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Raksta autors Dakota Meijers par kauju pie Gandžigalas (Ganjigal) Afganistānā apbalvots ar ASV Goda medaļu (Medal of Honor). Grāmatas “Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War” līdzautors.
“(..) To maintain that spirit, our grunts must possess three qualities.
The first is grit (rakstura stingrība (angl.) varabungas). In 2010, for example, Sergeant Matt Abbate was on patrol in southern Afghanistan. When three Marines were blown up in sudden succession, Matt strapped tourniquets on the wounded and led the squad out of the minefield. When Taliban machine guns prevented the medevac helicopter from landing, he charged back across the minefield.
“If we’re going to die,” he yelled to his squad, “we die together!”
When other Marines leaped up and followed him, the startled enemy stopped shooting and dodged away. Matt was killed a few months later, but his spirit continued to inspire his platoon.
Every day, they left the wire, engaged in gunfights, and tried to find the buried IEDs. The 52 Marines in the platoon sustained three fatalities, eight amputations, and 17 shrapnel or bullet wounds. They spoke no Pashto and knew no one in the community. They had no trouble distinguishing between their mission — killing every enemy who shot at them — and the unpredictable end state after they left. In a confidential field survey, the platoon overwhelmingly expressed pride in their sacrifice and in serving their country. In response to the question “Would you do it over again,” the vast majority wrote “Yes.”
You volunteer to be a grunt. Nobody forces you to sign up, and nobody promises you a rose garden. Whether you believe in a political cause or party is irrelevant. The president as the commander-in-chief tells you where to fight. Your job is to win every battle.
The second quality is leadership under stress. In 2009, Army Captain Will Swenson was serving as an adviser to the Afghan police. His unit was ambushed in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Also trapped were dozens of Afghan soldiers and their U.S. Marine advisers. When four Marines were unable to pull back, Will attacked time after time to find them. Denied artillery support, he fought on, refusing to leave behind his comrades.
Swenson was an Army Ranger who had previously commanded both a platoon and a company. In the chaos of the ambush, he took command of Marines he had never met. He emerged as the leader because he was cool and competent.
The third warrior quality is unit cohesion. You fight as a pack, not as individuals. When the Ganjigal ambush happened, “Hafez” was a retired Afghan sergeant major serving as an interpreter with the Marine advisers. Although wounded, Hafez manned a machine gun and stayed in the battle alongside Swenson and three Marine advisers. After fighting for four hours, they recovered the bodies of the missing advisers. Hafez fought because he considered himself part of the adviser team, not a temporary employee.
These men displayed the essential qualities of our grunts: courage (Abbate), leadership (Swenson), unit solidarity (Hafez)
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