via: Battlesight Zero · On October 14, 2018, Technical Sergeant Cody Smith protected his Special Operations team with air power, despite being shot and blasted by mortars and RPGs. The team was moving back to base when nearly 600 Taliban fighters opened up their ambush. As he returned fire with his rifle, Smith guided in Apache helicopters for strafing runs on enemy positions and F-16s to drop their bombs. For several hours, the team fought on through the ambush. Intercepted Taliban radio traffic revealed that they had identified Smith as the team's JTAC and were specifically targeting him to end the American air strikes. At one point, a mortar round landed only 2 meters away from Smith. It knocked him down and left him with a Traumatic Brain Injury. An enemy bullet targeting Smith hit home. Luckily, the round was stopped by his chest plate. He was hit a 3rd time when an RPG exploded on his vehicle. Through all of it, Smith refused medical treatment to continue his critical role. The Taliban began closing in on the convoy. Smith drove them back with 500 lb bombs and strafing runs as close as 50 meters away. The journey back to base took 12 hours. Smith remained with his team the whole time, despite his injuries. During the battle, Smith called in 11 danger-close strikes, 9 bombing runs, and numerous strafing runs. He is credited with 195 enemy fighters killed and 18 enemy positions destroyed. Smith was one of two Americans sustaining TBI, and several others were wounded by bullets or shrapnel. His actions helped ensure no one was killed and the team could not be overrun. For his critical role in the battle, Smith was awarded the Silver Star. He was also named the 2019 Airman of the Year. #battlesightzero #bzo #history #military #militaryhistory #veteran #veterans #america #airforce #usairforce #afsoc #silverstar #cct

via: The Giant Killer · In 1966, US Army Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler debuted his song "Ballad of the Green Berets" on the Ed Sullivan Show. SSG Sadler served with 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) as a Special Forces Medic, Sadler co-wrote the Ballad with Robin Moore who wrote the book, “The Green Berets”, which would later on be turned into a film starring John Wayne. #greenberet #militaryhistory #johnwayne #barrysadler #army

Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation: In this colorized photo taken on the evening of June 5th, 1944, Soldiers from Fox Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division are pictured waiting for their C-47 to take off to Normandy. Robert “Bob” Noody is pictured second from right with the bazooka. Looking back, Noody said he must have weighed at least 250 lbs., encumbered with his M-1 rifle, a bazooka, three rockets, land mines, and other assorted "necessities". Fifty feet of rope hung from his chest, which he later used to lower his leg bag to the ground, easing his fall and ensuring he was ready to fight. He landed behind the mayor’s house at Ste. Mere-Eglise. In the ensuing days, Noody utilized his bazooka to destroy a German tank that threatened his unit outside of Carentan. For this action, Robert Noody received a Bronze Star with Oakleaf Cluster. It was his first and last bazooka usage, as he expended the three rockets he carried into battle. A leg wound at Carentan ended his Normandy adventure. He was only 20 years old on D-Day, and later in the war, Noody made the Operation Market Garden jump and fought with Fox Company from Eindhoven to the Rhine. Noody was discharged from the Army in November 1945 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and received two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star for his actions in Carentan, two Presidential Unit Citations, and the French Croix de Guerre. What a hero! #FlashbackFriday #militaryhistory #airborne #WWII #DDay