Matt Burden at Blackfive is asking for us to step it up and show some support to our soldiers — paratroopers, to be specific — fighting in Afghanistan. Here’s why:

Even though spring hasn’t officially arrived the snow line is beginning to move up the mountains in Kunar and surrounding provinces in Afghanistan. The Taliban have already begun attacking the KOP, Firebases and Observation Points where elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team from Bamberg and Schweinfurt, Germanicenza, Ily, are deployed. Almost 4,000 Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry (Airborne), 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry (Airborne) and 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry were deployed to Kunar and surrounding provinces in Afghanistan in May 2007 for a 15 month rotation. This region of eastern Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush mountains bordering Pakistan has been designated the most dangerous place on earth for military personnel.

This winter has been particularly harsh. Many of the Soldiers are living in mud huts and tents with little or no heat, no running water, intermittent use of generators, supply drops via air to drop zones that require a hike of up to 40 minutes each way in order to retrieve the supplies, 30+ days out on missions at the firebases without showers or daily hot meals before rotating back to the KOP or Camp Blessing for hot showers, hot meals and the ability to communicate with their families and friends.

The Sky Soldiers have trudged through up to seven feet of snow on patrols day in and day out often at altitudes of 7,000 feet and higher. Each Soldier carries between 60 and 100 pounds of gear on these patrols. They Soldier-On each day despite the loss of many friends and comrades and substantially high numbers of wounded. Untold numbers of great Americans have provided amazing amounts of support to these Soldiers during this deployment. Public, private and civic organizations have provided direct support or indirect support.

A recent article by Elizabeth Rubin in the New York Times painted one Platoon of this Brigade in a less than favorable light. The article sensationalized the facts in a negative way, which served only to cause undue stress on the Soldiers and family members. The author failed to mention successes within the Brigade such as substantial humanitarian aid (tons of food and clothes) delivered to local villages, medical care for local children and adults, road projects, clean water projects, training of Afghan National Army personnel, distribution of school supplies, etc.

Historically, spring is a time of heavy fighting in this region as the terrorists and insurgents emerge from their caves after the harsh winter temperatures and snows. Let’s show these Soldiers how much support they have from home to help them through the spring and the remainder of this long and dangerous deployment.

Our paratroopers are in the fight of their lives and they need to hear that America loves them.

Please send an email of support to skysoldiers173rd@gmail.com

Or you can mail cards to:

Leta Carruth
P O Box 100
Cordova, TN 38088

These e-mails and messages are to help boost the morale of these brave soldiers who are obviously doing some incredibly difficult work in Afghanistan, and on top of that, are risking their lives day in and day out. But each day they find the strength to keep going, to soldier on.

Let’s show them that we have the strength to keep supporting them back home, no matter what our traitorous, terrorist-loving media may want them to think.

It will take you all of thirty seconds to send a quick e-mail to say thank you, and if you’re reading this right now, you obviously have internet access. So what are you waiting for? There’s so much we can do to support our troops fighting overseas, and sending an e-mail or a letter is one of the easiest ways. The last time Blackfive asked us to show our support — to Marines in Iraq — so many people responded that the e-mail address had to be shut down due to bandwitdh issues. It doesn’t take much effort on our part; so let’s crash that inbox again, and show them the overwhelming support that we Americans have for them!