Wednesday Hero: Cpt. Kent G. Solheim

It was another hot day in July. Life was being lived as if nothing was happening, nothing was more important than getting to the beach, the barb-e-que, the shopping mall; but not so for an Army Captain and his team on the 27th of July. No, they were geared up for a mission that no one noticed, but one mission that would change the lives of millions of Iraqis. The mission: Operation VOLCANO II.

Operation VOLCANO II was an operation with the desired outcome of capturing (or killing) a senior leader of the Mahdi Army, Mukkie's insurgency which is still run by Iran. This is a bunch of crazy Shi'ites located in Karbala, Iraq. Cpt. Solheim's team and he "fast roped" into their Area of Operation (AO) and quickly set up their position near the target building.

While we were out swimming to relieve the heat, they were faced with a situation where they were three cubed in between some of the meanest insurgents in Iraq. As soon as they hit the ground, they found themselves cubed. A vicious attack against the American Forces persued. Those cretons were using rocketpropelled grenades (RPGs) and AK-47s. It was necessary to call in the air support to eliminate these scumbags, because...well, besides the fact they are the enemy...it was a very fierce fire fight.

Though the air support relieved them of most of the cretons, many did manage to remain hidden beneath the dust from the assault force's helicopter. They were to the north of Captain Solheim and his unit.

MORE OF THIS ARTICLE BELOW:

Hometown: Oregon City, OR.
Awarded: Silver Star.
Interview: June 18, 2008 — ABC (935 KB).
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The insurgents started to target one certain area of soldiers, so Captain Solheim swiftly and aggressively managed to move his team over to their area for reinforcements. He did this to protect those soldiers who were deleaguered and trapped.

As he did this, he took note of an armed creton with an RPG less than ten meters from him. Without regard for his own safety, he charged this bastard, shot and killed him. This action alone saved many American Forces just in time.

At this time he turned his sights on the building and realizing his troops were in imminent danger from insurgents, Captain Solheim left himself exposed to the enemy once again so that he get better positioned to act as a cover for his team. Now he was in place to limit the enemy's attacks on his team and himself.

But the fight was still going, they do not give up that easily. The only mistake they made was thinking that Captain Solheim and his team would! One of those creeps tried to sneak up on him with an AK-47. He WAS a Mahdi Army soldier, but that was the last day he would hurt or intimidate anyone else. Captain Solheim made a split second decision as he turned to see him there, and he fired at his weapon at him, killing him. Unfortunatelly, however, this creton did manage to get off one final round of his AK-47 which caught Captain Solheim in his legs and back.

"Thanks to Captain Solheim's selfless and heroic actions, dozens of American lives were saved. His actions demonstrated how he placed the lives of his men over that of his own, earning him the Silver Star."

That's my kind of Hero! Thank God he lived through this. I pray his injuries were not so severe as they sound. Do you like to know more the people who are risking it all so that you can do the things you choose to do? Would you like to become a part a messanger?

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives
so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday.
For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes,
They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for all that you do. Even the telephone operators who think they are doing nothing, if it were not for you, how would I find anyone? And let us not forget those who are seldom remembered by the public...the families who sacrice too. I have no words to let you know how grateful I am for your selflessness other than a simple 'Thank you'. God bless you all. ;)

Cross-posted @ The Talon.

Update: I have been writing what I thought to be the Wednesday Hero blogburst, but it appears as though I have been mistaken. While it is true that I post my hero articles on Wednesday, they are not the one specified by the blogroll. I would like to offer my sincere apologies, I am wrong. I will continue to write in this fashion, but not under the guise of Wednesday Hero. I will, however, begin to write the proper Wednesday Hero! I don't give up that easy! ;)