In an effort overcome Gov. Romney’s foreign policy positions during the debate, Obama tried to demonstrate his military prowess by claiming there are fewer bayonets in use now than there were in 1916.
The president’s intimation was that we have moved beyond bayonets and the kind of fighting associated with it.
The problem — bayonets are in higher use now than they were in 1916. Moreover, a soldier who used one of those bayonets to lead a charge amid a hail bullets in Afghanistan is being honored with Britain’s Military Cross.
Corporal Sean Jones, 25, of the 1st Battalion of The Prince of Wales Regiment, says he and his fellow soldiers were ambushed and trapped in a water-filled ditch in October 2011. Under heavy fire “from three different points,” Jones says it was clear he and his men needed to do something quickly.
So Jones ordered three of his men to “fix bayonets” and he led them in an 80 meter charge into enemy fire. While charging, Jones also carried a grenade for which he sought a target.
The charge seems to have startled the enemy fighters, all of whom eventually fell back and ceased their attack.
The citation given to Corporal Jones says he demonstrated “unflinching courage and extraordinary leadership in the face of extreme and tangible danger.”
God bless our soldiers and Britain’s soldiers. And especially those soldiers who rout with the enemy with a bayonet.
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