Categories
Category: War
Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester, United States Army, for exceptionally valorous achievement during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, on 20 March 2005, in Iraq. Sergeant Hester’s heroic actions in Iraq contributed to the overwhelming success of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq mission.
While serving as the Team Leader for RAVEN 42B in the 617th Military Police Company, 503d Military Police Battalion (Airborne), 18th Military Police Brigade, Sergeant Hester led her soldiers on a counterattack of anti-Iraqi Forces (AIF) who were ambushing a convoy with heavy AK-47 assault rifle fire, PRK machine gun fire, and rocket propelled grenades.
Sergeant Hester maneuvered her team through the kill zone into a flanking position where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M-203 rounds. She then cleared two trenches with her Squad Leader where she engaged and eliminated 3 AIF with her M-4 rifle.
Her actions saved the lives of numerous convoy members. Sergeant Hester’s bravery is in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflects distinct credit upon herself, the 503d Military Police Battalion (Airborne), the 18th Military Police Brigade, and the United States Army.
NARRATIVE TO ACCOMPANY AWARD: Sergeant Leigh A. Hester is cited for conspicuous gallantry in action against an armed enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with anti Iraq forces (AIF) as a team leader for Raven 42B, 617th Military Police Company, 503d Military Police Battalion (Airborne) stationed at Camp Liberty, Iraq on 20 March 2005, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
The team’s mission was to assist Raven 42 in searching the Eastern Convoy Route for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and provide additional security to sustainment convoys traveling through their area of responsibility. While patrolling Alternate Supply Route (ASR) Detroit, Raven 42B was shadowing a sustainment convoy consisting of 30 third country national (TCN) semi-tractor trailers with a three vehicle squad size escort, call sign Stallion 33, traveling from LSA (logistics support area) Anaconda to CSC (convoy support center) Scania.
The weather for this ASR patrol was 75 degrees and sunny with a 10 knot breeze from the southwest. While traveling on ASR Detroit approximately 50 AIF ambushed the convoy with heavy AK47 fire, RPK heavy machine gun fire, and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) from the southwest side of the road at 1140 hours. The AIF were utilizing irrigation ditches and an orchard for the well planned complex attack.
The AIF had cars combat parked along a road perpendicular to the ASR with all doors and trunks open. The AIF intent was to destroy the convoy, to inflict numerous casualties, and to kidnap several TCN drivers or U.S. Soldiers.
The initial ambush disabled and set on fire the lead TCN vehicle, which effectively blocked the southbound lanes of ASR Detroit, stopping the convoy in the kill zone. The squad leader, Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein, directed the squad to move forward, traveling on the right shoulder and passing through the engagement area between the enemy and the convoy.
Sergeant Hester directed her gunner to provide heavy volumes of MK 19 and M240B fires into the field where an overwhelming number of insurgents were executing a well coordinated ambush on the convoy. Raven 42 elements were outnumbered five to one. Staff Sergeant Nein ordered the squad to flank the insurgents on their right side.
The squad continued to come under heavy machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenade fire when Sergeant Hester stopped her vehicle, the middle vehicle, at a flanking position enfilading the trench line and the orchard field where over a dozen insurgents were engaging the squad and convoy.
She then directed her gunner to focus fires in the trench line and the orchard field. Sergeant Hester dismounted and moved to what was thought to be the non-contact side of the vehicle. She ordered her gunner to continue to fire on the orchard field as she and her driver engaged insurgents in the orchard field with small arms.
Sergeant Hester began engaging the insurgents with her M203 in order to suppress the heavy AIF fire. Sergeant Hester followed Staff Sergeant Nein to the right side berm and threw two well placed fragmentation grenades into the trench eliminating the AIF threat. Sergeant Hester and Staff Sergeant Nein went over the berm into the trench and began clearing the trench with their M4s. Sergeant Hester engaged and eliminated three AIF to her front with her M4.
They then made their way to the front trench and cleared that as well. After clearing the front trench cease fire was called and she began securing the ambush site. The final result of the ambush was 27 AIF KIA (killed in action), 6 AIF WIA (wounded in action), and one AIF captured
This is from the California Post – The US rescued a missing F-15E airman deep inside Iran with an incredibly complex and daring mission that involved SEAL Team 6, a CIA ruse, a hastily constructed forward air strip in hostile territory, and patrols of friendly aircraft that gave the Air Force colonel cover.
A life-or-death race between US and Iranian forces to find the “seriously injured” weapons officer outside Isfahan over two days culminated in the crew member’s extraction by America’s most elite commandos and a firefight with local militias that were hunting for him.
The unnamed officer, who was shot down on Good Friday in southwestern Iran, hid out in the Zagros Mountains and managed to climb a 7,000-foot ridge to evade capture for 36 hours with just a handgun for defense while American MQ-9 Reaper drones pounded nearby Iranian forces with missiles if they got close to his position.
A US Air Force landing strip was set up close to the city, which houses many of Iran’s missile and army bases, nuclear facilities, and the last of its fleet of F-14 fighter jets.
Two of the aircraft — believed to be MC-130J Commando IIs, specialized, high-tech transport planes — became stuck at the forward airfield in Iran, and three more aircraft were dispatched to pick up the US forces left stranded there, according to the Times.
