You might remember back in December when I posted an article about Raise the Black. Raise the Black is an organization near and dear to my heart, and run by my former teammates. As for what they do, here are the CliffsNotes:
The primary missions of Green Berets, what we do best, are Unconventional Warfare and Foreign Internal Defense. In fact, those are two sides of the same coin. The first, in simple terms, means we start an insurgency. The second means we stop one. So the first would be used against an enemy government, the second would be for a friendly government with problems at home. So early on in the Iraq war, Special Forces was tasked with creating a Counter Terror unit capable of hostage-rescue level operations. Not long after, the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force or ICTF was born.
The result was stunning. After extreme vetting, candidates were put through an intensive training and selection process that rivals anything in the world. The men that came out the other side were hard as coffin nails and lethal like rabid cobras. I had the privilege of fighting with the ICTF in some of the darkest days of the Iraq war, and they were never found wanting. Night after night, mission after mission, they poured into the breach. They paid heavily in casualties but broke the backs of Al-Qaeda and the Mahdi Army.
In 2011, U.S. forces left Iraq thanks to our president Barry. The ICTF was one of the only truly functional units in the Iraqi military, which would soon be apparent. A few years later, as ISIS crossed the western desert, the regular army shattered. Regiments abandoned defensive positions in the face of ISIS, often without firing a shot. Only one thing stood between the proclaimed caliphate of ISIS in Baghdad: 300 weary and bloodied members of the ICTF and Commando Battalion.
SEE ALSO: Clay’s Call to Action: Donate to ‘Raise the Black’ to Benefit Fallen ICTF Soldiers
It was enough. Despite horrific losses at levels rarely seen in the modern world, the ICTF held like a stone wall at Fallujah. At a city we ourselves fought for more than once, the ICTF stopped ISIS in its tracks. Fallujah would become the high water mark of the caliphates advance. Slowly, with massive U.S. support and the eventual election of Trump, ISIS would be pushed back and destroyed. But our best allies in a generation would pay with 70 percent killed in action, an irreplaceable loss.
Which brings us to the point of today. Raise the Black has set out to raise money for the Gold Star families of the ICTF, something that should have been done by our government or Iraq’s. But just like you trust FedEx over the Post Office, this is something that will only get done with private funds. Raise the Black has two items that are priceless up for auction and they need help spreading the word.
First up is one of RTB’s own flags, with a twist. Not only was Raise the Black selling items back here to raise money, during the fight they were shipping them over for free to the troops to raise morale. The story on this particular flag is such:
This ‘Raise the Black’ flag was flown in June of 2017 on combat missions aboard a United Kingdom’s MQ-9 Reaper, Tail 4133 of the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron located at Ali Al Salem AB, Kuwait in support of operations by Iraqi, American and other Coalition forces as they prosecuted the war on terrorism.
Also up for grabs is an authentic ISIS banner, captured in Mosul by a 19 year old U.S. volunteer. Reading the entire story is worth clicking over to the auction sight.
This captured banner is an amazing piece of world history. Captured in the July 17 neighborhood of Mosul, Iraq; this large banner is an outstanding example of the brutal hardships that the Iraqi, American, and other Collation Forces faced in the war against the Islamic State. The banner is a thick PVC like material and measures approximately 5 feet by 5 feet.
Needless to say, you won’t find these one-of-kind items for sale anywhere else and the money goes to a fantastic cause. Please help spread the word and let’s get the party started. If this doesn’t end in a bidding war between Raytheon and Boeing, I am going to be disappointed.
The auction is being hosted on MiseryIncorporated. Misery is a business between Bryan from RTB and a former Navy Corpsman Billy Overin. Check out Misery’s other items while you are there.
Clearly there is a misunderstanding of the concept of acquiring such a “war trophy” as the ISIS banner. I’ve served in the Army/Army Reserve for nearly 40 yrs now. I enlisted in 1978 at 17 and am now a CW4 in the intelligence field. Been to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and a couple other shitholes. Warriors have always taken war trophies going back thousands of years – weapons, slaves, valuables, clothing – hell, knives and forks! Anymore the only things we can take and keep are banners and flags (assuming the general doesn’t want it). I most certainly would pick up and save such an item as the ISIS banner if I had just kicked their ass and COULD take it. Haven’t any of you ever played “Capture the Flag?” I’m pretty surprised by some of the comments I’ve read here, particularly by those claiming to be former military. Maybe this is something only those with the warrior mentality can understand.
actually ISIS was defeated by the same man who killed UBL, defeated Al Qaeda and kept America safe for 8 years, the #1 all time killer of Islamic extremist terrorists in human history, President Barack H. Obama, not dotard trump.
history is cool.
revisionist history shits on the graves of patriots.
