Stay Connected“War Stories” is conversational military history hosted by Preston Stewart and Sayre Payne. Storytelling military and historical events from WWI to WWII, Korea to Vietnam, and Iraq to Afghanistan, we bring on varied guests to help continue to document our warriors, both past and present.
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Copyright: © Preston Stewart
09AUG2006: Serving as the First Sergeant for Cobra Company, 1-37 Armor, 1SG Aaron Jagger and his team found out in the summer of 2006 that their Iraq deployment was about to change. Currently serving in a relatively calm area of the country, 1SG Jagger and his men were now tasked with reinforcing ongoing operations in the deadly city of Ramadi.
Entering the fight in south-central Ramadi, 1SG Jagger and his men placed themselves directly in the insurgent path into and out of the city. Engaged in near daily fights, 1SG Jagger and his men established a series of combat outposts to help secure the volatile city. A major part of this initiative was called a census patrol where a units from 1-37 AR would focus on face-to-face meetings with the citizens of Ramadi to reinforce the Iraqi and US understanding of the human terrain and hopefully build trust with the local citizens.
These census patrols were conducted in the midst of a heavily kinetic environment. While trying to win the support of the local population, 1SG Jagger and his men were always on the lookout for an enemy ambush or IEDs designed to kill American Soldiers in one of the deadliest cities in Iraq.
On August 9th, headed back to COP Spear, the convoy passed through an intersection and a large IED was detonated under 1SG's vehicle. The blast killed 1SG Aaron Jagger, SPC Ignacio Ramirez and SPC Shane Woods.
02JAN1951: His platoon responsible for holding a strategic hill, SFC Junior Edwards and his men found themselves in the midst of a vicious enemy attack. Taking heavy machine gun fire from a nearby hill, SFC Edwards grabbed a handful of grenades throwing them as he charged the position. Buckling under the daring assault, the enemy team retreated and Edwards moved back with his men.
Shortly thereafter, the enemy again occupied the hillside so SFC Edwards once more picked up a supply of grenades and charged the position destroying the machine gun and killing the crew. Just as he finished his assault, he was quickly driven back by small arms fire from nearby enemy fighters.
Once more, the enemy moved another machine gun into that advantageous position and began laying fire down into Edwards and his men. SFC Edwards again resupplied on grenades and charged, destroying the second machine gun of the day and killing it's crew. During this his third charge into a wall of enemy fire, SFC Junior Edwards was struck and killed at the age of 24.
His bravery in taking out multiple enemy positions that day saved the lives of his men who were in turn able to hold on and repel the ongoing assault. For this selfless act, SFC Junior Edwards would be awarded, posthumously, the Medal of Honor.
14APR1945: Pushing ahead in what would be the last major Allied offensive in Italy, PFC John Magrath and his unit were pinned down by multiple German defensive positions just outside of Castel d'Aiano. Armed with only a rifle, Magrath volunteered to assault the nearest bunker to buy his company room to maneuver.
Charging through the gunfire, Magrath overran the position, killing two, wounding three and capturing a German machine gun. He then took the machine gun and moved over open terrain to engage and destroy two further machine gun positions. Continuing his one man assault, he identified a group of four enemy soldiers firing on his men. Working his way behind the group, he cut all four down in rapid bursts. From there, he was spotted by a final machine gun position. Kneeling and firing his machine gun, Magrath destroyed this final position as well before moving back to American lines.
Having eliminated the forces that had kept them pinned down, Magrath and his company advanced forward. Soon, they came under a heavy artillery barrage and quickly began taking casualties. Again volunteering, Magrath ran into the storm of steel to collect casualties. While he was doing so, PFC John Magrath was hit by enemy fire and killed.
For playing such a pivotal role in the battle that day, PFC John Magrath would be awarded, posthumously, the Medal of Honor.
25JAN2008: Serving as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant, SSG Robert Miller and his team were conducting a patrol through the Gowardesh Valley in eastern Afghanistan when they came into contact with 15-20 Taliban fighters. Miller, manning a Mk-19 automatic grenade launcher, engaged the enemy forces and assisted in directing air strikes to eliminate the threat.
Following the engagement, Miller set off on foot as point man for a small element to conduct a battle damage assessment from the strike. As the group, moving through a deep valley, neared the strike location, enemy forces all along the hillside opened fire. Caught in an ambush from upwards of 100 Taliban fighters shooting down from covered positions, Miller and his team were stuck in the kill zone.
