Godspeed Nate Hardy and Mike Koch
February 21, 2008
In the early hours on Monday morning, an American Task Force took down
a terrorist compound in Iraq. In the ensuing fight, two US Navy SEALs
were killed by small arms fire while clearing one of the buildings -
Chief Petty Officers Nathan H. Hardy and Michael E. Koch.
Nate Hardy, 29, enlisted in the US Navy in 1997 and is survived by his
wife - Mindy, 7 month old son - Parker, parents and brother.
Mike Koch, also 29, enlisted in 1998 and had a fiancée, parents,
brother and sister.
Both Koch and Hardy families have a tradition of service. The Kochs
are vets and contractors (in Iraq and Afghanistan) and Hardy’s
grandfather served with John F. Kennedy on PT-109 during WWII. Mike’s
brother escorted the bodies of the two SEALs back to the states.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Koch, Hardy and SEAL families.
Below is message from an Army Special Forces Soldier “Green Beret”
serving in Iraq:
Chris Hill
National Director for Operations
Gathering of Eagles
www.gatheringofeagles.org
Last Sunday while most of America was enjoying the Super Bowl several
members of our Task Force were commencing an assault on a terrorist
stronghold in Iraq. During the assault two of our brothers from the
Navy were shot and killed while clearing a building that was occupied
by terrorist insurgents. Ultimately, the building was reduced
(precision bombed by aircraft) and all of the terrorists in it were
destroyed by the assault force. Remember these names, Mike and Nate.
They were good men doing honorable work in the name of freedom. The
terrorists they sought to destroy were responsible for unspeakable
acts of evil including the construction of improvised explosive
devices and explosives to equip homicide bombers. For those of you who
may not understand the enemy we face out here let me remind you that
the previous week this group of terrorists took two innocent and
unwitting women, who had Downs Syndrome, rigged them with explosive
vests and detonated them 20 minutes apart in a crowded market causing
several deaths and hundreds of injuries. These terrorists used
innocent people as unwitting vehicles to destroy more innocent lives.
There is good and there is evil in this world. The enemy we face is
evil. Mike and Nate were fighting on the side of good to prevent
further acts of evil that would result in the loss of more innocent
lives. The next time you pray I ask you to thank God for giving Mike
and Nate the talent and skill that made them great warriors and thank
God that he gave them the heart to apply those God given talents to
destroy evil and further the cause of freedom in a land far from their
home. Thank God for men like Mike and Nate. Their work is done here
now, but there are many of us who will honor their sacrifice by
continuing the fight against evil terrorists. They will be remembered
through our actions.
For any of you out there who are doubting the validity of this war and
the evil that resides in our enemy I ask you to study your history
again. Over the last 20+ years dating back to the bombing of the
Marine Corps Barracks in Lebanon, various factions of radical Islamic
terrorists have been committing heinous acts of terrorism against the
free world. We are fighting the same enemy here — the brethren of an
evil ideology that spawned the terrorists attacks of September 11,
2001 claiming almost 3,000 innocent lives. Take time to reflect on the
type of evil that would put explosive vests on innocent women with
Downs Syndrome and use them to kill and maim other innocent people.
While the American media strives everyday to rewrite the history of
the most generous nation in the free world and cast disparity on all
that we do as a nation, men like Mike and Nate are giving their lives
to make sure the real history doesn’t repeat itself. While the
American media strives daily to erase the memory of the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001 and paint this war as an unjust
occupation of a sovereign nation, men like Mike and Nate are out here
hunting down and destroying the enemies of the very freedom that
allows our media to try and discredit us. Terrorism is real, evil is
real, this war is real, and real men and women are in this fight
because righteousness and freedom are worth fighting for.
If you don’t support this war I’m calling you out. I’ve had enough of
people sitting in their living rooms watching the lying media and
jumping on the bandwagon against this war. Don’t ever say to me, “I
support the troops, but not the war.” You might as well be telling me
that I’m committing a crime. You are in effect saying that my cause is
unjust and everything I believe in is a lie. I have held my tongue in
the past, but I will never allow you to have it both ways again. You
cannot support me if you do not support this war. I am this war. It
embodies everything that I believe in. If you believe that what we are
doing here is wrong then you are in effect supporting the evil we seek
destroy. If you believe I’m wrong for trying to stop evil people from
taking more innocent lives then I fear there is no hope for you. If
you choose to dishonor my service and the sacrifice of my fallen
brothers by taking a position against this war, you are free to make
that choice thanks to guys like Mike and Nate, but don’t expect me to
sit idly by and bite my tongue while you do it. Do it in my presence
and be prepared to try to support your feeble position while I
enlighten everyone else on the reality of this war and the nature of
the enemy we face. I will ensure that you look like the fool that you
are.
The stuff I’m seeing out here you won’t see on Oprah Winfrey. I’m
seeing really evil people doing really evil things and I’m doing
everything in my power to stop them. There’s nothing wrong or unjust
about that.
Remember Nate and Mike…
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[...] Gathering of Eagles wrote an interesting post today on Godspeed Nate Hardy and Mike KochHere’s a quick excerpt In the early hours on Monday morning, an American Task Force took down a terrorist compound in Iraq. In the ensuing fight, two US Navy SEALs were killed by small arms fire while clearing one of the buildings - Chief Petty Officers Nathan H. Hardy and Michael E. Koch. Nate Hardy, 29, enlisted in the US Navy in 1997 and is survived by his wife - Mindy, 7 month old son - Parker, parents and brother. Mike Koch, also 29, enlisted in 1998 and had a fiancée, parents, brother and sister. Both [...]
May God bless Mike and Nate and the loved ones they left behind. They are in my prayers and are now part of the soul of our nation.
Thank God that we have been blessed with young men like them.
Chief Petty Officers Nathan Hardy and Michael Koch now walk with God. This nation is blessed with so many brave men and women who are willing to sacrifice for this great nation.
Rest in Peace my Brothers, and thank you for your service and your sacrifice!
God bless Mike, Nate, and their respective families and friends. It is ONLY because of people like this that we have the freedoms we do. I know I’m preachin’ to the choir, but freedom is NOT free. My heart goes out to all of you and you will be in my prayers, as are all of our soldiers, each night.
Finally someone is telling the anti-war protestors and the sorry ass bench warmers that the position of “I support the troops,but oppose the war” is bullshit.Not only that but also,if you get in my face with this bullshit,i’m going to shove it down your throat and put my foot in places you didn’t even know existed.I’ve said all along,When we are ready to shed blood (the blood of sorry ass anti-American,anti-war and weak ass supporters) to support our troops,then i’m ready to confront these traitors.Our troops deserve our FULL & COMPLETE SUPPORT without any conditions.This crap of “I support the troops but not the war” is just that,CRAP.We don’t just need to out number the protestors or out shout them.We need to make them shed blood for what they stand for.And also be willing to shed our own ,just as the ones we support shed thier blood and more to defend freedom and fight terrorism.