I Met a Hero Today

I Met a Hero Today


Specialist Kelso



I met a real live hero today. Actually, I met him 2 months ago when I first arrived, but today I really found out about him. He is truly a hero, an American Soldier. He is a medic with Charlie Med, which is the medical unit with us in Afghanistan. Charlie Med is like our sister unit. They take care of the non surgical, day to day medical problem, kind of like an Acute Care office. Anyway, his name is Specialist Kelso. He is 24 y/o. Joined the military in 2006, he had his first deployment in May, 2007 as a medic. Medics, by the way, are often called “doc” by the soldiers whom they take care of out in the battlefield. He was one of 20 men from Second Platoon, part of the 173rd (More about the 173rd later). They were in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, often referred to “As the Valley of Death”. By the way, what brought this conversation on was the fact that his group found the Kevlar (helmet) and ammo pouch of a fallen comrade in that valley. There is a book about 4 Navy Seals on a mission in Afghanistan, called the “Lone Survivor”, by the one survivor, Marcus Luttrell. Their mission was in 2005. The Kevlar and ammo pouch belonged to one of those Seals that didn’t make it. His first deployment was in that valley were the battle had taken place 2 years earlier. The book is great and I highly recommend to anyone who wants to read about one man’s incredible survival ordeal during their battle with the Taliban. Anyway, back to Kelso.

At age 22, then PFC (Private First Class) Kelso spent his first deployment in this 6 mile valley where they built a FOB. His story is amazing. They had to build their own hesco walls with picks and shovel. They didn’t have any tractors or bulldozers there at that time. They often were in firefights with the hescoes only half filled. There were times in which he would have to duck behind the half built wall because a firefight broke out. In fact he told me that he was involved in over 450 firefights during his 13 months there.

One time PFC Kelso was manning the guard tower. He heard a swish go by and a RPG landed to his right about 20 meters away. He didn’t worry because he thought the guy shooting it was a pretty bad shot. The next swish landed about 15-20 meters to his left. The Taliban were just getting their barrings. The third landed in the sandbags just below him. This sent a piece of shrapnel making a gash through the side of his Kevlar. Luckily, he only had some minor scrapes.

One of his best accomplishments was one of his first casualties that he had taken care of. This soldier is a friend of his who was blown out of his humvee by an IED. He eventually became a bilateral amputee, but Kelso told him at the time that he was taking care of his friend that would he would be able to stand at his sister’s wedding. 9 weeks later his friend stood at his sister’s wedding.

Vanity Fair did an article on this unit I believe in 2008 called “Into the Valley of Death”. ABC’s Nightline did series of documentaries on them, not sure when exactly. There is a movie coming out this summer about their tour. Trailers can be found at www.restrepothemovie.com.

I saw part of the Nightline documentary. The Army had blown up some houses after they were fired upon the night before. There were some injured civilians that the Army took care of. The film shows a couple of elders of the village complaining to the soldiers about the damage and injured, and who is going to pay for it and what amends the Army will make. If you want to get mad, SPC Kelso told me that later on they found out that those 2 elders were actually Taliban and a few months later they actually ended up killing them both. Lying is almost second nature here. Sure is hard to fight a war when you don’t know who the enemy is and don’t know who to trust.

I am glad a I had the privilege to have met and be able to work along with one of our true heroes. Makes me glad to be here and help our country.




By the way, on a lighter note, my wife sent me an Easter basket. It was a complete surprise to me. I am sure it is a surprise to her that I would actually allow a picture of myself with the mask. Got to enjoy life each day that God blesses us with it.

Happy Easter

Tom