5 posts tagged “army rangers”
Updated 7/20/08-Successful Fundraiser! read the full article here
At the beer garden behind the Plattdeutsche Park Restaurant in Franklin Square, family, friends and total strangers greeted Christopher Levi, the once gravely wounded Army corporal who returned to Long Island Saturday for a fundraiser in his honor.
"Is everyone having a good time?" asked Levi, who arrived in a wheelchair pushed by his sister, Kim, his left arm raised triumphantly.
"I served proudly, and I wish I could go back," Levi said, as he was showered with applause by more than 250 people when he arrived shortly before 7 p.m.
Family members said the fundraiser appeared to be hugely successful. One organization, Building Homes for Heroes, presented Levi with a check for $50,000.
Mike Breitweg, 32, of Lindenhurst, who owns a Deer Park cabinetry business and who heard of Levi's plight Saturday morning, said he decided to bring his daughter, Melissa, 12, to impress upon her the value of giving to others.
"That's what I try to explain to her, that she can go to the mall because of people like him," said Breitweg, who offered to donate and install a bathroom vanity as part of the renovation of the Levi home.
Newsday-Long Island NY
(go to www.newsday.com to view the video of Cpl Levi recovering at WRAMC)
Fundraiser (Sat 7/19/08) will aid Holbrook soldier injured in Iraq
BY MARTIN C. EVANS
July 18, 2008
U.S. Army Cpl. Christopher Levi leaned forward from his wheelchair, gripped the handles of a geriatric walker and, with all his upper body strength, hoisted himself to his feet.
In a rehab center at the Military Advanced Treatment Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Levi, 25, balanced himself unsteadily on two titanium legs. Then, slowly, he took a few tentative steps toward regaining his ability to walk.His slow pace -- it took him 10 minutes to walk a halting 220 feet -- is part of a much larger journey Levi will take over the coming months that he hopes will help him reclaim his life.
The journey to Walter Reed began just before 1 p.m. on March 17, in the Sadr City section of Baghdad.
Levi's unit, a U.S. Army intelligence group, had picked up an Iraqi suspect for questioning several days earlier. That afternoon, Levi was with a group of soldiers who were to return the man to his home. Levi, whose family back in Holbrook worried endlessly about his safety, was in the middle vehicle -- an armored Humvee -- in a five-vehicle convoy.
At the wheel was his friend and squad leader, Sgt. Norman Forbes IV, of Grapevine, Texas.
They set off shortly after noon, riding through city streets that were frequent sites for attack.
"We had to pass through a choke point," Forbes recalled. "The first two trucks went though, and I hit the gas. Anytime you approach a choke point, you kind of say 'don't blow up, don't blow up.' But this time, it blew up."
Since arriving at Walter Reed last March, Levi has set his mind to one task: getting back on his feet. He is among an estimated 802 soldiers who, as of early July, have lost limbs in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While he undergoes months of rehab, his family in Holbrook will soon begin remodeling their home so that Levi can live comfortably in it. Tomorrow, the family will hold a fundraiser in Franklin Square, their first step in raising enough money to begin the work.
Even as his family meets with contractors, Levi has worked hard to get used to his two new legs. On the recent afternoon when he walked 220 feet down a hallway, he moved with slow, deliberate, heel-to-toe strides -- occasionally reminding himself to watch his posture so that his hips and abdominals would do the work, not his arms.
Though Levi has the strong physique of an Army Ranger, he was soon so exhausted he needed a towel to wipe off the sweat.
"It's hard to get used to it at first, but once you get the rhythm down and focus on the muscle groups you need, it becomes easier," he said, as more than a dozen other amputees grunted, panted, stretched or strode during rehab exercises of their own.
That afternoon in Sadr City, a bomb known as a shaped charge device hidden in the street sent a jet of molten metal hurtling through the armor of the soldiers' Humvee. The force shattered Forbes' left arm and his left hand, and broke his left femur, destroying the muscle of his thigh. Forbes is today a patient at a medical center in Texas.
Levi was riding to the right of Forbes. The blast cut through both of his legs at mid-thigh, hurling his limbs to the other side of the Humvee. The blast tore away part of his right palm, taking most of the fifth metacarpal bone with it.
"Forbes," Levi shouted, "I don't have any legs!"
At that moment, luck and modern military field medicine adapted to the insurgent war in Iraq came to Levi's aid. The machine gunner, Aaron Copeland, whose 50-caliber weapon had been bent in two by the blast, pressed his knee into Levi's crotch, squeezing shut two major arteries that feed blood to Levi's legs and preventing him from quickly bleeding to death. Copeland almost certainly saved Levi's life.
With minutes, Levi was evacuated to a military base that, fortunately, was close by. Within hours of the blast, and now stabilized, Levi was placed aboard a plane bound for emergency surgery at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. From there, Levi was shipped to Walter Reed.
