By Gregory Glenn Niemuth, for the Chippewa Valley Post
(First of four parts)
May 27, 2005, graduation day for Eau Claire Memorial High School, was sunny and humid. The temperature in Zorn Arena climbed as excited and energized families entered to watch their graduates cross the stage.
James Myren was one of about 400 graduating students. Like every perspiring family in the building, his was pleased and excited to watch him graduate.
But Myren was not a typical high school graduate. He had already enlisted in the U.S. Army and would be heading to basic training soon. In a recent interview, Myren said his post-graduation options were working at a minimum wage job or to “go and do something to make a difference.”
He chose the latter.
His brother had served as a medic, but Myren chose to be in a cavalry unit. Chuckling, he said, “I wanted to feel like a man.”
Part of the 10th Mountain Division
Myren became a member of the 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division based out of Fort Drum, New York – the 3-71st Cavalry.
He would ultimately become a member of the unit tasked with building a Combat Outpost (COP) at the end of a “road” and at the bottom of soaring mountains in Afghanistan, in a region full of Taliban. It was an area frequented by terrorists crossing into the country from Pakistan.
That post would become a Taliban target, the subject of a 2012 Jake Tapper book titled The Outpost, and the site where, in 2009 after Myren’s tour of duty was finished, two men would perform acts of heroism detailed in the Netflix series “Medal of Honor.” One of those Medal of Honor winners, Clinton Romesha, detailed the battle in his 2016 book Red Platoon.
Like those two men, Myren wants the public to know what troops experienced, and what conditions were like, during his tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Late arrival
“I actually caught up with my unit late,” Myren said.
They had already been there for a couple of months when he arrived in Afghanistan on May 5, 2006. At Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, Myren climbed aboard a Black Hawk helicopter for his first-ever chopper ride.
Myren reached his unit shortly after a helicopter crash had claimed 11 lives, including two members of his platoon. Myren was one of the replacements and was immediately subjected to the usual rookie treatment. But it was very real now and the new guys learned fast.
After half a week the platoon started pushing south toward Kandahar.
Two-week mission stretched out
“Our two-week mission to Musa Qala (in Helmand Province) became an entire summer, May to…August,” Myren said.
His cavalry unit was accompanied by an infantry platoon. One day, while doing reconnaissance, they encountered “a lot of heavy contacts” and the day became “a disaster.”
Myren’s unit and accompanying infantry were taking enemy fire from two different directions as the enemy was “trying to flank us. I was gunning on the truck, dismounting and dropping off ammo and water to guys throughout the day.”
Apache attack helicopters arrived, along with an A-10 Warthog jet overhead to provide air support for the ground troops.
“. . . just an airshow”
“To the average person it’s just an airshow,” Myren said. “[We] took a break and watched the Hellfires (laser-guided missiles launched from the helicopters) open up in front of us.”
When a missile hit less than 30 yards from his Humvee. Myren found himself eating dirt – “that’s [from] some friendly fire, too!” he laughed.
That battle almost destroyed the entire town of Musa Qala.
Myren recalled that it was a town of “mud huts, no power – no electricity. Desert. Meat hanging in 100-degree weather and people bought it. Such a primitive area still.”
Officer seen in a new light
After this battle Myren saw one of his officers in a new light. He had known Lt. Ben Keating all summer because Keating was the platoon’s executive officer – the XO.
“You never expect an officer to get down and dirty,” Myren said. “Watching this guy come trudging out of that [fight] sweaty and all beat up from it all, it’s like a new respect I never had for him.
“He was in his late 20s. He didn’t hang with us but he fought with us.”
All photos in this series have been provided courtesy of James Myren.
Note: the second part of this four-part series will be posted on Thursday (Feb. 28).
Gregory Glenn Niemuth taught English and journalism at Memorial High School until his retirement last year. Myren was a student in his English 12 class in 2004-05. Niemuth recalled that he sent a large box of paperback books to Myren while his former student was stationed Afghanistan, but “I’ve never asked him if he did much reading there. . . .”