The Daily Patriot » American Patriots

Tribute to Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, U.S. Army

The Staff at TheDP — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:09:05 +0000

This week, Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA4) spoke on the floor of the House to honor the death of Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, U.S. Army. The video contains the entire speech; a portion of the transcript is included below.

Mr. Speaker:

I rise today to pay tribute to U.S. Army Sergeant Joshua M. Hardt of Applegate, California. He is one of the fallen heroes of the Battle of Kamdesh — the remote outpost that was besieged and surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by more than 300 Taliban insurgents on October 3rd. No soldiers in the history of our nation have fought more valiantly or bravely than the defenders of Combat Outpost Keating that day. In the end, they held their ground, they defended their flag and the honor of their country.

But most importantly, they defended something fundamental and sacred and eternal that defines humanity itself. They defended something that can never be abandoned as long as humanity exists. They defended right against wrong – good against evil – freedom against tyranny – in its most stark and defining form.

During the terrible winter of 1776, Thomas Paine, having watched many brave young men like Josh Hardt fall in defense of these same eternal truths, offered these words to try to make some sense of it: “Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
Josh Hardt knew that. And his family knew that. Through tears, his mother told a local newspaper “He was a very giving son. He went into the Army wanting to make a difference … wanting us to be safe…He expressed his desire to do more; to take more action and to make a difference. He didn’t know a better way than to go into the military and to fight for everybody.”
And that’s exactly what he did. He fought for his nation. He fought for its values. And he fought for the freedom of a people half a world away. And he paid for Heaven’s most expensive celestial article with his life — not for himself, but for others.

The rest of the transcript can be read on McClintock’s website.

54 Hours of Valor – Female Marine awarded Combat “V”

The Staff at TheDP — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:48:17 +0000

First Lt. Rebecca M. Turpin received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for her actions under enemy fire during the battalion’s last deployment to Afghanistan from October 2008 to May 2009. The Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal is awarded for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. The “V” device denotes an act of uncommon valor performed during direct contact with an enemy force.

“Throughout the mission, Lieutenant Turpin led by example and set the standard of calm under fire,” Jernigan wrote. “She ensured that her Marines effectively fought their way out of dangerous situations and completed her logistics resupply mission. Her efforts ensured the delivery of vital combat logistics support to FOB Musa Qalah while eliminating several enemy threats along the way.”

Turpin said it was the Marines’ actions during the two and one-half day patrol which enabled mission success and ensured the safe return of all personnel.

“No matter how long the patrol went on, how tired and hungry the Marines and corpsmen were, they did everything they were asked to do and more,” Turpin said. “They supported one another, each did his own part, and by all elements of the patrol working so fluidly and efficiently, this patrol concluded with zero casualties. I think that the success of a logistics patrol is not measured when everything goes perfectly, but by how the Marines and corpsmen react and behave when everything goes wrong.”

Turpin humbly said receiving the medal meant her superiors saw fit to award her for doing the job she was assigned to do. “I am honored by the award, but feel that I was completing my assigned duties as per my billet, by directing the Marines and corpsmen that themselves completed the mission and made our deployment a success,” Turpin said.

Excerpted from this Article by Lance Cpl. Alesha R. Guard, Marine Corps Base Hawaii

Keith Zeier, Patriot

Mark Roknich — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:50:38 +0000

While a Marine, Sgt. Keith Zeier served with the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion and the Marine Special Operations Battalion. In 2006, he was injured by an IED-type exposive device in Iraq, leaving him with permanent muscle and nerve damage in his right leg as well as a severe head injury. The explosion ended Sgt. Zeier’s Marine career. But it didn’t end his resolve.

On May 17th 2009, Sgt. Keith Zeier completed a 100 mile ultra-marathon to benefit the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Please visit the FirstGiving website to learn more about Keith and make a donation to the SOWF.

Over the course of the grueling 100 miles, Mr. Zeier, lost 21 pounds, and required medical attention including intravenous fluids. To date, Keith has raised $77,175 for the SOWF.

More about the Keith, and the race, can be found in an article in The New York Daily News.

Keith Zeier is a American Patriot.

Watch the Today Show video feature.

Photo credits: Zeier on Flickr, Burke for News