By: Johnray Strickland
FORT CARSON - In a touching e-mail sent home just a week before a fire fight in Afghanistan took his life Sgt. Vernon W. Martin expresses his excitement over his unit's movement to a safer Forward Operating Base.
It is with these words and pictures that the war takes face and reminds us of who is out there protecting our freedom every day.
Sgt. Martin was 25-years-old, married with three young children-- daughters, ages two and four, and a six year-old son.
Here is the email from Sgt. Vernon W. Martin:
"Wuts up? I'm good maintainin' we bout 2 move outta here & go 2 our main fob pretty soon. It's alot safer there & im tryn 2 stay there da rest of my deployment lol. Thanks 4 da stuff. Only my mom & brit have been sendn me things. Times were pretty rough out here 4 a while but things r improvin & if I'm at da main fob I wont need much any more. Yea I tried 2 check out his site but dis connxn is slow out here. I speak 2 him often thru myspace & I tell him 2 stay focus. I speak 2 him & Kenya more than the otha lil cuzs (y dat is idk). I stop writin years ago but sumtimes i get things n2 my head & I have alot of ideas but rappn isnt a focal point 4 me any more. I would like 2 learn 2 produce but if opportunity presents itself cool if not I have other plans. When I get out I plan on openin my own youth development program. I'm still workn on the blue print plan but it will be tite. I plan on movin 2 atl when i get out. My 2nd choice is bmore cuz ny is too expensive. Sumtimes i wanna move bak up there but its too expensive 2 raise a fam there. I'm tryn 2 move 2 a city where my program will be needed cuz I'm gonna go 2 school 4 social work when i get out. So a city w/ a high crime rate amongst teens would be nice. I dont plan on workn 4 no1 all my life. I always remembered wut u said about the diff b/t a smart worker & a hard worker. When it cums 2 work dats wut my motto is. Anyway stay up holla bak love yall Peace." - Sgt. Vernon W. Martin
The flag-draped coffins of at least six U.S. soldiers killed during a weekend onslaught against a U.S. military outpost in Afghanistan has landed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Tuesday , the military reports.
About 50 family members watched as a half dozen flag-draped transfer cases were removed from a military cargo plane Tuesday morning on a crisp fall morning under sunny skies at Dover Air Force Base, the quiet ceremony punctuated only by the sound of one child's cry.
The six Army personnel were identified by the military as Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk of South Portland, Maine; Spec. Michael P. Scusa of Villas, N.J.; Spec. Christopher T. Griffin of Kincheloe, Mich.; Pfc. Kevin C. Thomson of Reno, Nev.; Sgt. Vernon W. Martin, of Savannah, Ga.; and Spec. Stephen L. Mace of Lovettsville, Va. The dignified transfer ceremony also might include other fallen service members.
Coverage of the troops' return is allowed with the permission of their families under a policy the Obama administration instituted this year.
On Saturday, Taliban militants attacked American and Afghan troops in Nuristan province, opening fire on the outpost from multiple locations with rockets, mortars and heavy-caliber machine guns. At least eight American troops and two members of the Afghan national security forces were killed.
It was the largest number of Americans killed by hostile action in a single day since July 2008 when nine troops died and the deadliest attack on Fort Carson soldiers since the Vietnam war.
At least 13 Afghan police officers also were captured in Saturday's attack, according to Haji Abdul Halim, the provincial deputy governor.
Meanwhile, security forces hunting down the attackers have killed a few dozen insurgents in raids, an Afghan official said Tuesday.
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi said the operations were in the Kamdesh District of Nuristan province. He cited around 100 insurgent casualties, including 35 to 45 deaths. Azimi said there were no Afghanistan army casualties.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force on Tuesday said more than 100 "enemy forces" were killed during the fighting Saturday, which were "significantly higher losses than originally thought."
The NATO-led force believes the attack on U.S. and Afghan troops was conducted by "local anti-Afghan forces, while local Taliban and elements of Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin may have helped facilitate the attack." The group responsible for conducting the attack was initially reported as "Nuristani tribal militia," the ISAF said.
In the past 24 hours, 10 Afghan soldiers were killed in incidents across the country, Azimi said. Britain's Defense Ministry said a British soldier was killed Monday while on foot patrol in Helmand province.
The first week of October has been a deadly one for coalition troops in Afghanistan, with 16 U.S. deaths and now two from Britain.
