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Historic NY

(37,449 posts) Fri Oct 23, 2015, 11:56 AM Oct 2015

Soldier Killed in Iraq Raid Belonged to Delta Force

Source: ABC NEWS

The U.S. Army soldier killed in the raid that freed 70 hostages from an ISIS prison in northern Iraq was a highly-decorated, veteran member of the elite Delta Force, U.S. military sources told ABC News.

Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler is the first American combat death in Iraq since American troops returned in mid-2014 to train, advise and assist the Iraqi military to fight ISIS, military officials said.

Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, "died Oct. 22, in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, from wounds received by enemy small-arms fire during an operation," the Defense Department said in a statement, which also noted that he was assigned to "Headquarters U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina." He is survived by his wife and four sons, the Army said.

According to biographical information for Wheeler released by Army Special Operations Command, Wheeler joined the Army at 19 and was just a month short of turning 40 when he died -- a long, 20-plus-year career in combat. In the course of that career, Wheeler earned a stunning 11 Bronze Stars, including four with the "Valor Device" for particular acts of heroism.

http://news.yahoo.com/soldier-killed-iraq-raid-belonged-delta-force-141505104.html

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/soldier-killed-iraq-raid-belonged-delta-force-141505104.html

15 replies

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Soldier Killed in Iraq Raid Belonged to Delta Force (Original Post) Historic NY Oct 2015 OP

Something went awry here. We shouldn't have been TwilightGardener Oct 2015 #1

I think they were probably "security assets", that needed rescue daleo Oct 2015 #10

The story as it stands now is, the Kurds wanted us to do this, and then it turned out TwilightGardener Oct 2015 #12

Thank you. Rest in Peace. n/t jtuck004 Oct 2015 #2

Be honest: he died fighting terrorists who wouldn't be there if the US hadn't invaded frizzled Oct 2015 #3

Sad for the loss but good see we are helping the Kurds 4dsc Oct 2015 #4

We didn't free a single Kurd from the prison. TwilightGardener Oct 2015 #5

The whole story stinks mwrguy Oct 2015 #6

Rubbish! d_legendary1 Oct 2015 #7

Rest in peace MSG Joshua Wheeler DashOneBravo Oct 2015 #8

20 years in combat Jesus Malverde Oct 2015 #9

It makes concrete the notion of perpetual war daleo Oct 2015 #11

The article has to be incorrect DashOneBravo Oct 2015 #15

. LiberalElite Oct 2015 #13

we need to get out of there restorefreedom Oct 2015 #14

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)

1. Something went awry here. We shouldn't have been

Reply to Historic NY (Original post)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 12:03 PM

Oct 2015

engaged in a ground combat mission to free Iraqis. The story went from "we were helping the Kurds to free Kurdish prisoners" to "well, no Kurds, but some of them were from the Sunni Awakening of 2007!" (how would we even know that?) to "hey, we saved a bunch of guys, that's good enough!" We are not getting the whole story on this, but it appears to be mission creep.

daleo

(21,317 posts)

10. I think they were probably "security assets", that needed rescue

Reply to TwilightGardener (Reply #1)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 08:13 PM

Oct 2015

Spies who could spill.

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)

12. The story as it stands now is, the Kurds wanted us to do this, and then it turned out

Reply to daleo (Reply #10)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 08:31 PM

Oct 2015

whoops!--no Kurds in there. We apparently don't know who we rescued--or this is all a giant cover story. But they're really over-the-top embellishing the whole "mass graves dug" and "they were going to be slaughtered right after morning prayers!". God bless this man who died and his family, but I'm getting a Tillman-Lynch vibe from the whole thing. Edit to add: the White House is keeping its distance from the whole story.