There are more than 31,000 wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Funerals and memorials nationwide have focused attention on the 4,651 Americans who, as of yesterday, have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In contrast, the wounded have largely returned home in relative obscurity, often to face months of hospitalization, years of rehab and lifelong disability because of severed limbs, brain injuries, severe burns, blindness or other battle-related wounds.
For the next year or more, Levi is expected to remain at Walter Reed. He will learn how to balance on artificial limbs and learn to cope with the aftermath of an attack that so changed his life. Many wounded soldiers fight phantom pain in lost limbs as well as depression over their altered bodies. Often they battle sadness that they will not be allowed to return to active duty with their military buddies.
Levi is a confident and upbeat young man who moves about the Walter Reed campus in a motorized wheelchair. With gusto he throws himself into his daily physical therapy. After walking one and a half times around a 220-foot loop, Levi removed his artificial legs, climbed to the edge of a bed-like therapy platform and began doing legless sit-ups. The exercise strengthens the abdominal muscles, which must do much of the work his thigh muscles once did.
He recently developed an aggressive infection in his injured hand, which threatened the health of a bone graft there. Because of the injury, he is not expected to travel to Long Island for tomorrow's fundraiser.
In addition, a blister developed where his right leg meets the plastic prosthetic socket. That threatened to throw off his balance, which could lead to falls.
"He works very hard," said his physical therapist at Walter Reed, Bunnie Brower Wyckoff, a 1968 graduate of Hicksville High School. "He's had a lot of setbacks, but he rallies every time."
Levy's parents, Eric and Debbie, are planning to expand and renovate the bottom floor of their Holbrook split level to accommodate their son. Hallways will be widened, light switches will be lowered and power outlets raised to make them accessible to a wheelchair user. A bathroom will be fitted with a shower bench, and the sink will need to be low enough to be used from a sitting position. The house will have a separate entrance that will allow Levi to access his new apartment without having to walk from the driveway in icy weather.
The family hopes the fundraiser will help defray the expected $100,000 cost of the renovation, which is set to begin in a few weeks. The fundraiser will be held Saturday at 5 p.m., at the Plattduetsche Park Restaurant on Hempstead Avenue in Franklin Square.
Members of the Holbrook Fire Department and the Suffolk County Court Officers Association have offered to donate labor and materials. A Bay Shore architect drew the plans on his own time. A roofer has promised to donate labor and materials.
"There are a lot of people behind me," Levi said, as he confidently went back to his exercise routine.
Both parents said their son is excited about the fundraiser. "We feel thankful to God and our country that he is with us," said Eric Levi. "We see the light at the end of the tunnel. He is going to do good things in his lifetime."
The fundraiser
Where: Plattduetsche Park Restaurant, 1132 Hempstead Tpke., Franklin Square; 516-354-3131
When: 5 p.m.
Cost: $10 @ door
Live music, drinks, raffles, other fundraising chances
Donate: Christopher Levi, c/o Holbrook Fire Department, 390 Terry Blvd., Holbrook, NY 11741
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
MONDAY JUNE 16, 2008 Last modified: Sunday, June 15, 2008 11:35 PM CDT
Strausbaugh Named To Hall Of Fame
"Rangers lead the way," an Army motto since World War II, could still best describe an elite group of men inducted into the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame, Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Col. Leo Strausbaugh, 88, formerly of Hillsboro, now of Charleston, was one of 14 individuals to be so honored.He was accompanied by his son Mark, and daughter Andrea Buchanan, and his four grandchildren, Craig and Scott Spinner and Nichole and Jayma Strausbaugh, and family friend John Galer.
Leo was presented with a specially cast bronze Ranger Hall of Fame medallion, suspended from a red, white and blue ribbon at the ceremony.
The medallion signifies selfless sacrifice, professional excellence, and remarkable accomplishment in the defense of the United States and to the highest ideals of service.
Strausbaugh becomes one of only 258 persons to be inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame. His biography and picture will be on display at the Ranger Hall of Fame, and his name will be engraved in the back wall of the Ranger Monument at Fort Benning, in Georgia.
He is only the fourth member of the World War II, 6th Ranger Battalion to be honored with induction to the Hall of Fame. His initial company commander Col. Arthur D. "Bull" Simons was inducted in 1992. Battalion commander Col. Henry Mucci was inducted in 1998, and Major Robert Prince, leader of the famous raid on a Japanese prisoner of war camp that liberated 500 allied POW's was honored in 1999.
Strausbaugh's Remarks
Acceptance speeches were made by all fourteen recipients and Strausbaugh's concluded the ceremony Wednesday afternoon.
He stated that one of the reputations he got in the service was not worrying too much about what those above you say. "I don't mean to refuse to take orders, but you can distort them a little bit," he said to the laughs of many of the high level officers and members of the audience present for the ceremony.
