THE BASTOGNE HERALD
Issue Four
A collaborative work of the 506th IRRU S-2 Intelligence Team
The Bastogne Herald will be reissued every month. It will include articles on turning points in campaigns, extraordinary events, or interviews from individuals. Future issues will also be longer than this one. The purpose of this is to further narrate the story of the 506th IRRU, and any feedback to that end is very welcome. Let us know what you'd like to see covered in future issues, and we'll do our best to accommodate.
Operation Thunderstorm: Aftermath
The situation on Malden has since stabilized but the future of the island nation is uncertain. Former militia and soldiers who had fought to depose the dictator’s government are now in control, and tales of graphic retaliation have surfaced among former LOTN families. Families of dead ROMN soldiers (ROMN suffered more than 2,000 casualties in the conflict) have been unable to claim the remains of their loved ones from mass graves located across the island for anything less than a year’s worth of income.
The economic situation has yet to stabilize and shortages of food and medicine are growing to extreme levels despite UN assistance. President Antonio Perez is calling for any aid of any kind from anyone willing to provide it. Several UN agencies have sent workers and supplies, but the Malden authorities say it is not enough. So far, the major contributors of aid have been the United States and China, the latter working to restore its reputation after evidence showed it may have been backing the PRNA on Napf where a nuclear weapon was detonated, killing thousands.
Political enemies of President Perez have been arrested, and some rumors abound of executions of local family patriarchs and matriarchs who had sided with General Aguilar and fought with LOTN. LOTN militias have reverted back to their local gangs, but have taken military-grade hardware with them. Protests and riots were reported in the capital of Le Port, where families of fallen ROMN soldiers and wounded ROMN soldiers have demanded equal access to the aid that has been arriving in the nation. Police and government militia used water cannons, teargas, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
“Our country has seen its greatest crisis. We will persevere through it. Elections to replace murdered or traitorous officials are soon set to begin,” President Perez said over national television.
Elections are reportedly rigged heavily in Perez’s favor, with no one who had served in the deposed Aguilar interim government being allowed to run for office or vote. A group calling itself 'Malbanos for the Future' has given a statement: “Many of us who served the dictator were forced to, many had no choice. And many others took no part in the fighting, some sided with the democratically elected government. Still we are persecuted, we urge President Perez to hear us, let our concerns be heard.”
The restored government has not yet given comment on the electoral situation, saying it was focusing on restoring basic amenities and rebuilding infrastructure. Included is the need to rebuild Malden’s armed forces. The American task force has reportedly destroyed 95% of Malden’s military potential, 100% of its aircraft and helicopters are destroyed and all its patrol boats and customs boats were sunk or scuttled by their crews. The vast majority of its prized armored vehicles were also destroyed, and thousands of weapons were either captured by the Americans or seized by paramilitary groups.
President Perez announced that he is honoring the Americans who died on Malden with a plaque on top of the now renamed hill overlooking Le Port, where an American squad of troops broke the back of ROMN’s defense of the capital while taking concentrated armored, small arms, and mortar fire.
“The United States saw the injustice and treacherous barbarism that befell our good people. These men fell to stop our descent into darkness. As such, I commemorate this to be known as Stand Alone Rock, in honor of the men who fought and died for democracy and liberty.”
The new name for the hill is derived from the English translation of the motto of the 506th Infantry Regiment: Currahee, the Cherokee word for ‘stand alone’.
Flatline: Task Force Bravo 01-18
After the first assault on the island of Malden, Task Force Alpha was able to easily gain a foot hold onto the island to allow other Task Forces to push in and clear the Northern most part. However, Task Force Bravo was about to experience something entirely different. As they crested the hill heading towards their first objective they began to engage the forces of ROMN. As Task Force Charlie blocked any reinforcements from the south, Task Force Bravo only had to focus on the enemies in the Airfield.
As they were approaching the outskirts of the radio station, the men began to hear voices over the radio. Some heard: "This is [inaudible], there are multiple rockets in the sky, don't know where its going, is it friendly?" Next thing they notice, there were multiple loud explosions. As they looked around many men were either severely wounded or died immediately due to the impact. A total of 20 men were KIA from the MLRS after the BM-21 stationed at the airfield had opened fire.