Without hesitation or regard for his own safety, SSG Miller moved to an exposed location to lay down suppressive fire, allowing his team to exit the ambush. Maneuvering to engage the dug-in enemy forces, Miller was hit in the torso but wouldn't stop. He continued firing and pushing forward, killing at least ten enemy fighters and drawing fire from the entire force. As US and Afghan forces moved to a more defensible position, SSG Robert Miller was struck and killed by enemy fire.
For sacrificing himself to allow his men to exit the kill zone, SSG Robert Miller would be awarded, posthumously, the Medal of Honor.
20FEB1945: After lying about his age to enlist in the Marines at 14, Pfc Jack Lucas went AWOL from his unit in Hawaii in hopes of making his way to a combat unit. After stowing away on a transport ship, Lucas made himself known and rather than face a court-martial, he was attached to Marine infantry unit set to go ashore in the coming days at Iwo Jima.
Just barely 17 when he landed on Iwo Jima, Lucas survived day one of the deadly battle and was with four other men maneuvering through an enemy trench system when they were spotted. As his rifle jammed, Lucas dropped to a knee to correct the malfunction and was the only man in the group to spot a grenade land in their midst. Without hesitation, Lucas jumped past a fellow Marine to shove the grenade into the sand and cover it with his body. As he did so, a second grenade landed nearby which he grabbed and pulled under his body as well.
The ensuing blast threw him into the air and peppered him with over 250 pieces of searing hot shrapnel. His fellow Marines were sure he was dead and continued their mission but miraculously, Lucas survived the blast. Shortly, as they were passing by, another group of Marines noticed Lucas and alerted a stretcher team to take him to the rear for treatment.
After 20+ surgeries and as full a recovery as was possible, the 17-year old Lucas was presented the Medal of Honor by President Truman. Jack Lucas became the youngest service-member in WWII to receive the honor and the youngest Marine in history.
16MAR1966: Serving as a medic to a recon platoon in Vietnam, Spec/4 Al Rascon and his men took off to reinforce a sister unit under attack. On their way, they were ambushed by a numerically superior enemy force that inflicted heavy casualties right away.
As the first few men fell, Spec/4 Rascon ignored requests to wait for suppressive fire and manuevered into the kill zone to treat a wounded Soldier, a machine gunner. Placing his body between the Soldier and the enemy, Rascon suffered multiple shrapnel wounds as he treated and moved the patient to safety. Hearing that the other machine gunner was running low on ammunition, Rascon again redistributed ammo and moved forward to retrieve the weapon and spare barrels left by the wounded Soldier. In the process, Rason was wounded again in the face and torso by grenade fragments but kept on moving. He recovered the equipment and handed it off to another Soldier that helped keep their unit in the fight.
Disregarding his wounds, Rascon continued to search the kill zone for wounded Soldiers. Twice more, he found Soldiers and used his body to shield them from incoming grenades, suffering more wounds himself. Rascon refused aid until all of his men had been treated and evacuated. It wasn't until he was placed on a MEDEVAC chopper that he finally allowed someone to treat his countless wounds.
Spec/4 Al Rason would survive the day and be recommended for the Medal of Honor. However, the citation would be lost and instead he would receive the Silver Star. In 2000, after members of his unit lobbied for the correction, Rascon, now a MAJ in the Army Reserve, would be awarded the Medal of Honor.
08SEPT2009: Serving as a part of an embedded training team in Afghanistan, Cpl. Dakota Meyer was tasked with maintaining security by a rally point as other members of his team pushed into a village named Ganjgal. Expecting to meet with village elders, the element of US and Afghan forces quickly came under intense enemy fire from an estimated 50 Taliban fighters.
Hearing that the US team was cut off, Meyer and another Marine took off in a vehicle to assist. As their vehicle drew fire, Meyer manned the machine gun and hammered enemy positions despite rounds impacting all around him. Each trip into the fight, Meyer identified and helped evacuate groups of wounded or trapped Afghan soldiers. During these movements, he was in constant contact with the enemy, engaging some at point blank range.
After the vehicle took too much damage to return, Meyer swapped for a new truck and went back into the fight two more times. Having already been wounded in the army, Meyer dismounted the vehicle near where he expected his cut off Marines to be. As he neared the position, he spotted a Taliban fighter attempting to drag the bodies away. After killing that fighter, Meyer began the recovery of his four fallen brothers.
For saving the lives of so many Afghan and American warriors during that six hour fight, Cpl Dakota Meyer would be awarded the Medal of Honor.
