Real American Hero: Jared Monti

Operation Enduring Freedom began less than a month after the 9/11 attacks on America. Designed to wrestle control of Afghanistan from the Islamofascist Taliban regime and install true democratic reform, the military operation has been highly successful in it's mission to bring and maintain some sense of stability to what has historically been one of the most difficult to manage areas of the world.

It was to this effort to help stem the rising tide of Islamic terror that 30-year old U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti of Massachusetts deployed in June of 2006. A career soldier, Monti loved his country and had joined the army at age 17. His Afghanistan deployment would find him serving as a forward observer with the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

Upon his arrival, his 71st Cavalry Regiment, a recon team, was preparing for what was known as 'Operation Gowerdesh Thrust' in the Gremen Valley near the Pakistan border. This are had been used for troop movements and as a staging area by enemy combatants, and so it was deemed important to secure.

While the main squadron would move through to clear the Valley, Monti was assigned as a part of their supporting recon mission. His group of scouts and snipers would move along a ridge line above the Valley and provide real-time intelligence as to the enemy's troop and equipment movements during the operation.

After spending the night of June 20th into the 21st alternating rest with recon assignments, Jared Monti began to prepare for his role as an assistant leader of the 16-man recon patrol that would move through these rugged mountains of Nurestan province in Northern Afghanistan. What the young military veteran had no way of knowing was that it would be his final wakeup call.

It turned out that Monti's group had it's original assignment length extended by a few days, and they were already running low on water and food. A decision was made to organize a 'drop' of these critical supplies. Monti and another Staff Sergeant led a patrol to pickup the supply drop and return it to their main camp.

During their return, one of the observers for the team left back at camp had believed that he observed an enemy scout pickup Monti's patrol through binoculars, and thus believed that their position was no longer secure. As dusk began to fall on Monti's return, discussions began to ensue as to whether to move their position.

At approximately 6:45pm local time, Monti's group suddenly came under heavy fire from a wooded area to their rear. A group of 50 enemy combatants fired on them with RPG's, machine guns and small arms and began to move towards them. The ferocity of the enemy fire knocked weapons from the men's hands and one, Private Brian Bradbury, was wounded.

It was here that Monti began his date with heroic destiny. He organized a quick response and defense, and also called in for air and artillery support. These actions alone kept his small group from being completely overrun early on in the attack.

Then, disregarding his own safety, Monti moved to rescue the fallen Bradbury. On his first attempt he was driven back by heavy enemy fire. Unfazed, Monti waited it out and made another move but was again driven back by heavy enemy fire. Finally, Monti made a 3rd attempt to rush to Bradbury's aid. This time an RPG exploded nearby, mortally wounding Monti and finally ending his heroic attempts to rescue his brother soldier.

As irony would have it, thanks to Monti's calls a rescue mission did indeed arrive. But as a Medevac chopper was raising the wounded Bradbury and another injured soldier, a winch cable broke and the two men plummeted to their deaths.

Command Sgt. Major James Redmore stated it perfectly in summing up Monti's actions on the battlefield that day. "They're being overwhelmed by an enemy force. He's calmly calling in fire, which breaks up the enemy force, and he's going out to try to retrieve one of his fallen comrades. He does it once, twice, a third time. Is it extraordinary? Absolutely. Would every man have the ability to muster the courage to do that? No, I don't believe they would."

Staff Sergeant Monti was posthumously promoted to Sergeant 1st Class the next day. He was later posthumously awarded with the Medal of Honor, the highest military award given by the U.S. government. His citation begins with the statement that his honor was "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." The actions of brave men like Jared Monti are what gave America it's freedom to begin with, and that enable us to remain free and to help extend the opportunity for liberty and freedom throughout the world.

NOTE: this is the continuation of the regular feature "Real American Heroes", all entries of which can be viewed by clicking on that label below this article at the www.mattveasey.com website

Islamism Series: Call a Spade a Spade

The man shouted "Allahu Akbar!" as he pulled out the FN Herstal tactical pistol which he had purchased back in the summer from a gun store in Texas. He then proceeded to methodically assassinate 13 Americans and injure dozens more in what has been described as everything from a 'crazed attack' to a 'shooting rampage'.

In fact, last week's attacks at the Fort Hood Army base have been called everything but what they were: a terrorist attack by a radical Islamist, the first on U.S. soil since 9/11/2001.

39-year old Nidal Malik Hasan is a psychiatrist by trade, a trade which he learned as an enlisted man in the United States Army. How could an American soldier shoot fellow soldiers and others? Was he simply mad? The obvious answer to anyone looking with clear vision is that Hasan was not mad, at least not clinically insane. What Hasan was and continues to be is an Islamist terrorist.

While performing his residency requirements at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Hasan made a presentation to colleagues on the proper role of Muslims in the American military. In this presentation, Hasan stated that "fighting to establish an Islamic State to please God, even by force, is condoned by the Islam."He further advocated the military releasing Muslims from their obligations to decrease "adverse events" and increase morale.

According to a cousin, Hasan was a practicing Muslim who became more devout following the death of his parents separately in 1998 and 2001. His family also said that he turned against the wars after hearing stories from troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2001, Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. The religious leader or 'imam' of the mosque at that time was Anwar al-Awlaki, and Hasan had deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings. This is notable because also attending the same mosque at the same time were both Hani Hanjour and Nawaf al-Hazmi, two of the 9/11 hijackers, as well as Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who was convicted for his role in an assassination plot against President Bush.

In the aftermath of the Fort Hood terror attack, al-Awlaki, who had conveniently fled to Yemen following the 9/11 attacks, praised Hasan for his actions in murdering the soldiers and for the overall shooting event. He also called on other Muslims to "follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal" if they were serving in the American military.

