A story with a happy ending! This nineteen-year-old ex-cheerleader (now an Air Force Security Forces Sniper) was watching a road that led to a NATO military base when she observed a man digging by the road. She engaged the target (i.e., she shot him). Turned out he was a bomb maker for the Taliban and he was burying an IED that was to be detonated when a US patrol walked by 30 minutes later. It would have certainly killed and wounded several soldiers. The interesting fact of this story is the shot was measured at 725 yards. She shot him as he was bent over burying the bomb. The shot went through his butt and into the bomb which detonated; he was blown to pieces.
The Air Force made a motivational poster of her:
Here's another side of the story: Snopes Teachers: This is a great example of not accepting the written word for face value. In your classroom, do some brainstorming on stories that newspapers, websites, TV, magazines, etc. tell us are true. Have students research the results and verify whether they are in fact, true, false, or contain insufficient evidence to make a determination one way or the other.
Too bad that they didn't circulate her real story - which is truly inspiring! Reminds me of the Kalat statue emails - which drive me crazy!
ReplyDeleteGreat teacher recommendations, too!