Clavicula_Nox Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 by Sgt. James Tomeson TF Sky Dragon PAO An 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" Device for single-handedly disabling an enemy armored fighting vehicle and rescuing wounded crew members from a supporting M2A2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle while under fire in Al Hufq, Syria. Sgt. Martin Branson, a team leader for 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment distinguished himself with valor June 24th, 2008 during Operation Slow Blade when his platoon made contact with Syrian regular army personnel during a combat patrol. While conducting a combat patrol, the 1st Platoon was engaged by Syrian regulars supported by a BMP-2, an armored fighting vehicle. The 1st Squad was cut-off from the rest of the platoon, and the platoon's assigned M2 Bradley support was already engaged with enemy infantry. The soldiers of the squad took cover as they came under fire from the Syrian BMP. Without hesitation, or regard for his safety, Sgt. Branson fired his M203 grenade launcher in a desperate gamble, which worked. The BMP-2 was disabled, allowing the rest of the platoon to advance to bring point-fire on the remaining Syrian infantry. Over the course of the battle, the platoon's Bradley support was disabled and two of the crewmembers injured while trying to get under cover. Ordering his team to put suppressing fire on the enemy, Branson broke from cover brought each man to safety one by one. "There really wasn't much to it, I mean, the grenade shouldn't have killed the BMP and there was no thinking about getting those guys, they were hurt and would have done the same for me," Branson said, "I was just thinking about everybody making it home and I didn't want to see anyone get killed on this mission." "Sgt. Branson is one of the best troopers in my platoon," platoon sergeant Sfc. Wesely Krohm said, "He always displays a great example for his troopers and others." A paratrooper from Branson's squad was wounded when a rocket propelled grenade struck his fighting position, peppering the trooper with shrapnel. 10 enemy soldiers were killed, 17 were wounded, and 2 surrendered. photo by Sgt. James Tomeson/ TF Sky Dragon PAO Sgt. Martin Branson on patrol in Syria. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisND Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Nice! I was tempted to write one of these when in one of my scenarios a Lt., the last survivor of his overrun platoon, hid in a foxhole, less than a couple meters from Syrian troops and BMPs, and called airstrikes down on his own position. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavicula_Nox Posted May 15, 2008 Author Share Posted May 15, 2008 I'm lame, I do it all the time for different games. When I still played Warhammer 40k, if a unit did particularly well, I had a number of things I would do. I would either pick a soldier to paint some form of award on the base or the model, name each soldier in the unit, or write a biography. I made a campaign for myself in Armed Assault that centers around a company from the 82nd, and I made a print-out naming every soldier, and I wrote a back story for each. Why? Because I made unique textures and stuff for each, and I wanted it all to be right. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Clavicula_Nox do you still play it ArmA? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavicula_Nox Posted May 15, 2008 Author Share Posted May 15, 2008 On occasion, I do, though it probably has been a couple of months. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 I still do on tacticalgamer server. I play on the weekends. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavicula_Nox Posted May 15, 2008 Author Share Posted May 15, 2008 I've only tried multiplayer a couple of times. Each time I played, it wasn't so hot, partially due to my computer's own limitations. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon67 Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 God Bless Sgt Branson and all those brave soldiers for thier service and sacrafice on the Syrian front. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orwell Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Do you publish the rest of these biographies anywhere besides random, scattered forum posts? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammelman Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 I play ARMA as well sometimes, it seems that multiplayer isnt very dynamic unfortunately. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavicula_Nox Posted May 15, 2008 Author Share Posted May 15, 2008 Originally posted by orwell: Do you publish the rest of these biographies anywhere besides random, scattered forum posts? No, I have them written in a notebook. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bardosy Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Funny. ArmA fans are CMSF fans too. I create OFP/ArmA campaigns and CMSF campaigns too... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayniz1691 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 I found this thread really neat, some good fan fiction. I think i'm going to create something like this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugkill Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Great job, Clax! Keep your feet and knees together, airborne! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomni Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 Can a M203 grenade really disable a BMP? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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