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Earning my stripes

Mar- 9-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

Just moments before I was about to shut down my SBCT-focused RSS aggregator for the last time, I spotted this blog posting by Kimberly Johnson. She too was leaving a news assignment with a Stryker Brigade. This is my last post for SBN. It has been an honor to round up the news for Stryker Brigade soldiers, families and friends for the past 15 months. I’ve enjoyed bringing good news to their attention and I’ve mourned with them as I posted the news of the deaths of brave soldiers. I salute Todd for creating and maintaining this wonderful web site. I trust that he and the host of other faithful volunteers who have kept the news service, bulletin board, and photo albums running will continue this valuable service. Safetypro

Link to Blog Entry
By Kimberly Johnson, USA Today

KIRKUK, Iraq –- After three weeks, seven round-trips rolling around the belly of a Stryker and umpteen hours suffering through bad army jokes over chow hall food, I have finally moved on down the road.

My last night with 4th Battalion 23rd Infantry regiment in Mosul, Battalion commander Lt. Col. John Norris called me to the front of the conference room during his battle update briefing. I had this sinking feeling in my stomach, the kind I had as a kid when I was called down to the principal’s office. Oh no, I thought. What have I done now? Reporters are meant to be at the back of the room observing, never commanding center stage.

To my utter amazement, Norris handed me a piece of paper, a “certificate of appreciation” it said. He read it aloud to the room of battalion leaders and thanked me for being fair to his boys while telling their story. The parchment’s loopy script also documented that I had, in fact, seen “Mad contact, yo.” To make my brush with danger under his watch completely official, he pinned a two-inch Combat Action Badge on my shirt collar. The black matte metal was embossed with an oak wreath and a bayonet over a grenade. It’s an award too many soldiers are earning in this country these days. [...]


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