A True Hero

I was fortunate enough last week to encounter some troops returning for Christmas from Iraq in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. Texans were cheering them vociferously and giving them prizes and goodies. It was a stirring but eerily jarring moment, a brief reminder amidst our post-modern consumer existence that the war is still real and our terrorist enemies are still there, but fortunately our young heroes are likewise real.

Flares blogger Julian Biggs pointed me to this page of heroes.
They are, as he says, "the root source of all our freedoms and liberties". I fear there remain many areas of the country in which that is seriously believed to be the ACLU.

Among these heroes, 1st Lt. Neil Prakash towers so boldly that his story merits special showcasing.

During the action, Prakash spent several hours under fire as the lead vehicle, taking the brunt of the attack. When enemy fire disabled his tank’s turret, he maneuvered the entire vehicle in order to engage the enemy with the main weapon system and .50-caliber machine gun.

“Looking out of the hatch, I’m just spraying guys and they’re just falling,” said Prakash. “They would just drop – no blood, no nothing. We just keep rolling, getting shot at from everywhere.”

By battle’s end, Prakash's platoon was responsible for 25 confirmed destroyed enemy and an estimated 50 to 60 additional destroyed enemy fighters. Prakash was personally credited with the destruction of eight enemy strong-points, one enemy resupply vehicle, and multiple dismounted enemy fighters.

“He led the way,” said Alpha Company Commander Capt. Paul Fowler.

At this special time of year as we contemplate the big picture, however briefly, let us bestow a few minutes of thought on Lt. Prakash and his colleagues, special seldom seen heroes in whose debt we all stand, though we little know it most of the time.