April 27, 2022

From FB:

“The 44th Foot fought in the First Anglo-Afghan War and the regiment formed the rearguard on the retreat from Kabul. After a continuous running battle in two feet of snow, the force had been reduced to fewer than forty men.

On 13 January 1842, the few survivors of the decimated regiment made a last stand against Afghan tribesmen on a rocky hill near the village of Gandamak. The ground was frozen and icy. The men had no shelter and were starving. Only a dozen of the men had working muskets, the officers their pistols and a few unbroken swords.

When the Afghans surrounded them on the morning of the 13th the Afghans announced that a surrender could be arranged. “Not bloody likely!” was the bellowed answer of one British sergeant. It is believed that only two survived the massacre.”

Vienna, Virginia (2013)

Rick Rescorla

From FB:

“Ia Drang was the Army’s first major battle in Vietnam, and one of its bloodiest. The battle claimed 305 American lives, soldiers who died in fierce combat with a North Vietnamese regiment that also took heavy losses. (1LT Rick ‘Hard Core’) Rescorla commanded 1st Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and was almost worshipped by his soldiers, who called themselves the ‘Hard Corps’ after his nickname. But his courage and infectious optimism resonated beyond those under his immediate command.

Payne remembers Rescorla ‘leaping off [a] chopper and strutting into our small very beat-up group of survivors’ during the night. After placing his men to fill the gaps in Payne’s line and pausing to speak quietly to each soldier, he walked toward Payne.

‘I was so amazed to see him walking around because we had all been crawling on our stomachs for eight hours,’ Payne said. Speaking in a low, confident voice, Rescorla complimented Payne on establishing good fields of fire.

‘Then he looked me in the eye and said, `When the sun comes up we are going to kick some ass.’

I will never forget his words or the look in his eye. He said it in a confident, matter-of-fact way. He was not boasting, it was resolve.'”