He continued, explaining that he was ordered once to scout the town of Aparri and wait for support from the paratroopers before taking the town. "The paratroopers found us grinning at them when they entered the town, after we'd taken it," he stated.
In a later operation, he had concluded his mission and needed to get back to his home area several hundred miles away. He related how he "secured" several C-47 aircraft at an airfield for the hair raising flight.
"We arrived safely or I wouldn't be here," Strausbaugh laughed. He reported to the battalion commander upon arrival and was asked "how did you get here?" Strausbaugh reported that he had flown. "Who told you to fly?" the Colonel asked.
"Well you know Colonel, it was like this, I figured that was the best way to get back," he related. He was then informed "you're not supposed to make your own decisions."
"I asked what do you want me to do, just sit around waiting for orders?" Strausbaugh asked.
He then related that the Colonel told him, "Son, you did one hell of a good job."
Military Service
Strausbaugh was nominated to the Ranger Hall of Fame for his outstanding leadership as an officer in Company B, 6th Ranger Battalion, during World War II, during the campaign to retake the Philippines.
He joined the Army in March 1942 and was selected for Officer Candidate School while still in basic training. He was promoted to 2nd Lt. following OCS, and assigned to the 98th Field Artillery Battalion. The 98th was shipped overseas in 1943 and Strausbaugh was assigned to B Battery led by Captain Arthur "Bull" Simons.
In February 1944, Lt. Col. Mucci took over the 98th with the purpose of turning those who volunteered into a Ranger Battalion. Strausbaugh was one of the first to volunteer.
He was promoted to 1st Lt. in July 1944. Capt. Simons chose Leo to be his second in command, and the group trained and then spearheaded the invasion of the Philippines.
Two days prior to the main invasion, Strausbaugh and B Company landed on Homohon Island, then moved to Suluan to take out a Japanese held lighthouse used to signal enemy ships and send radio messages.
Capt. Simons made the initial assault on the lighthouse, but he and his men became trapped in the lighthouse and were surrounded by Japanese. Strausbaugh led thirty five Rangers to the lighthouse, eliminated the Japanese threat and rescued Capt. Simons.
In January 1945 Ranger Companies B and E secured the island of Santiago, then moved onto Luzon. In May 1945, Strausbaugh was promoted to Captain and made B Company commander. Soon thereafter he was awarded the Bronze Star for leading B Company thirty miles beyond the front lines, to seek and locate Japanese positions. He located the Japanese positions in the vicinity of the IPO Dam and provided the intelligence for the 6th Divisions attack.
During June 1945 his B Company was chosen to become a third segment of a task force to take the town of Aparri from the Japanese.
Strausbaugh's Rangers, traveled over 400 miles on this 30 day mission, and positioned themselves on the Cagayan River, gathered intelligence and on June 21st, took Aparri.
B Company proceeded to and secured the air strip south of Aparri just prior to a jump by a battalion of paratroopers from the 11th Airborne.
Strausbaugh's Rangers pushed south and made contact with elements of the 37th Division which closed the gap dividing the Japanese forces, giving the Americans control of the west side of the valley.
The Aparri operation sealed the fate of the Japanese in the Philippines and ended combat operations for the 6th Rangers. The Battalion was preparing for the invasion of Japan when the war ended in Sept. 1945.
Following the war, Strausbaugh spent 28 years in the US Army Reserve and rose to the rank of Colonel in 1969. He served as Director of Instruction for the 5038th USAR School, 102nd Ozark Division for five years. In 1973 he was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame at Ft. Sill, OK, and he retired from the Army in 1974.
After retiring he ran the newsstand in Hillsboro and then worked as a circulation manager for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
He was active in Ranger Battalion Associations, Retired Officers Assn., and the American Legion. He makes himself available for speaking engagements and addressing public school and college students.
He is a lifetime member of St. Agnes Catholic Church, and the Knights of Columbus.
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By Spc. Anthony Hawkins Jr.
USASOC Public Affairs Office
MANHASSET, N.Y. (Sine Pari April 20, 2008) – More than a year after the tragic combat death of a local Ranger, residents of this Long Island community honored his memory with a twist. Of the risers, that is.
The U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s parachute team, the Black Daggers, along with two guest jumpers from the 75th Ranger Regiment, soared
through the sky over the small town and onto Manhasset High School’s lacrosse field. It was there that more than 1,000 local residents gathered April 19 for a special Duke vs. Army game held in honor of Sgt. James J. Regan, a Ranger who served with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Rgt.
Both guest Ranger jumpers, who are part of the 75th Ranger Regimental Recon Company, said they considered themselves lucky to be a part of such an event.
