Monday, March 10, 2008

British Soldier Awarded Military Cross For Fighting Off 150 Taliban


Talk about a riveting story! Fusilier Damien Hields, a British soldier who was in a convoy in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan, nearly single handedly fought off 150 Taliban fighters that ambushed him and his mates and for his valantry, was awarded Britain's Military Cross Award.
You really need to read the full article here from Times Online. Here's a portion of the article:


“Fusilier Hields showed extraordinary courage under intense fire,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Huw James, his commanding officer. “I was astonished at the state of his vehicle. There were so many holes in it, it was like a teabag. The Taliban did everything in their power to neutralise [him] and Fusilier Hields was having none of it. His actions allowed his patrol to come out of the ambush in which they were outnumbered by three or four to one and probably saved a lot of lives.”

As I read the account of Hields' heroic fight, I noticed the part where he joined the army at 16 years old. Now, I didn't know you could join the British army at 16 but what that does show me is the drive and dedication this young man has made. How many 16 year olds do you know that want to try something "new" every three months only to abandon it and find something else? This young Brit deserves his medal and also the gratitude of all of us in the West for his heroism.

A great, great story!


British soldier awarded the Military Cross for fighting off 150 Taliban

They were on their way back to Kandahar on June 3, driving south in a valley, when the Taliban attacked. One of the Land Rovers hit a landmine and was flipped upside down by the blast. “There were Taliban dug in all around and they started hitting us with AK47s and mortars. We could not see where they were at first.”
Hields followed the trail of RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenades coming towards him and started firing grenades one at a time, trying to home in. “Then I switched to automatic fire,” he said. A grenade machine gun has a box with 32 grenade rounds. “I emptied a box onto that position and you could see all the dust and smoke flying about where they hit.
“After that no fire came back from that position and I moved on to the next one. One or two rounds until I got onto the target, and switch to automatic and empty the box.”
Realising that Hields was the main threat to them, the remaining Taliban fighters homed in on him with their RPG7s, Dushka heavy machineguns and Kalash-nikov rifles. Hields was undaunted and continued firing.
“I got through six boxes in about 15 minutes and we were winning the fight,” he said. “They started it. We were going to finish it.”
One of the Taliban rounds finally hit home as he was bending down to reload. “I felt a sharp punch in the kidneys on my right side,” he said. “It knocked me into the bottom of the [Land-Rover]. I looked down and saw a hole in my body armour and a bit of blood.”
Hields was dragged out of the Taliban fire and back about 20 yards where Lance-Corporal Carley Williams, the female medic attached to the troops, had dashed through enemy fire to set up a first aid position.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

All is not lost for the Brits as long as they still produce men of this caliber.