Hasan was said by fellow soldiers to have been constantly proselytizing about his faith with fellow doctors, patients, and soldiers. In the months prior to his attack, Hasan had come under investigation by federal authorities for internet postings that said suicide bombers were sacrificing their lives for a noble cause, among other messages.

Hasan was known to have made attempts at contacting al Qaeda directly, and had continued to exchange emails with al-Awlaki, especially seeking guidance as it became clear that Hasan was going to be deployed to the Middle East where he might have to directly fight against Muslims. On the day of the attack, Hasan handed out copies of the Quran, Islam's holy book, and was said to be in a peaceful state, often the description when a suicide bomber has resigned themselves to their fate.

Now comes word today that the Obama administration is going to take Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the acknowledged mastermind of those 9/11 terrorist attacks, to trial for those attacks in a civilian court. Not handle him as a war criminal, but in the same manner as a common criminal would be handled. This is the pre-9/11 mentality, handle terrorism against the United States as a law enforcement matter rather than as a matter of national security.

Terrorism analyst Neil Livingstone has made an incredibly chilling and proper analogy. Trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Islamist terrorists is akin to going back to World War II times and taking the Japanese who attacked Pearl Harbor to civilian courts rather than handling them as war criminals. Livingstone is, of course, exactly right.

This is just another in a long series of missteps by the Obama administration since taking office earlier in the year. The administration seems to be all about political correctness. The President has shown from the beginning, particularly in his hasty order to close the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, that he refuses to take responsibility for keeping America safe.

How many more Hasan's are 'sleeper' terrorists serving in the American military, or working in American businesses, or studying in American schools just waiting for either the orders, or the encouragement, or the inspiration, or the resources, or just for simply their own 'right moment' to pull the plug on their 'legitimate' American cover and take their own action in furtherance of the jihad to bring about Islamic rule under Sharia law here and elsewhere around the world?

To call Nidal Malik Hasan an "Army psychiatrist" or a "crazed gunman" is to tell the smallest portion of the truth of what he is in reality. To call Khalid Sheik Mohammed a murder conspirator is to tell the smallest portion of the truth. The truth is that both men are Islamist terrorists, and the time is long since past to both call a spade a spade, and to treat them accordingly.

NOTE: This is a continuation of the 'Islamism Series', an ongoing series relating to the issues of radical Islam in general and its presence here in America in particular. All entries in the series can be read by clicking on to the below 'Label'

Movie Vets Help the Rest of Us Appreciate

Like most Americans, I have never experienced the honor of wearing the uniform of one of our brave military branches in service to my country. I have heard it from many who are my same age. We turned 18 years of age in the late 1970's and early 1980's. There was no war, unless you count the Cold War, and in many homes the tradition of military service was not passed along.

I have always felt it missing from my own set of life experiences and from my professional resume. An opportunity to experience that sense of duty and honor, and of service to my country and community, is certainly one of the many reasons that I joined the Philadelphia Police Department almost two decades ago now. If I didn't make the choice as a kid to put on the uniform of my country, then at least I could put on a uniform here and help protect our homeland.

Still, it would be hard for most of us to ever appreciate what real soldiers, sailors, and pilots have experienced as they have defended both our nation directly and the cause of freedom around the world. While television news shows missiles being launched and far away explosions, they rarely, if ever, show the truth of close, intense combat situations and the split-second decisions that can mean the difference between life and death.

What was it really like to climb inside the cockpit of a fighter plane in World War II and engage in a mission over enemy lines, perhaps in combat with Nazi or Japanese pilots? What was it really like to crawl inside of a tank and head out into the deserts of Iraq? What was it really like to trudge through a swamp in the jungles of Vietnam? What was it really like to charge on to a battle field in the Civil War? What was it like to cross the Delaware River in a small boat, freezing and shivering in the cold with General Washington in the Revolutionary War?

For all of it's many faults, one of the things that Hollywood has managed to do best is to portray those military heroes well, bringing us close to the battles and often inside the very heads of the individuals involved. Whether those men and women were fighting in combat in war time or protecting our nation and it's interests in peace time, motion pictures have given us the opportunity to get close to the action.

In 1998, Steven Spielberg took us right out on to Omaha Beach with it's horror and death during the D-Day invasion of World War II. Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Paul Giamatti, Matt Damon, Dennis Farina and the rest of the stellar cast of 'Saving Private Ryan' took us into the heads, hearts, and minds of the heroes who rescued humanity from Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.

In 1994, Hanks had joined with director Robert Zemeckis and fellow actors Gary Sinise and Mykelti Williamson to explore the Vietnam War and it's participants from some unusual angles in 'Forrest Gump'. Back in 1979, Francis Ford Coppola had given us a look into the jungle battles with starring turns from Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, Sam Bottoms, and Dennis Hopper in 'Apocalypse Now'. In 1986, Oliver Stone's 'Platoon' with Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen took us back to the 'Nam.

While World War II and Vietnam have been the focus of some of the best war movies in motion picture history, many other conflicts around the world have shone a light on the struggles and accomplishments of America's fighting heroes. From 1935's 'Gone With the Wind' visiting the Civil War to 2005's 'Jarhead' taking us inside Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm we have seen American troops rise to defend their nation, democracy, and freedom.

So while few of us have had or ever will have that experience, we get at least a small taste of the hardships, the horrors, and the sacrifices that men and women make when they join the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and other military service groups thanks to the best of these Hollywood productions. Still, while it gives us a taste, it will never compare to real life.

Those men and women represented by these Hollywood characters and caricatures, by these retellings of history, and by the drama of fiction within a historical construct are the real heroes who we must always thank and never forget.

Especially today, on Veteran's Day here in the United States, we must all join together in supporting and thanking the military veterans who fight for our nation, and in some cases who are injured and even die for the cause of our freedom and liberty.