Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Whitney Hughes | U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Kurt Geib of Newport, Vt., with Headquarters Company, 3rd...... read more read more
Subscribe
PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – When Union Gen. John Sedgwick gave the order “Put the Vermonters ahead,” at the battle of Gettysburg almost 150 years ago, he etched the legacy of the Green Mountain Boys into the pages of history.
Since then, “ahead” is exactly where the Vermont National Guard is most likely to be found in any historic event. During their state’s largest deployment since World War II, and one week before the country’s first Afghan-led elections, the Soldiers also had the opportunity to reflect on being in Afghanistan on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Nine years after the attacks that sparked Operation Enduring Freedom, the Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), find themselves in the middle of a living history, serving in the province where Operation Anaconda, the first and largest operation in Afghanistan, was conducted. Some are at Forward Operating Base Gardez where the mission was planned in response to the 9/11 attacks.
“We are maintaining a presence in these areas that the Coalition fought for and won eight years ago. The September 11th attacks originated from Afghanistan, and we are still here today because of those attacks,” said U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Edwards, the senior non-commissioned officer for the battalion and a resident of South Burlington, Vt. “All Vermonters have a reason to be proud of what we are doing here and the role that we are playing in the war,” he added.
At FOB Gardez the Soldiers of the 3-172 Headquarters Company held a memorial ceremony. About 30 Soldiers gathered in semi-circle in front of the Wall of Hero’s, a memorial to the Soldiers lost at FOB Gardez.
U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Kurt Geib of Newport, Vt., read a statement in memory of the victims of the attacks and the servicemembers killed in action, and led the Soldiers in a prayer.
“I’m proud to be doing my part, and today’s ceremony is a good reminder of why we are here,” said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Carl Fortune, the Battalion Staff Signal Officer for the 3-172 of Morrisville, Vt.
Although the Soldiers had to return to duty after the ceremony, the significance of the day was not lost on them, especially combined with their own personal experiences.
“I consider it a privilege to be here,” added U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mac Broich, the platoon sergeant for the battalion commander’s personal security detail and a resident of St. Albans, Vt. “I am especially happy to be assigned to Paktya with the Mountain Infantry,” added Broich who is on his second deployment. During the first, he was stationed in northern Afghanistan, where he said he listened to Operation Anaconda as it happened in Paktya.
“It seems surreal to think that 10 years have gone by,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gregg Langevine, the battalion operations officer from Gibsonia, Pa. Langevine was a member of the Vermont Guard during the attacks, but also worked full-time for a financial services firm.
On the day the attacks occurred, Langevine was scheduled to be training on the 61st Floor of Tower 2, but he switched with a co-worker at the last minute.
“I think the strength of the American people is our resiliency, and our ability to move beyond things,” he said.
For Edwards, the day reminded him of when he was serving in Iraq and Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State, addressed him and his fellow Soldiers, reminding them that they were not only a part history, but also making it. Edwards said the speech made him realize that it is easy to lose perspective of the gravity of these events as you experience them on a daily basis, but made him stop and think about the truth to Powell’s words.
“As [Edwards] does on more than a few occasions, he just redirected us. He said, ‘Hey nine years ago today something horrible happened, so we had to take action.’ It’s nice to have a finite thing to concentrate on, it’s nice to be able to say that this single event is why I’m here nine years later and in that way it’s an important day,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ross Thibodeau, a medical platoon sergeant for the 3-172 from Burlington, Vt.
The anniversary gave the Soldiers of the 3-172 a fresh perspective on why they are in Afghanistan, and the vital role that they are playing in changing the country’s history.
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 09.14.2010 03:30 |
| Story ID: | 56223 |
| Location: | PAKTYA PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 455 |
| Downloads: | 10 |
This work, ‘Put the Vermonters ahead’, by SFC Whitney Hughes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
