Media reports on Afghanistan outpost battle were exaggerated

[Trip_Wire]

Commander: Media reports on Afghanistan outpost battle were exaggerated
173rd’s fight not symbol of more violent Afghanistan, says Preysler
By Mark St.Clair, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, July 20, 2008

"The sky is not falling," Col. Charles "Chip" Preysler, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, said Saturday from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Preysler spoke via telephone less than a week after his paratroops and their Afghan allies were involved in a fierce attack at a small post near the village of Wanat. In the July 13 battle, nine of his men were killed and 15 others wounded.

Link:

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63491&archive=true

Link to older article on this battle from soldiers:

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63479&archive=true

 

[car]

"I get emotional about this, you’ll have to forgive me," he said. "These guys have fought for 15 months, and they have fought harder, and I mean this literally, they have fought harder and (had) more engagements, more direct-fire engagements, than any brigade in the United States Army in probably the toughest terrain. These guys are absolutely veterans and they know what they’re doing and they have that airborne spirit and they fought a very, very tough battle and held the ground and did everything they were supposed to do."

I know he sounds kinda dis-jointed in this article, but Chip Preysler is one of the good guyz IMO.

 

[AWP]

I'm kind of laughing here. Some of the COL's assertions may be correct, but he needs to ask his bosses at Bagram about that and why there's a disconnect.