Posted by
Gray Ghost on Saturday, October 25, 2008 12:44:29 PM
United States Army Specialist Joseph Gibson of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, was on a mission to find and eliminate terrorists in Iraq in April 2008. Gibson and his fellow Rangers were being transported by helicopter. The chopper touched down at night and the soldiers disembarked, only to come under immediate enemy fire. One Ranger received a life-threatening wound in the firefight and Gibson helped navigate him over an uneven field filled with irrigation ditches to safety.
That’s when the fight got interesting. The Rangers continued with their mission, clearing a field with tall grass and canals near the helicopter’s landing zone. As Gibson walked through the field in the dark, he stepped on a terrorist hiding in a ditch. He took another step forward before turning to see what he had stepped on. The jihadi then moved to kill him and as many other Rangers as possible, but Gibson grabbed the terrorist’s rifle muzzle as he opened fire. Gibson wrestled him to the ground, stripping the enemy of his weapon, but the jihadi disarmed Gibson as well. Ferocious hand-to-hand combat ensued. The terrorist then reached for the detonator to his suicide vest and screamed “bomb!” in English. To put it simply, Gibson beat the jihadi unconscious. Then, “I got my weapon into his stomach and fired,” Gibson said. “He came back to consciousness after that, [but] I knew I got him. I stood up and neutralized him.” For his outstanding courage under fire and the daring rescue of his fellow Ranger, Spc Gibson was awarded the Silver Star.
This man is a d*mn fine descendant of the proud lineage of Roger's Rangers!
Reprinted from "The Patriot Post", October 24, 2008.