However, this didn't stop the determined men in the remaining squads. The remaining half platoon, along with their platoon sergeant and task force commander, continued the assault, and took the radio station just in time for reinserts to arrive. We took the time and asked a couple of the members what was going through their minds after the enemy IDF, and what made them decide to keep moving?
SSG Bieniak (Was billeted as Havoc 2-1-B FTL, and was the acting Squad Leader during the mission):
"2-1 had a four man team which included myself, 2 TL's, and an AR that pushed and cleared the radio tower initially. That was right after I already heard the news about the entire platoon being devastated.
It was all instinct and sticking to the mission, especially when you hear that all of your friends are either dead or severely wounded. When the radio tower was captured, my squad and 2-2, who was led by SSG Alexander [now 2LT Alexander], just worked with each other and kept pushing and supporting each other...
It was one of the most fluid operations as a Squad lead I have ever had, even though more then half of the platoon was destroyed.
The hardest part of the entire mission for myself was, preventing myself from just running back towards our wounded who were over 1 KM out, and still completing the mission."
Havoc 2-2 had to move as a 6 man squad. Undermanned, Havoc 2-2 continued to push along with Havoc 2-1 to assault the radio tower, and establish somewhat of a base for the wounded, and established security while wounded. Here is a perspective from a FTL in Havoc 2-2, SGT Chance [Now Ssgt Chance]:
"The operation started off well, [we] were at a very fast pace like usual, in front of the pack and no looking back; that was probably the only thing that kept us alive. We arrived at our second position overlooking the radio tower and the airfield, and was then ordered to push towards the radio tower as the assaulting element. We had managed to be about half way from our over watch position and the radio tower, until I heard the crash of the artillery. Before I knew it -- I blacked out. Soon I was awoken by SSG Alexander, which who was the Squad leader of Havoc 2-2 at the time. My past instincts of being a medic kicked in and I began to take action, awakening the medic along with all of Alpha but one who had KIA’d. However bravo did not fare the same, they had all KIA’d but one. While all of this occurred we were still tasked with the objective: to take that radio tower.
As I re-consolidated along with what was left of Havoc 2-2, we started to pushed towards the radio tower. The pain was throbbing and many of us were very close to bleeding out.
It was bad that we had to push up a hillside with limited support, under enemy fire, with six men (3 from alpha and 1 from bravo along with the squad leader and the medic). We managed to take the radio tower along with what was also remaining of 2-1, and established a base at the radio tower, until the re-inserts arrived. During that time we had to tend to our wounds and fight off the enemy reinforcements coming from the airfield. It was shocking that I, and everyone else that survived in 2-2 did not go unconscious, and bleed out on that hillside."
SFC Garcia (Havoc 2 Platoon Sergeant):
"My first goal was trying to get everyone back up that we could. To that end I ordered everyone to pop smoke and tend wounded. We held the position for approximately five minutes while fighting off ROMN reinforcements from the east. When we had saved as many lives as possible I ordered 2-1 and 2-2 to push as quickly as they could to the radio tower and try to secure that objective, with the remainder of 2-3 and 2-4 supporting them. That was the only way we could establish a foothold, and a place to wait for reinforcements.
They worked together extremely well and accomplished that task. I was very impressed with my men at this junction - they took the worst IDF hit I had ever seen and still took the first objective. We formed up inside the walls of the tower with 2-3 and 2-4 providing support and 2-1 and 2-2 starting to push down towards the next objective. At no point did I allow them to slow down - we were undermanned but we were still combat effective. After we began to move towards the next objective the reinsert birds arrived. This was approximately 20 - 25 minutes after the initial IDF hit. The men of Havoc 2 performed incredibly during this time, and should be commended for it."
Hopefully you've enjoyed these additional articles narrating our story. Any feedback, suggestions, or material for future articles should be sent to SFC Garcia via PM.
These published documents are the fictional works of the S-2 Intelligence Team of the 506th IR Realism Unit.
