Two GIs Die In Iraq Helicopter Crash

[Hissyspit]

http://start.earthlink.net/article/int?guid=20050527/42969b40_3ca6_1552620050527297915442

Two GIs Die in Helicopter Crash in Iraq
May 27, 2005 4:20 AM EDT
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two American soldiers were killed Thursday night when their helicopter was shot down near Baghdad, while another chopper was hit but landed safely, the U.S. military said.

The two pilots were the only ones aboard their aircraft when it went down, said Capt. Patricia Brewer, a military spokeswoman in Baghdad. She said their bodies have been recovered.

The two Task Force Liberty helicopters were struck by small arms fire at 10:50 p.m. after responding to troops in contact with enemy forces near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, the military said.

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[llmart]

1. Sounding more and more like VietNam every day.

Bring 'em on said the coward-in-chief.

[Kipling]

2. BRING 'EM ON

[Botany]

3. Blessings on their souls, families, and friends

My Mac now has this sad tag line in it's memory. I just type B then L and the
rest pops up.

Somewhere in America ............
a mother breaks down as she makes
the morning coffee and starts to cry.

My son, my baby. my life
God, take me .....
he was to young to die.

And a Father walks by
a swing set and feels
100 years old.
Even as a kid that
boy, my buddy he was always a little bold.

"Push me Higher Daddy ... get me to fly.
Dad, if I swing high enough
can I touch the sky?"

"Daddy do we have to go home now?"

Two GIs Die :patriot: & :cry:

[thebigidea]

4. FOX just called the people who shot it down "terrorists"

Oh yeah, anyone who opposes the American military is a "terrorist."

I forgot!

[Alpharetta]

5. Pilots are GI's?

just sayin...

[Botany]

6. Yes they are Army ..... n/t

[Alpharetta]

9. Oh I thought GI meant "General Infantry"

and I thought pilots are officers and not infantry

[happyslug]

14. No, GI was WWII Slang derived from "Government Issue".

The GIs during WWII had to deal with a lot of abbreviations, mostly do to attempts to minimize radio transmissions. From these radio transmissions the abbreviations spread to other parts of the Military who proceeded to adopt even more abbreviations. Than the GIs started to make up their own abbreviations for things and themselves and thus the term GI was invented and has stayed with the us ever since.

Similarly during WWI the big thins was code words to prevent the enemy if they intercepted a message to understand what the message actually said. During WWI this was taken to excess by the English and the French. By the time the Americans extensive use of code words were common. Americans had to start to use the same code words (Which could change ever so often). This was so pervasive that it was hard to send any message with using codes words in the message. Than some wag started to use the term "Cooties" to mean lice as a "Code Word" and the term has stuck.

If you notice both terms, GI and Cooties were never used by the military but invented by the GIs themselves based on the concepts of Abbreviations (during WWII) and Code words (WWI).

Also note, FDR's administration had also used a lot of abbreviations during the New Deal so many of the GIs themselves had knowledge of abbreviations BEFORE WWII. Thus using something like GI and than claiming it stood for "Government Issue" when it referred to a soldier, sailer or airman would just be a continuation of an almost generation use of Abbreviations that climaxed during WWII.

The the Term "GI" applies to anyone in the Service of the US Military.

[cliss]

7. Looks like helis are very dangerous in Iraq.

How many have we lost in Iraq and Afghanistan now? And what's the cost of losing one of these? If I'm not mistaken, each one costs in the millions ($30 million?) Unbelievable.

Nowadays, every time a US troops steps into one of these, he's taking his life into his hands.

[Tesha]

11. The Russians learned this in Afghanistan.

We, of course, couldn't believe it would also apply to us so will have
to learn this lesson the hard way.

Tesha

[Az_lefty]

8. My son-in-law is back in Iraq & he's an Army pilot

everytime my family hears these reports we get nervous. This is his second tour as a pilot over there and he's getting out when his time is up. He will have been in the Army 8 years by then and normally a Maj with that much time would stay for 20, but who the hell wants to spend the next 12 years rotating in and out of Iraq.

[Chicago Democrat]

10. Is this the 2nd Copter in a week?

I get em confused

[goodhue]

12. One is the son of a democratic MN state senator . . .

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1762/5426685.html

Helicopter pilot Matthew Lourey, son of state Sen. Becky Lourey, has been killed in Iraq, a Senate spokesman said.

* * *

At 41, Matt Lourey was one of the older pilots in the military and was close to retirement. At one point he had been offered a chance to move away from helicopters to fly fixed-wing aircraft. It would have meant several years of training and likely would have meant returning to Washington, D.C., where he and his wife purchased a home.

"He was offered the easy way out and he turned it down," said his brother, Tony. "I'm mad at hell at for him for doing it but I understand it. He did what he had to do. He wouldn't have been Matt."

Tony Lourey said the family felt strongly about questioning the war in Iraq and that they had shared their feelings with Matt. Matt himself had expressed reservations, particularly after his first tour of duty, which involved providing air cover for infantry, Tony Lourey said.

"We have pretty strong feelings, really. We don't believe that we had any business over there. I'm speaking for me, I know I'm speaking for Dad when I say that. Matt was always very careful. He was a military person. He signed on understanding full well that he wasn't going to make the decisions about what we got engaged in. He signed up to say 'I'll do what you guys say is the right thing to do.' He was always very careful about what he said."Tony Lourey said his brother felt honor bound to go back.

"We all talked to him and said, 'Matt what they hell are you doing? Don't go back over there.' But he said, 'I signed up for this, I know the risks, the U.S. paid me to learn how to fly this bird.'"

[Hissyspit]

13. He was stationed here at Bragg.