“We volunteered to honor the memory of a fallen Ranger,” said Sgt. 1st Class Roy Young. “It’s good to see the community involved in supporting the military as a whole.”
The event was sponsored by the Lead the Way Fund, an organization started by Regan’s father, Jim Regan, in his son’s honor. The organization is designed to help the survivors of Rangers who have died, been disabled or who are currently deployed around the world.
Regan, who graduated from Duke University, was also a member of the lacrosse team. After graduating, he chose to join the Army and pursue a life of risk as a Ranger. Because of this choice, Regan made the ultimate sacrifice in 2007 when he was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq. He was only 26 years old.
Also attending the event were several fellow Rangers from Regan’s company, who reminisced about their time together.
Sgt. Richard Crawford was Regan’s roommate and a team leader from his squad who knew Regan for almost two years.
“He was one of the best,” Crawford said. “He was a great leader and a great member of the team. He brought more than his share to the table.”
Others remembered what he was like while in combat. Regan had served four combat tours, two each in Iraq and Afghanistan, in only three years.
“He was one of those guys, who when it was up against him and he was under pressure, he still kept his cool,” said Staff Sgt. Micah Deerinwater, a squad leader from Regan’s platoon. “He was a good leader.”
Although in the end Army lost to Regan’s alma mater, Duke, 10-6, there were no hard feelings among the Rangers.
“The people here have been really great, especially Duke,” Deerinwater said. “This is probably our third game to go to with them. They treat us real well.”
Throughout all the day’s events, the community remained focused on what the day was all about.
“This is really a great way to honor Jimmy’s memory,” Crawford said.
Time for a feel good story.....
Brothers ready for Best Ranger-Limited training time not expected to be a problem
BY MICK WALSH -
Maj. Greg Soule was more than just an interested spectator at last year's Best Ranger competition.
Sure, he had traveled to Fort Benning from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., where he works as an ROTC instructor, to cheer on his younger brother, Capt. Jeff Soule.
But there was another motive as well.
He wanted to convince himself that he could compete at what is one of the military's most physically demanding competitions.
"I've always wanted to do it, but until this year I've never really had the opportunity," the Baltimore native said. "I've had shoulder problems in the past, which limit my upper body strength, but I feel I'm ready to go."
While many of the two-man teams have spent much of the past six months training with one another, the Soule brothers have only had a handful of occasions to actually work out side by side.
"I've gone up there once, and Greg's been down here a couple of times" said Jeff, a member of the 4th Ranger Training Battalion. "That's about it."
Jeff, who teamed with Sgt. 1st Class Robert Hoffnagle to finish sixth overall in a field of 21 finishers last year, said that year's experience should prove helpful Friday when the competition begins.
"That gives me a bit of an advantage," he said Monday at the Ranger Training Brigade headquarters on Harmony Church at Fort Benning. Only Staff Sgt. Michael Broussard of the 75th Ranger Regiment in this year's field finished ahead of Soule in 2007.
Winning the event isn't the top priority, said 33-year-old Greg. "This is a once in a lifetime experience. Being able to do it with my brother is what's most important."
But, he's quick to note that, "neither Jeff nor I will be satisfied with simply finishing on Sunday. We'll reassesswhere we are after the first day and then be able to make a better prediction on where we'll finish."
Finishing first as a brother act wouldn't be a first in the competition.
In 1988, Sgt. John Schlichte and Spc. Karl Schlichte, members of the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, were crowned Best Rangers.
Traveling from Virginia to Fort Benning for practice and for the competition proved to be quite costly to Greg, whose wife, Renae, recently gave birth to a baby girl, Addison.
"I was fortunate enough to have the dean of the School of Education and my brigade and battalion commanders to pay the airfare for my trips here," he said. "But for everything else, I was on my own. Including the ammo I used."
Jeff, who attended James Madison (Greg is a Lehigh graduate), was a triathlete during his college days and has moved on to adventure racing over the past three years.
In fact, he's scheduled to be part of a four-person team which will compete in the Primal Quest Expedition Race June 21-July 2.
That's the event Sports Illustrated calls the "Super Bowl of Adventure Racing."
Held in Montana's Big Sky Country, competitors must navigate 500 miles and 100,000 feet of elevation gain during a 10-day period.
Tough, yes, considering that the Best Ranger competition is for but three days and 60 miles over relatively flat terrain. But the Big Sky competitors don't have to drop twice from UH-60 helicopters, once into Victory Pond, and complete a series of Ranger skills, including blindfolded weapons assembly and litter carrying.
The brothers will have a cheering section this weekend. Greg's wife and daughter will be here, as will the brothers' mother, Ginger Soule.
There will be 28 teams in this year's Best Ranger event, down from the 39 that started a year ago. If form holds, roughly half won't make it to Sunday's concluding Buddy Run.
The Soule brothers intend to be in the group that does finish.
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