{"id":385,"date":"2011-05-02T15:31:32","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T15:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/john-michael.net\/?p=385"},"modified":"2020-10-28T22:51:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T02:51:30","slug":"who-are-these-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/john-michael.net\/index.php\/2011\/05\/02\/who-are-these-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are These Men?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by someone who has been there, the following is a \u201cguest\u201d posting from a dear friend:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

During the past decade since the attacks of September 11, 2001, we have been a nation at war.\u00a0 In Afghanistan, our enemy has been the Taliban, Al Qaida and countless foreign fighters whose only goal\u00a0has been\u00a0to kill Americans, in great numbers.<\/p>\n

It has\u2013and continues to be\u2013a long war.\u00a0 Against an amorphous, enduring enemy.<\/p>\n

The centerpiece of that war has been a single, elusive icon of terror who personally directed the mass killings of innocent people around the world.<\/p>\n

From the first day, we fought back.\u00a0 And we continue to fight.<\/p>\n

We have lost friends, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers.\u00a0 We have heard the sound of Taps echo and linger in the distance.\u00a0 Many courageous men and women have returned with grievous wounds\u2014sometimes invisible to the naked eye.<\/p>\n

Despite the many obstacles, dangers and threats, we continue to fight.<\/p>\n

In a long war, the sacrifice is often spread across generations.<\/p>\n

Many\u00a0of those operators who raided that compound 30 miles outside Islamabad were likely too young to drive when the 9\/11 attacks occurred.<\/p>\n

And yet, these volunteers most certainly remembered that fateful day, and were thinking about it as they were being transported into Pakistan via Special Operations helicopters in the dead of night.\u00a0\u00a0The images were likely decisive in their decision to take\u00a0their oath\u2013 to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic.<\/p>\n

Fueled by adrenalin, a healthy dose of fear, and a supreme confidence in their equipment and training, warriors like these know well that things can and likely will go wrong.\u00a0 That\u2019s why they rehearse.\u00a0 Whether they are on their target or supporting from afar, it\u2019s why they look after one another, and will never leave a fallen comrade behind.<\/p>\n

They are the best living definition of a team. Because they operate as a single unit toward a common, understood objective.\u00a0 They never quit.\u00a0 When the conditions change, they adapt.\u00a0 They can communicate intuitively, with silent hand and arm signals through the green glow of night vision goggles, or single syllable transmissions spoken into a whisper mike. They often follow orders\u00a0delivered a continent away.\u00a0 They are brothers\u2013closer to one another than their own immediate families.<\/p>\n

When they are in pursuit of a target, political boundaries are irrelevant.\u00a0\u00a0Moving as\u00a0a synchronized team, they\u00a0act decisively and selflessly, and inform their hosts later.<\/p>\n

Mission first.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, these operators are ours.<\/p>\n

It is these remarkable\u00a0men who are deployed forward in a land they do not seek to permanently occupy, and who, in the most desperate circumstances, continue to fight \u2014 for all of us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 John Fenzel, May 2, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

John is a dear friend, a patriot who wears the uniform and author of the outstanding book\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Lazarus Covenant\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

The Lazarus Covenant<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

The Sterling Forest<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

The Fifth Column<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by someone who has been there, the following is a \u201cguest\u201d posting from a dear friend:   During the past decade since the attacks of September 11, 2001, we have been a nation at war.\u00a0 In Afghanistan, our enemy … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[123,119,141,122,140,15,53],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military","tag-john-fenzel","tag-special-forces","tag-the-fifth-column","tag-the-lazarus-covenant","tag-the-sterling-forest","tag-us-army","tag-us-army-special-forces"],"yoast_head":"\nWho Are These Men? 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