Monument honors U.S. 'horse soldiers' who invaded Afghanistan
By Alex Quade, Special to CNN
updated 8:03 PM EDT, Thu October 6, 2011
Editor's note: Freelance war correspondent Alex Quade spent nearly 18 months in Iraq and Afghanistan covering U.S. special operations forces on combat missions, including for CNN.
Demossville, Kentucky (CNN) -- The U.S. special operations teams that led the American invasion in Afghanistan a decade ago did something that no American military had done since the last century: ride horses into combat.
"It was like out of the Old Testament," says Lt. Col. Max Bowers, retired Green Beret, who commanded the three horseback teams.
"You expected Cecil B. DeMille to be filming and Charlton Heston to walk out."
Bowers spoke while sitting in the rural Kentucky studio of sculptor Douwe Blumberg, along with three of his former "horse soldiers."
They, along with 30 fellow commandos on horseback, are the inspiration for a new monument that Blumberg is creating, dedicated to the entire U.S. special operations community.
The statue is scheduled to be erected across from the World Trade Center site in New York on November 11, Veterans Day. The artist rounded up these "horse soldiers" to share their personal stories and mission photos as inspiration for the 18-foot, bronze monument.
"It was unbelievable in 2001," Master Sgt. Bart Decker says to Blumberg.
Decker, the team's Air Force Special Operations combat controller, who is now retired, sports a Fu Manchu-style mustache. "We all looked at each other [and said] 'We're witnessing a cavalry charge!' " he said.
Blumberg listens in awe to the elite fighters in his art studio. He says he felt compelled to sculpt the monument after then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld first held up a photo of these special operations forces on horseback in northern Afghanistan during a 2001 news conference.
"The image, I think, typifies the special operations mission of get the job done, however you have to do it, adapt, overcome," the artist tells Bowers and his fellow fighters.
That image has also captured the imagination of Hollywood blockbuster producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who's making a movie based on the mission as told by Doug Stanton in his New York Times best-selling book, "Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan."
Blumberg learns that the inspirational photo was shot by one of the "killer elite" sitting casually in front of him in his art studio.
The horse soldiers' stories
"If we wanted to move, horses were the only way," said Master Sgt. Chris Spence, the team's communication sergeant, who serves with 5th Special Forces Group. "Nobody will believe this! (So) I take my camera and (shoot) that photo."
Bowers points at that famous photo, explaining to Blumberg: "The Afghans and intelligence officers (CIA) are clotted up in front together, and all our guys are spread out in a wedge behind them."
article continues ...
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/06/us/afghanistan-horse-soldiers-memorial/index.html
A little poetic justice in the choice of source here, N'est ... ??? hehehehe ....
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