Posted on Apr 1, 2016

Conversations With History - General John Abizaid

SGT John " Mac " McConnell

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Happy Birthday to General John Abizaid. Born April 1, 1951. Abizaid was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry upon graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Class of June 1973. He started his career with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he served as a rifle and scout platoon leader. He commanded companies in the 2nd and 1st Ranger Battalions, leading a Ranger Rifle Company during the invasion of Grenada. In 1983, he jumped from an MC-130 onto a landing strip in Grenada and ordered one of his Rangers to drive a bulldozer like a tank toward Cuban troops as he advanced behind it—a move highlighted in the 1986 Clint Eastwood film, Heartbreak Ridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Abizaid

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LTC John Mohor

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Nice post. If memory serves me the Soldier that drove the bulldozer was actually a heavy equipment operator attached to the Rangers for this mission. The Soldier had just completed his fifth jump in Airborne school so this combat jump was his 6th "cherry" jump. A heck of a way to earn your combat jump wings. There's a really good book out called The Fourth Star , Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army by David Cloud and Greg Jaffe. The four Generals were GEN John Abizaid, GEN George Casey, GEN Peter Chiarelli and GEN David Petraeus. It was copyrighted in 2009. It was a really good book covering the years these four served just after Vietnam. Well worth the read.

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