raid, nothing else matters.

Damage control is always first and then we will hear how the prsident is so sorry that these guys were killed in an un necessisary attack on an un necessisary target in an un necessisay part of afghanistan.

You know he is the commander in Chief.


nothing happens in the war zone that he is not responsible for.

I'm sorry to hear about some of americas finest being killed but I can't help but think the coininkidink is too much of a coininkidink.