On March 23, 2003, Private Jessica Lynch of Wirt County was captured by Iraqi forces. Soon, Lynch would be a household name throughout the nation.
Two years earlier, the 18 year old had joined the Army to earn money for college. Just days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces, and her Humvee was wrecked. Lynch was seriously injured and then captured.
Nine days later, she was rescued by U.S. forces during a dramatic nighttime raid—the first rescue of a female POW in American history. Lynch was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Prisoner of War medal.
Lynch couldn’t remember exactly what happened during the rescue, but the official details that emerged raised questions. Iraqi doctors claimed they had tried to hand over Lynch peacefully. Others alleged the military had staged the raid for publicity. Lynch later testified before Congress that “the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes, and they don’t need to be told elaborate lies.” Lynch left the Army, returned to West Virginia, and eventually graduated from WVU-Parkersburg.
On June 10, 1775, Captain Hugh Stephenson organized the Berkeley County Riflemen in response to George Washington’s call for soldiers at the start of the Revolutionary War. These were among the first soldiers from the South to volunteer following the outbreak of hostilities in Massachusetts. The men supplied their own uniforms, weapons, equipment, and food. They wore leather leggings and moccasins, deerskin caps, and homespun shirts made of a coarse cloth called linsey-woolsey.
After drilling for a month, the riflemen set out on horseback to relieve Boston. They made the 600-mile trek from Shepherdstown to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in just 24 days, a feat remembered as the “Bee Line March.” Stephenson led his company directly to George Washington, who personally shook each man’s hand. Washington even recognized some of them from the French and Indian War and his surveying work in the present Eastern Panhandle
Patriotic citizens of western Virginia would answer at least 10 calls for troops during the Revolutionary War.
In 1989, the Secretary of the Army designated Morgan’s Grove, a park located near the start of the march, as the birthplace of the United States Army.
Last month, President Obama announced the end of combat operations in Afghanistan. Some news organizations went so far as to say the war was over.
But for soldiers and their families from the Army Reserves’ 363rd Military Police Company – headquartered in Grafton, WV – the war isn’t over. This spring, some of these soldiers will be deploying to Afghanistan.
Advise and train the Afghanistan army and police (primary role)
Conduct air strikes and provide other types of air support
Protect themselves if threatened
Assist the Afghanistan security forces if necessary
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Soldiers from 3rd Platoon listen to the current list of who is deploying. Some members of their families are in the back. Spc. Shane Delong, who is wearing the green uniform in the front row, will be deploying to Afghanistan.
During their December drill weekend, soldiers from the 363 Military Police Company, gathered to hear the names listed on the “battle rosters” which is the list of deploying soldiers. (The Army asked us not to report the names because the lists are still in flux.)
After the Afghanistan battle roster was read, the soldiers heard the battle roster for the troops going to Kosovo. That’s another war you might have thought was over. But the United States has supplied soldiers to the NATO peacekeeping force there since 1999. The U.S. is currently contributing about 750 soldiers to NATO’s 4,500-soldier peacekeeping force.
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Sgt. 1st Class Lahomma Fowler talked to her platoon about the deployment. Fowler explained to her soldiers: “If you have vouchers pending for dental, medical, hearing – any of that stuff – when you call to make your appointment, you tell them: ‘I am a deploying soldier. I need to be seen as soon as possible.’”
The News Sinks In
Sgt. 1st Class Fowler deployed to Iraq with the 363 MP’s in 2009. During this deployment she will be the non-commissioned officer in charge of the 25 soldiers heading to Kosovo.
“When you first find out your name has come up to be deployed,” Fowler said, “immediately there’s this thought process that goes through your brain: ‘Oh, I’m going to go do this!’ But when it starts sinking in, it’s that sobering thought: ‘Oh, I’m going to be gone.’”
Sgt. 1st Class Fowler goes on to list common worries: How are my bills going to get paid? How is my house going to be taken care of? Who’s going to cut my grass?
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One of the soldiers deploying to Afghanistan is Spc. Jakob Mays of Fairmont. “I’m pumped. This will be my fourth deployment, so this is just another skip in the ballpark for me. I’m excited because I’ve never been to Afghanistan before.”
3 Months Out
During the next three months, the soldiers will get ready for their spring deployment. Like all Reservists, they will refresh and sharpen their skills during once-a-month weekend drills. This March, they’ll put all their skills together.
“When we get to annual training in March,” Sgt. 1st Class Fowler explains, “we’ll be able to run these missions, and do what we call ‘War Fighter’, or ‘War Games’, which is full speed… just like you would be performing these tasks while you were deployed.”
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Sgt. Ashley Snyder plays with her son and some of the other soldiers’ children during the 363 Military Police annual Christmas party. Sgt. Snyder will be deploying to Kosovo.
When 19-year-old Nathan Thomas Cooper first took the infantry man’s creed, it wasn’t clear where the United States Army would take him.
Friday marks the 239th anniversary of America’s Independence. A few years later, in 1789, Congress officially created the Department that helps protect and keep the American freedoms…the United State Military.
But the oldest active duty regiment can be traced back to 1784 … The Old Guard. A soldier from Princeton was recently chosen to help carry on the traditions of the troop.
Private Cooper of Princeton was honored when he was selected to serve in The Old Guard straight out of basic training.
To be a member of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, among other things, a soldier must:
Stand at least 6 feet tall
Weigh between 150 and 180 lbs.
Have a specific bone structure
Besides the physical characteristics, Cooper’s mother, Nicole Ellis, suspects that his attitude was also important. “He’s everything to me and to his family,” Ellis said, “but to the rest of the world he’s just a nobody from just a nowhere little town and they picked him. He was chosen.”
Taps, a standard part of U.S. military funerals since 1891, gets played in Arlington on a regular basis. And again, it’s soldiers of The Old Guard who are responsible for carrying out these traditions at Fort Myer and around the Washington D.C. area. Other responsibilities of The Old Guard include guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier – an honor that Cooper hopes to earn, but he says won’t happen any time soon.
In the meantime, he’s currently in the Firing Party – a group that participates in the “21-gun salute” for honored military veterans. Cooper will be trying out for the Caisson Platoon, which includes the soldiers that ride on horses that escort the fallen soldiers to the final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.
“I said before I didn’t want to go to war,” Cooper said, “but if necessary I will fight to my death. I am always there now and forever. I am the infantry, follow me. I’ll lead the way.”
Nicole Ellis, mother (left), Private Nathan Thomas Cooper