Revisionist history appears to be something you’re good at. ISIS still controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria when Obama left office. If we hadn’t abandoned Iraq in 2009 in order to fulfill a campaign promise, there never would have been a power vacuum which led to further sectarian violence which led to ISIS/DAESH having an easy time rolling into Mosul and much of northern Iraq. Many initially welcomed them as liberators from Shia oppression.
Mattis is the real brains behind what defeated Daeshbags. And you’re completely ignorant if you believe Al Qaeda is gone. They’re all over the place. Afghanistan, Yemen, and many other places. UBL’s son is rising in the organization, and the organization is happy. Just because the mainstream media is largely ignoring this story doesn’t mean it has gone away.
But you’d rather spit out anti-Trump rhetoric than face the reality of the dangers this world is facing. Battling extremists isn’t a sporting event where you pick sides.
👏
In the real world where reality reigns supreme, Barack Obama and his Secretary of State Clinton rolled over in bed and went back to sleep while the US Embassy and Ambassador Stevens was slaughters.
Obama and Ms Clinton also tried to pretend Bowe Bergdahl was a returning war hero, when the fact is, he was a traitor, a coward and many soldiers got mortally wounded looking for him when he willingly and purposely DEFECTED to the enemy.
As a soldier myself, you are clueless and indoctrinated. My best advise to you is simple, TURN CNN OFF and sanity will return.
This thing is a rag. I only want to get it to burn it! It looks like it’s going to a good cause, but damn I’d burn that thing good and have me a damn party!
I have to agree with the other comments already posted. I wouldn’t want to own that rag. ISIS is not a army. It is a terrorist. organization.
Or ‘all’ proceeds will benefit the US/Israel-sponsored terrorist proxy army?
Any of you ever stop to ask ‘why’ the guys who supposedly “did 9/11” were removed from the Terrorist Watch List by the US State Dept?
Any of you ever ask ‘why’, with that removal, the US government THEN SUPPLIED the same people who supposedly ‘did 9/11’ with trucks, weapons, supplies. etc?
Any of you ever ask ‘why’, now that Assad and Russia finally defeated the US/Israeli proxy army ISIS, there is now a “growing threat of al Qaeda acts of terror this summer in the USA”? I thought these guys were OFF the Terror Watch List – and ‘all was forgiven for 9/11’?
Any of you EVER ASK WHY the US military is actively committing Acts of Treason – ‘aiding and abetting’ US-terrorist forces in the M/E?
Naaaaaw. Too deep of questions. Like NONE of you could identify the supposed ‘bumpstock 5.56 so-called ‘Vegas Shooter Paddock used?
Except those recordings CLEARLY indicate a 7.62 belt-fed weapon’s cadence and sustained ROF.
And you WONDER WHY your 2nd is sooooo threatened?
Stop believing the lies. Stop being so gullible
PS: And since ‘ISIS’ suddenly rose up from the desert floor, armed, trained supplied ( 50 TONS of US Air Force ‘misdropped’ supplies….. “oooops. Our bad!”)…..
EVER ASK YOURSELF WHO THE HELL MADE THESE FLAGS FOR THEM?
Oh. I forgot. All these FACTS are a ‘conspiracy theory’, right? Better to mouth some senseless CIA-coined term (created when people started asking questions with JFK’s murder) than to face the truth.
The only reason I would buy this would be to go on Al Jazzera TV and take a dump on it before I burned it.
All proceeds will benefit the US/Israel-sponsored terrorist proxy army?
Any of you ever stop to ask ‘why’ the guys who supposedly “did 9/11” were removed from the Terrorist Watch List by the US State Dept?
Any of you ever ask ‘why’, with that removal, the US government THEN SUPPLIED the same people who supposedly ‘did 9/11’ with trucks, weapons, supplies. etc?
Any of you ever ask ‘why’, now that Assad and Russia finally defeated the US/Israeli proxy army ISIS, there is now a “growing threat of al Qaeda acts of terror this summer in the USA”? I thought these guys were OFF the Terror Watch List – and ‘all was forgiven for 9/11’?
Any of you EVER ASK WHY the US military is actively committing Acts of Treason – ‘aiding and abetting’ US-terrorist forces in the M/E?
Naaaaaw. Too deep of questions. Like NONE of you could identify the supposed ‘bumpstock 5.56 so-called ‘Vegas Shooter Paddock used?
Except those recordings CLEARLY indicate a 7.62 belt-fed weapon’s cadence and sustained ROF.
And you WONDER WHY your 2nd is sooooo threatened?
