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Those
of you who might not know, the man on the left is the
Commandant of the Marine Corps, and he is proud to know the man on
the right.
Maybe
you'd like to hear about a real American, somebody who honored the uniform
he wears
Churchville-Chili
Central School Class of
1991.
Proud
graduate of the Rochester Institute of
Technology.
Husband
and about-to-be father. First lieutenant (now Captain) in the United
States Marine Corps.
And
a genuine hero, the secretary of the Navy said so
yesterday.
At
29 Palms in California Brian Chontosh was presented with the Navy
Cross, the second highest award for combat bravery the United States can
bestow.
That's
a big deal. But you won't see it on the network news
tonight
And
all you'll read in Brian's hometown newspaper is two paragraphs of
nothing.
The
odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not covering
the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world is
receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are
doing.
Oh,
sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have fallen.
And we see those same casket pictures day in and day
out.
And
we're almost on a first-name basis with the jerks who abused the
Iraqi prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and
how we lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and
how the world hates us.
We
get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom but we don't hear about the
heroes.
The
incredibly brave GIs who honorably do their duty. The ones our
grandparents would have carried on their shoulders down Fifth Avenue
.
The
ones we completely ignore, like Brian
Chontosh.
It
was a year ago on the march into Baghdad . Brian Chontosh was a platoon
leader rolling up Highway 1 in a
humvee.
When
all hell broke loose.
The
young Marines were being cut to ribbons. Mortars, machine guns, rocket
propelled grenades.
And
the kid out of Churchville was in charge. It was do or die and it was up
to him.
So
he moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead his men to
safety. As he tried to poke a hole through the Iraqi line his humvee came
under direct enemy machine gun fire. It was fish in a barrel and the
Marines were the fish. And Brian Chontosh gave the order to
attack..
He
told his driver to floor the humvee directly at the machine gun
emplacement that was firing at them. And he had the guy on top with the 50
cal unload on them.
Within
moments there were Iraqis slumped across their machine guns and Chontosh
was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the humvee directly
into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his
Marines..
Over
into the battlement the humvee went and
out
the
door Brian Chontosh bailed, carrying an
M16
and
a Beretta
and
228 years of Marine Corps
pride.
And
he ran along the trench, with its mortars and riflemen, machine guns and
grenadiers.
He
fought with the M16 until it was out of
ammo.
Then
he fought with the Beretta until it was out of
ammo.
Then
he picked up a dead man's AK4 and fought with that until it was out of
ammo.
Then
he picked up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out
of ammo.
At
one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster,
sending attackers flying with its grenade
explosion.
When
he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis from
his platoon's
flank.
He
had killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many
more.
But
that's probably not how he would tell
it.
He
would probably merely say that his Marines were in trouble, and he
got them out of trouble. Ooh-rah, and drive on.
"By his
outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the
face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, 1st Lt.
Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest
traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval
Service."
That's
what the citation says.
And
that's what nobody will
hear.
That's
what doesn't seem to be making the evening
news.
Accounts
of American valor are dismissed by the press as propaganda,
yet accounts of American difficulties are heralded as objectivity..
It makes you wonder if the role of the media is to inform or to
depress - to report or to deride. To tell the truth, or to feed us
lies.
But
I guess it doesn't matter.We're going to turn out all right as long
as men like Brian Chontosh wear our
uniform.
If
you are as proud of this Marine as I am, then send this to EVERYONE
YOU
KNOW
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