22OCT2015: SFC Thomas Payne and his fellow warriors of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force), were deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve when they were tasked with a hostage rescue mission. An estimated 70+ Kurdish hostages were being held by Islamic State fighters in the town of Hawija, Iraq.
The mission was moved to a top priority after freshly dug graves were identified in the immediate area. Knowing they had to act or all 70 would be executed, SFC Payne and his men linked up with their Kurdish partners and began an assault on the compound.
SFC Payne was leading one of the teams with the responsibility of securing the hostages from one of two target compounds. Quickly moving through intense enemy fire, Payne reached the first compound and cut the locks to the door holding the hostages. As the 40 hostages began movement to the evacuation helicopters waiting, Payne got a call that a man was down and an intense fight was raging next door. Without hesitation, he moved to assist.
Climbing to the roof, Payne and his men engaged multiple enemy fighters before one detonated a suicide vest in an attempt to cave in the building. With the remaining hostages now at risk of being trapped in the burning building, Payne made his move. Despite heavy enemy fire, Payne twice pushed through the smoke and fire to cut the lock and free the remaining hostages. As everyone exited the burning and collapsing building, Payne made multiple trips back inside to ensure that no man was left behind.
For continually risking his own life to save over 70 Kurdish and Iraqi prisoners in one of the largest hostage rescue missions in American history, SFC Thomas Payne would be awarded the Medal of Honor.
29APR-21MAY1945: Serving as a medic with Bravo Company, part of 1-307 IN, PFC Desmond Doss had distinguished himself during the combat in Guam and Leyte before his men landed on Okinawa. Doss was unique in that as a conscientious objector he refused to carry a weapon into battle. Most medics would at least carry a sidearm to be used in strictly defensive means if necessary.
At the start of May, Doss and his unit were sent up to relieve a battalion that had suffered heavy casualties trying to take an area that became known as Hacksaw Ridge. Having to scale a cliff to reach the dug in Japanese defenders, Bravo company climbed ropes and ladders before reaching the peak. At that point they came under withering enemy fire, nearly decimating the entire unit. As what was left of the company began a retreat down the cliff, their many wounded were stranded, unable to fall back.
Rather than leave the wounded, Doss stayed behind and over the course of the next few hours, treated casualties, moved them to the edge of the cliff and lowered them down one by one. Doss is credited with saving at least 75 American Soldiers that day. As the fight raged for a few more days, Doss repeatedly placed himself in harms way in order to treat as may Soldiers as possible.
A few weeks later, on May 21st, Doss was ahead of friendly lines continuing to treat wounded that were a little cut off. While there, he was wounded by a Japanese grenade but rather than call a stretcher team forward, he treated the wounds himself and sat tight for five hours until it was safe for them to advance. While being moved back to the rear, Doss noticed another Soldier that was in worse shape than he was. He quickly rolled off the stretcher to make room for the casualty.
Shortly thereafter, Doss was struck by a snipers bullet that broke his arm. Creating a quick splint with a rifle stock, Doss then crawled more than 300 yards back to the aid station where he was treated and evacuated.
For his incredible actions throughout the Battle of Okinawa, now CPL Desmond Doss would be awarded the Medal of Honor, the only conscientious objector in the war to do so. Doss would live until the age of 87 when he would pass away in 2006.
11JUL1969: SGT Gordon Roberts was a rifleman when his platoon was called upon to help relieve one of their sister companies that was pinned down nearby. As his platoon approached the enemy controlled hillside, they too were attacked by those same positions and were quickly immobilized by the volume of enemy machine gun fire.
Seeing his men pinned down and recognizing that unless they reduced the threat, his sister company could be wiped out, SGT Roberts picked up and charged towards the first closest enemy bunker. Firing as he ran, he overcame the position and killed the two defenders.
As he was alerting his men that the position was cleared, a second machine gun opened up with a round striking and destroying his rifle. Without hesitation, Roberts picked up an enemy AK-14 and continued his assault towards the second bunker. With rounds impacting all over, Roberts destroyed his second bunker of the day.
From there he pushed further into the deadly enemy fire to destroy a third emplacement with grenades before linking up with the adjoining company they were tasked with assisting. As enemy fire continued to rain down all around, Roberts stayed with this unit to help evacuate casualties before making his way back to his platoon.
For taking out the fortified enemy positions that were about to wipe out his platoon and a sister company, SGT Gordon Roberts would be awarded the Medal of Honor. Roberts would survive the war and would exit the service after three years in 1971. He would earn a direct commission in 1991, return to service and retired from active duty in 2012.
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