Ten years ago, the only thing I knew about a company called Blackwater was that they were running around the greater Baghdad area kicking ass while I was in a comfy classroom in Ft. Rucker, AL learning about combat flight tactics. A few years later, while I was finishing up my second tour to Iraq - a viral video surfaced showing an alleged Blackwater sniper laying into the masses from a rooftop in Najaf. Our troops were so restrained in combat at this point that they needed a GOs initials to go take a piss. This unnamed dude was everyones hero when that video surfaced. Several years later, long after I turned in my wings and started playing with toy aircraft; I befriended a former Marine named Travis Haley who became one of my favorite paramotor people. I knew he had done some reserve time and contracting about the same time I was in the Army. We hit if off right away because we could tear up the skies together and then have some pretty intense talks about days past, life over there, etc. I didnt know until a few years after we met, but he was that unnamed badass on the rooftop - kind of a big deal. Now that ten years has passed since that day - that event can be discussed publicly. Take 20 minutes out of your day to check out his story, and understand what he and others like him were up against in those early years in the Iraq war. Ive always known hes a stand-up guy and really fun to hang out with, but knowing about this chapter of his life makes me proud to have him as a friend: oafnation/guests-pieces/2014/4/4/u76dtzypt3opqso3qrqvkmce2gv8ax Heres the original uncut vid: liveleak/view?i=b179350720
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 20:49:09 +0000
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