The two MC-130Js — each worth around $100 million — were demolished in place so as not to fall into enemy hands.
Ronald Reid-Daly was a Rhodesian military officer renowned as the founder and commander of the elite Selous Scouts special forces unit, noted for their unconventional counter-insurgency tactics during the Rhodesian Bush War.
Ronald Francis Reid-Daly was born on 22 September 1928 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia.
Initially aspiring to become a farmer, he instead pursued a military path and joined the Southern Rhodesian contribution to the British Special Air Service (SAS) during the Malayan Emergency, serving with “C Squadron” in counter-insurgency operations against communist insurgents.His experiences in small-team jungle warfare and pseudo-operations there profoundly shaped his later approach.
Returning to Rhodesia, Reid-Daly helped form the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) in 1961, becoming its first Regimental Sergeant Major and later commissioned as a captain, earning recognition as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his early counter-insurgency successes.
In 1973, at the behest of the Rhodesian Army commander, Lieutenant General Peter Walls, he came out of near retirement to establish a new elite unit, the Selous Scouts, named after the famed African hunter Frederick Courtney Selous. Reid-Daly recruited highly skilled personnel and employed rigorous training to prepare teams for pseudo-operations; small squads would disguise themselves as guerrillas from ZANLA or ZIPRA, infiltrate insurgent groups, gather intelligence, and direct air or ground .
These operations made the Scouts extraordinarily effective, achieving a high operational impact despite a relatively small force, though they drew controversy for their morally ambiguous methods, including alleged poaching incidents and unorthodox psychological tactics.
The Selous Scouts under Reid-Daly became a highly feared counter-insurgency unit. Teams typically operated in pairs or trios across Rhodesia and cross-border into Mozambique, blending intelligence gathering, sabotage, and misinformation tactics.
The unit capitalized on Reid-Daly’s Malayan experience, particularly using turned insurgents for infiltration and applying aggressive, precise engagements to disrupt guerrilla . Despite their military effectiveness, this independence and the Scouts’ secretive operations created tensions with the Rhodesian command hierarchy, culminating in a court-martial for Reid-Daly following disputes with senior officers.
He resigned in August of that year and eventually moved to South Africa in 1982.
In South Africa, Reid-Daly commanded the Transkei Defence Force from 1981 until his expulsion in 1987 following political changes in Transkei. He later led a private security company and lived near Cape Town, focusing on writing about his military experiences.
His main publications include “Selous Scouts: Top Secret War” (1982) and “Pamwe Chete: The Legend of the Selous Scouts” (1999).
Reid-Daly was known as “Uncle Ron” among his troops for his approachable, yet determined leadership. His awards include the Legion of Merit (Commander – Civilian, CLM), Defence Forces’ Medal for Meritorious Service (DMM), and MBE. He passed away on 9 August 2010 in Simon’s Town, South Africa, after a prolonged illness.
R
I
P.
Berger, Rudolf
- Date of birth:
- October 10th, 1910 (Deutsch-Altenburg/Lower Austria, Austria)
- Date of death:
- November 6th, 1990 (Linz/Upper Austria, Austria)
- Nationality:
- Austrian
Biography
Rudolf Berger was an Austrian fencer. He competed in the team foil event at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
Rudolf Berger joined the Wehrmacht in 1939 and was already deployed in Pionier Battalion 262 in the 1940 western campaign.
In the Russian campaign he fought at Leningrad , at the Volkhov and at Lake Lagdoga as a successful shock troop leader.
For his success he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on April 14, 1943 as a sergeant and platoon leader in a pioneer company.
From 1943 he was deployed in Norwegian and French garrisons, he saw the end of the war on the Rhine front and finally in Wroclaw.
After the war he lived in Linz for many years.
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- Feldwebel
- Unit:
- 1. / Pionier-Bataillon 296
- Awarded on:
- December 13th, 1942
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- Feldwebel (Staff Sergeant)
- Unit:
- Zugführer 1. / Pionier-Bataillon 296
- Awarded on:
- April 14th, 1943
The following press excerpt describes why Berger was awarded the Knight’s Cross…
“… During the combat against the Soviets in 1943 he was a Zugführer in a Pionier-Bataillon. During the defensive combat northwest of Orel he mastered a critical situation through his personal bravery and determination. The Soviets had put their great superiority to full effect, penetrating into the German positions and capturing a commanding hill.
In response he launched a counterattack with 2 Sturmgeschützen and 33 Pionieren. He and his men ejected the Soviets from the positions after bitter close combat and once again brought the old frontline back under German control. He received the Knight’s Cross for this bold and fearless deed.”
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- 1941
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- 1940
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- 1941
in silver
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- Feldwebel
- Unit:
- 1. / Pionier-Bataillon 296
- Awarded on:
- August 18th, 1943
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- August 20th, 1942
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- 1943
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- 1943
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- 1943
Sources
- Photo: Kennisgeving voor omleiding
- – SCHERZER, VEIT, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939-1945, Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf, 2010.
– Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
– Fellgiebel W.P., Elite of the Third Reich, The recipients of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945: A Reference, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003, ISBN 1-874622-46-9
– Patzwall K., Scherzer V., Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Geschichte und Inhaber Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X
– Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945
– Axis History Biographical Research via Axis History Forum