Steve Reich had a fastball in the 90's and all the tools scouts look for. The fireballing lefty's numbers in college were staggering, enough so, to star on Team USA. But after just two outings with the Baltimore Orioles, Steve was called back to active duty. He made a deal with the Army...the Army gives him a great education, and he pays the Army back. Steve was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Steve was a helicopter pilot, he flew the MH-47 Chinook, a giant twin rotor helicopter for carrying troops. He loved flying troops into and out of battle. He described it as being the same as being on the winning end of a 1-0 ballgame. On June 28th, 2005, his chopper got the call, troops were pinned down and they needed extraction in the midst of a hot fire fight, or were going to be overrun. The bonds the exist between the ground troops and the extraction crews are some of the most sacred in the military. When you called, they came. Without regard for personal safety, only thinking of the welfare of those they had to get out.
A combat soldier described it...
"From the ground, you would hear the buildup of the beat of the approaching rotor blades.. the heart beat of the dragon.. and, in a minute, it would be safe.. and away."
That day, Major Steve Reich's crew came amidst the fighting, boarded all the American soldiers and took off. His chopper was shot down over the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. 16 brave Americans paid the ultimate price that day for their country.
Today, I remember Steve Reich, Army baseball player, and the 15 other heroic Americans that went down with him.
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