A little Monday evening heroism

It's difficult to tell for sure from the current press accounts, but it sounds like amidst the hot battle today in Tarmiyah the medevac helicopters performed with great courage.

According to their accounts, at least one car — and possibly others — rigged with explosives was driven on a kamikaze mission at dawn into the concrete outer barriers around the Army base, a former Iraqi police station taken over by American troops late last year.

The blasts ignited stored fuel, they said. Soon, parts of the base were ablaze and under gunfire, but the size of the insurgent force was unclear. It also was not known whether the militants suffered casualties.

U.S. helicopters evacuated wounded soldiers from the compound — located in the center of the town of more than 20,000 residents — while the fight raged, according to the local accounts. By nightfall, U.S. troops had cordoned off streets around the post.

I know they train for this, I know it's their duty, but, with all the recent helicopter downings, coming in under fire into an unknown situation with an unknown number of assailants to evacuate the wounded really does deserve mention.

We'll probably never know who these men and women were, but still, they deserve mention.