My nephew was in the US AF and probably has that number of confirmed kills in his MO. He was the pest remover so mice, cockroaches, fleas, ticks spiders and other similar stuff. His tours included time in the sand.
4500 confirmed kills?
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Hair Trigger
US Veteran
Col. Tibbets just flew the plane. Tom Ferebee released the bomb. Of course it was really a group effort, and even though Tibbets is the most well-known, the mission commander was actually William Parsons, a Navy Captain and the weaponeer in charge of the device.
I think they can all claim many more than 4500 on that mission.
Yes, a group effort. It usually is.
Pisgah
Member
A quack patent medicine that is essentially Aspercreme with a dollop of hemp oil added.
And Eisenhower just commanded the Allied forces in Europe but never fired a shot. But it was a group effort.
handejector
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He was a Mess Sgt in A-stan. That's 4500 goats.There is an advertisement for Hempvana where a supposed USAF person claims he has 4500 confirmed kills during his service. What a bunch of hooey.
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Then, this really is a pointless thread.
At the golf course near my house, the drunks riding from hole to hole on their golf carts will kill that many beers on a typical Saturday...Is it possible to get that many kills on a golf course....?
...BenMarkham is the real deal
I came across these posts and had to sign in to clear this up. I served with Markham. I don't know about any product he is selling, but he is the real deal. A Bonafide American hero. The numbers of kills are derived from his Silver Star narrative and his official performance reports.
If you recall, there were a few special ops troops that went alone into Afghanistan after 9/11 and led the Northern Alliance and other factions against the Taliban (if old enough, you probably saw them in news accounts afterwards with long beards on horseback).
He was credited in calling in many, many close air support strikes on the enemy (often from just yards away from his position using handheld laser targeting). These strikes resulted in the number of kills (confirmed by strike cameras) listed. Yes, they do count them. It does not mean that he personally killed each, but he sure did his share (I understand that he had a high personal count as well).
I imagine whoever hired him to do the commercial read his bio (or his retirement medal narrative which would have listed his cumulative service as documented in his 30 years of performance reports and multiple deployments). I wrote one of those later medals myself (for other actions). He was always (around me) very modest and did not really discuss his achievements or push for recognition. It was pretty much forced on him. He served about another 20 years after his Silver Star and was a great credit to his service and his nation.
MSgt William C. Markham, Silver Star Medal Recipient
How the 'Horse Soldiers' helped liberate Afghanistan from the Taliban 18 years ago
I came across these posts and had to sign in to clear this up. I served with Markham. I don't know about any product he is selling, but he is the real deal. A Bonafide American hero. The numbers of kills are derived from his Silver Star narrative and his official performance reports.
If you recall, there were a few special ops troops that went alone into Afghanistan after 9/11 and led the Northern Alliance and other factions against the Taliban (if old enough, you probably saw them in news accounts afterwards with long beards on horseback).
He was credited in calling in many, many close air support strikes on the enemy (often from just yards away from his position using handheld laser targeting). These strikes resulted in the number of kills (confirmed by strike cameras) listed. Yes, they do count them. It does not mean that he personally killed each, but he sure did his share (I understand that he had a high personal count as well).
I imagine whoever hired him to do the commercial read his bio (or his retirement medal narrative which would have listed his cumulative service as documented in his 30 years of performance reports and multiple deployments). I wrote one of those later medals myself (for other actions). He was always (around me) very modest and did not really discuss his achievements or push for recognition. It was pretty much forced on him. He served about another 20 years after his Silver Star and was a great credit to his service and his nation.
MSgt William C. Markham, Silver Star Medal Recipient
How the 'Horse Soldiers' helped liberate Afghanistan from the Taliban 18 years ago
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LT S, thanks for the clarification.
I am sorry that such a fine man is, surely due to unfortunate financial circumstances, compelled to sell a product by the product's manufacturer hoping to grow sales by boasting about how many people he, through his efforts, killed in service of his country.
I'm just some guy on the internet, but I thank Markham for his service, and hope that he will soon be financially in good shape.
I am sorry that such a fine man is, surely due to unfortunate financial circumstances, compelled to sell a product by the product's manufacturer hoping to grow sales by boasting about how many people he, through his efforts, killed in service of his country.
I'm just some guy on the internet, but I thank Markham for his service, and hope that he will soon be financially in good shape.
It is sad to see all of the hostility from people that haven't even seen the ad. I just looked it up and watched it. He didn't personally mention kills and said he received, not "won" the silver star. While I think it is sad to see someone with his service record lowered to hawking snake oil on TV, I don't think he needs to be accused of "stolen valor", etc.
BLACKHAWKNJ
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Yes, you do not "win" medals for valor and bravery, it's not like entering a lottery, a 50-50, Bingo, etc.
Reminds me of a more recent politician who passed himself off as a Command Sergeant Major.
"An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team." Patton
Was drummed into my head that constant boasting and bragging is the mark of a fraud and a poseur. Cf all the "studs" I met with their incredible body count.
Reminds me of a more recent politician who passed himself off as a Command Sergeant Major.
"An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team." Patton
Was drummed into my head that constant boasting and bragging is the mark of a fraud and a poseur. Cf all the "studs" I met with their incredible body count.
I'm sure that I've killed at least 4500+ of my own brain cells in my life! That's about the only thing I can be certain of concerning kills.
Larry
Larry
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
One of the first lessons every service member learns is that "I" can do nothing, but "we" can complete the mission.
Without the team the baddest dude on the face of the earth is of very little consequence to anyone, friendly or enemy.
Everyone at the sharp end of the stick knows that there are a dozen other people delivering the stick to where it needs to be and making sure it has what it needs to do the job.
Awards and decorations tell a story to those who know how to read the language. A pretty ribbon might mean demonstrated valor in combat, another ribbon might describe skills or excellence at a particular task, another describes deployment and/or service in a particular campaign or theater of operations. Some are just "been there, done that" stuff.
Couple of years after basic training I ran into my old drill sergeant. When he saw the Purple Heart ribbon on my chest he exploded "(expletive, expletive, expletive) boy! I taught you better than that!" Since then I have always thought of it as the "slow learners award".
Hempvana does not work on me as advertised, and the name does not match what it does to you. There may be some CBD oil in it, (No high whatsoever) but many pain med companies are using the HEMP term to make it sound good. The same with those gummies you can buy at the grocery store. Many people claim that CBD oil actually works for pain; I wish it did for me!
Before I moved to PGH, I lived about an hour NW of here in Beaver County and belonged to The Eagles, Aerie 1342, New Brighton, and a nam vet claimed to kill 23 men. We just came back with "wrecking a deuce & 1/2" with 23 US troops in the back after drinking at Ft. Dix.
Edit to add:
I never saw the ad, but what is in a jar of joint pain cream that makes one kill over 4000 people?
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He was a Mess Sgt in A-stan. That's 4500 goats.
Leaving 4500 grieving Taliban widowers.
Hair Trigger
US Veteran
After the first time I saw the commercial in question, I Googled him. His record is impressive, he was at the tip of the spear.
However, I see his entire record cheapened by how it is presented in the commercial. I know a few guys like him, from Vietnam and all the brush fires since, who have distinguished themselves by their combat actions. To a man, none of them brag about getting whatever award they were given and none of them would have said they "won" it. It isn't a prize in a Crackerjack box or the stuffed animal you get at the fair for knocking down a stack of milk bottles with a baseball. Maybe he saw the commercial as a way to some good money, but I see a guy like him hawking an OTC product like Hempvana as an insult to the kind of warrior he is. He could have made the commercial and never have mentioned his combat record and I'd have thought more of him.
