How SoA helped US Special Forces save lives and defeat ISIS

Greetings, I hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving. To me, it’s the best holiday in the world. Please watch this terrific video about how Spirit of America helped a US Army Special Forces team save lives and defeat ISIS in northern Iraq. You’ll see why Master Sergeant Aaron Zwosta (US Army, retired) says: “There is no other organization like Spirit of America. I’ve never received that level of support and that sort of timeline in my 20 plus years in the Army. In terms of how people can help, short of picking up arms and joining us hand in hand there’s no better way to support the troops.” Watch the video here. The impact is made possible by your support. Thank you. Please forward this to your friends. I’ve included the transcript below. As always, no endorsement of Spirit of America by the Department of Defense or its personnel is intended or implied. Also as always, thank you so much for your support. Jim VIDEO TRANSCRIPT How Spirit of America helped a US Special Forces team save lives and defeat ISIS in northern Iraq “My name is Aaron Zwosta. I spent 20 years in the U.S. Army. Twelve of that as a Green Beret and Special Forces. And I’m here to talk about how Spirit of America was able to help us during my last deployment to Iraq. My last deployment started in December of 2014 to Iraq to advise and assist the Peshmerga which is the Kurdish arm of the Iraqi army. And our mission was to advise and assist ultimately the defeat of ISIS. My rank was Master Sergeant, I was the team sergeant on my special forces team. In January 2015, ISIS had made a major offensive attempt to seize the oilfields that surround Kirkuk. So it was very chaotic. Fighting took place around the clock. The Peshmerga suffered a significant amount of casualties. Shortly after the attempt on Kirkuk, I was contacted by my company Sergeant Major. He had mentioned an organization Spirit of America and that they were able to provide material support and various other types of support to help us and our local partners. We identified two major needs. We needed GPSs to help to help with the efforts of tracking Peshmerga movements. And we identified the need for tourniquets as there were casualties taken on a daily basis. So really speed was of the essence. Spirit of America got us that equipment in two weeks. Faster than anything I had seen at this point in my career in the Army. When we distributed the equipment I feel, really turned a corner with our relationship with partner forces. I think they felt that we had their back. We were able to see immediate results. There were a lot fewer people dying on the front lines. Without question the tourniquets saved lives This energized the Peshmerga and really turned the page in terms from a defensive mindset to an offensive mindset. It really created a snowball effect. It changed everything. The GPSs that Spirit of America provided helped us better track friendly positions to provide air support when needed. The GPSs were essential in our ability to defeat ISIS in Kirkuk. There no other organization like Spirit of America. I’ve never received that level of support and that sort of timeline in my 20 plus years in the Army. In terms of how people can help, short of picking up arms and joining us hand in hand there’s no better way to support the troops.” Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/ S3LibULU6Xw... and, please forward to your friends.
Jim founded Spirit of America in response to the attacks of 9/11. Prior to Spirit of America Jim was an entrepreneur. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an honorary member of the US Army Civil Affairs Regiment, and a contributing author to "Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military."

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3033 Wilson Blvd.
Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201

Follow Us

No endorsement of Spirit of America by the US Department of Defense, Department of State, or US personnel is intended or implied.

Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 20-1687786

“You don't have to wear a uniform to serve the nation.™” and “Patriotism without politics.™” are trademarked by Spirit of America.

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