| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fred Stone" |
| Date: |
27 Nov 2005 07:35:43 AM |
| Object: |
The Rock |
http://www.navyseals.com/community/articles/article.cfm?id=8321
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Contributing Editor, NavySEALs.com
On March 31, 2004, terrorists and a frenzied mob in the city of Fallujah
ambushed a group of American civilian contractors: dragging them from
their SUVs, killing them, mutilating their bodies, hanging two men on a
bridge over the Euphrates River, and chaining one to a car before
dragging him through the city’s streets.
It was one of the worst – most highly publicized – acts of terror in
Iraq since the invasion of 2003: Tragic for all Americans; emotionally
wrenching for Chris Berman, a Navy SEAL Reservist who was then-working
as a contractor for Blackwater USA, the security company that also
employed the four murdered contractors.
One of the victims was Scott Helvenston, a close friend of Berman and a
fellow SEAL.
News of Helvenston’s death would change Berman’s life, but in such a way
that lives – unknown to Berman – might well be saved in the coming
months and years.
Berman was supposed to be part of the Blackwater team that was in
Fallujah on that ill-fated day. But a last minute schedule change placed
him in the south of Iraq at Camp Bucca, near Umm Qasr. On the highway to
Baghdad the following day, Berman received the phone call: A Blackwater
detail had been hit. Four men were dead.
“I brought those four bodies home,” he tells NavySEALs.com. Berman flew
with the remains to Dover (Delaware) Air Force Base. Then from Dover, “I
flew Scotty home to his mom in Florida.” But Berman was compelled to do
something beyond burying friends. He had to figure a way to save lives
in the wake of his personal loss and in the face of the new type of war.
While in Florida, Berman stopped by a Ford dealership. There he took a
close look at the Ford F-550, realized the truck had the heavy-duty
chassis he needed for a fully armored urban-combat vehicle. It was not
to be a Humvee replacement – perhaps a replacement for soft-skinned SUVs
– but surely a vehicle that – had it been in Blackwater service in the
spring of 2004 – would have saved lives.
“A Humvee is a rough terrain vehicle designed to go in the dirt, and it
has some other great capabilities,” says Berman. “However, we’re no
longer in a land-grabbing front-line war. We’re now in an urban warfare
situation where we’re spending a lot of time working in-and-around
cities.”
In the days following Helvenston’s funeral, Berman formed Kuwait-based
Granite Global Services (graniteglobalservices.com). His first truck
went into production at his Kuwaiti plant in June 2004 (less than three
months after the Fallujah ambush). The first deployable truck rolled off
the line in June 2005....
[more where that came from]
--
Fred Stone
aa# 1369
"I actually think what we learned during the inspection
made Iraq a more dangerous place, potentially, than,
in fact, we thought it was even before the war." -- David Kay
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=6075
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| User: "Mike Painter" |
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| Title: Re: The Rock |
27 Nov 2005 12:44:26 PM |
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Fred Stone wrote:
http://www.navyseals.com/community/articles/article.cfm?id=8321
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Contributing Editor, NavySEALs.com
On March 31, 2004, terrorists and a frenzied mob in the city of
Fallujah ambushed a group of American civilian contractors: dragging
them from their SUVs, killing them, mutilating their bodies, hanging
two men on a bridge over the Euphrates River, and chaining one to a
car before dragging him through the city's streets.
Note that the people took part in this.
<snip>
In the days following Helvenston's funeral, Berman formed Kuwait-based
Granite Global Services (graniteglobalservices.com). His first truck
went into production at his Kuwaiti plant in June 2004 (less than
three months after the Fallujah ambush). The first deployable truck
rolled off the line in June 2005....
[more where that came from]
More Americans getting rich from the war.
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| User: "Fred Stone" |
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| Title: Re: The Rock |
27 Nov 2005 01:23:15 PM |
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"Mike Painter" <mddotpainter@sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:e8nif.27504
$tV6.4789@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net:
Fred Stone wrote:
http://www.navyseals.com/community/articles/article.cfm?id=8321
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Contributing Editor, NavySEALs.com
On March 31, 2004, terrorists and a frenzied mob in the city of
Fallujah ambushed a group of American civilian contractors: dragging
them from their SUVs, killing them, mutilating their bodies, hanging
two men on a bridge over the Euphrates River, and chaining one to a
car before dragging him through the city's streets.
Note that the people took part in this.
<snip>
In the days following Helvenston's funeral, Berman formed Kuwait-based
Granite Global Services (graniteglobalservices.com). His first truck
went into production at his Kuwaiti plant in June 2004 (less than
three months after the Fallujah ambush). The first deployable truck
rolled off the line in June 2005....
[more where that came from]
More Americans getting rich from the war.
How awful! Selling useful tools to the military for a profit!
--
Fred Stone
aa# 1369
"I actually think what we learned during the inspection
made Iraq a more dangerous place, potentially, than,
in fact, we thought it was even before the war." -- David Kay
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=6075
.
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| User: "towelie" |
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| Title: Re: The Rock |
27 Nov 2005 11:43:41 PM |
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Really, really sucks.
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