Stop believing the lies. Stop being so gullible
PS: And since ‘ISIS’ suddenly rose up from the desert floor, armed, trained supplied ( 50 TONS of US Air Force ‘misdropped’ supplies….. “oooops. Our bad!”)…..
EVER ASK YOURSELF WHO THE HELL MADE THESE FLAGS FOR THEM?
Oh. I forgot. All these FACTS are a ‘conspiracy theory’, right? Better to mouth some senseless CIA-coined term (created when people started asking questions with JFK’s murder) than to face the truth.
Cool story, bro. ISIS/DAESH was Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and Baathist remnants from Saddam’s regime.
That’s a lot of money for what amounts to toilet paper.
I’m not military–but I can see how someone might put monetary value on something like this–lord knows how highly coveted authentic war items are that are captured from the enemy from other wars. That said said–my very first thought was also “burn it” since it symbolizes a degree of evil even Hitler’s sickest death camp administrators would be shocked by. At the same time I can also see the value of recognizing the sacrifice that it’s capture symbolizes–and the effort to make good come from evil, so I think this is a good idea (as if my opinion mattered).
I might do something instead like do a “go fund me” campaign for donations advertised on-line for donations–Clay’s story above in itself is very inspiring–and use the funds for his cause. I would then have a ceremony where the families of the warriors who paid the price–as well as civilian victims in the countries that ISIS invaded–could come and have a ceremonial “execution” of the flag–done in a manner similar that ISIS favored and posted on YouTube.
Good morning my friend,
To your point of GoFundMe, we have done fundraising for travels and Raise the Black projects in the past. They were very successful and actually what allowed our company to exist. In the end, we can only ask people to donate so much. This is why we have started the clothing companies. We wish to be as self-sustaining as possible and limit the need for fundraising – saving the fundraising for higher priority RTB projects if needed.
To the point of burning as it relates to fundraising, this auction can be looked at from many perspectives: historical, donation, veteran, etc. If someone wants to support us by buying the flag or banner and doesn’t really care for the product, that’s cool. If they want to buy and burn it, that’s cool. It’s up to the bidder. Point being, they get something for supporting us.
Hope this helps clarify any questions or concerns.
Cheers,
Bryan
As a Marine veteran, I’m quite dismayed that an item representing such horror and repugnancy is being, of all things, auctioned off as if it is a valuable collectors item. In my personal opinion, for what it’s worth, if I won that item, the first thing I’d do was burn it to ash – ISIS should be destroyed and forgotten. Collecting “mementos” just keeps the movement “alive”. I’d rather have the American flag that was raised in Mosel, for example.
To me this ISIS “pennant” is no different than a Nazi flag or North Vietnamese flag from the Vietnam War era – both represent hatred, death, and cruelty. Why would anyone want to have any of these memoirs of horror and destruction? IMHO
L. R. Muth, LCOL USMC-Ret, 3rd MARDIV
Well, for one thing, it is a memento of the triumph over the “repugnant” group. Nazi and North Vietnamese flags were not being brought home to be celebrated for any other reason but this.
Yes, I would rather have a flag that was certified to have been flown after the defeat of ISIS in that town, but would be proud to have this. It is no longer representing ISIS, but the personnel who fought and, in some cases, died to remove it from ISIS hands.
Ron,
Thank you for your support!
Respectfully,
Bryan
RTB Cofounder
Also as a Marine veteran, keeping war trophies is nothing new. The Old Breed brought plenty of rising sun flags and swords back from the island hopping campaign, and every conflict in between. For that matter, there is a huge picture of Muqtar Al Sadr in my old team room. I ran through a hail of gunfire to grab it off a light poll, because it was the best one I had ever seen. Its a memory of fighting the Mahdi Army, not a tribute to Mookie.
HAHAHA I totally remember that, bromigo!
Dear Mr. Muth,
To each his own.
If you are dismayed, you could bid to win the item, support the cause, and burn the banner. The point being, as a veteran, we look to continue our support for our partnering forces. The fact that the very people literally fighting for their counrty wholeheartedly support this auction renders your opinion mute as it isn’t about you, it is about them. The only difference between this and doing a blank fundraiser is that people get something. What they wish to do with it in the end is up to them. The idea that by selling an original item, we keep the ISIS movement alive is absurd.
As to your point of the flag raised over Mosul. Yeah, who wouldn’t? As the others have said in response to your comment, this banner no longer represents daesh as the US flag risen over recaptured Mosul doesn’t represent America, it represents the unity of countries aimed at defeating evil once again. The fact that the ISIS flag I own was given to me by an ISOF commander as a show of camaraderie due to the events that transpired in the capturing of the flag speaks to this very point. It doesn’t represent the regime; it represents their destruction.
Cheers,
Bryan
RTB Cofounder