2004 Man of the Year

I've decided to name Brian Chontosh the A Large Regular's 2004 Man of the Year.



His actions in battle compare favorable to those of Alvin York or Audie Murphy but for whatever reason - Chontosh's story and deeds were never really played up in the media. Here's what he did

While leading his platoon north on Highway 1 toward Ad Diwaniyah, Chontosh's platoon moved into a coordinated ambush of mortars, rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire. With coalitions tanks blocking the road ahead, he realized his platoon was caught in a kill zone.

He had his driver move the vehicle through a breach along his flank, where he was immediately taken under fire from an entrenched machine gun. Without hesitation, Chontosh ordered the driver to advanced directly at the enemy position enabling his .50 caliber machine gunner to silence the enemy.

He then directed his driver into the enemy trench, where he exited his vehicle and began to clear the trench with an M16A2 service rifle and 9 millimeter pistol. His ammunition depleted, Chontosh, with complete disregard for his safety, twice picked up discarded enemy rifles and continued his ferocious attack.

When a Marine following him found an enemy rocket propelled grenade launcher, Chontosh used it to destroy yet another group of enemy soldiers.

When his audacious attack ended, he had cleared over 200 meters of the enemy trench, killing more than 20 enemy soldiers and wounding several others.

I am in awe of Marines like Brian Chontosh - Semper Fedelis!

Yes I'm aware that he actually did this in 2003 but the Marines honored him in 2004 and I'm honoring him now.