Capt. Cole

[RangerCharlie]

Capt. Cole was a wise ol' soul who commanded A co back in the '80's. Where did he go after he left?
Tack you know?
I thought Cole and Hall were a great team and we didn't have the charging attitude after he left.
I remember being on the range do a company live fire when the range caught on fire and range control tried to shut us down and Cole told range control to fu** off, we were there to train and no fire was going to stop us. It made for an interesting I'm up, I'm down, I'm on fire, roll to the right, assault the objective as weapons platoon was laying withering fire down it, just tearing the heck out of the place. The AR was cool as we had people smoldering, soot covered, smoke every where, and everyone was pumped. Cole and Hall was just as dirty as the rest of us as they always lead from the front. I also remember that clothing wouldn't take our BDU's back that had been burnt and Cole had to sign a special waiver for everyone to get new stuff.
God I miss those days.

[Dark Helmet]

Yes, CPT Cole was and is a great dude. VMI grad and avid NASCAR fan. Ranger to the core; a soldier's soldier. Interesting you should bring him up, as I exchanged e-mails with him a few months back.

I saw a post he had made on a BB somewhere and dropped him a "Sir, you probably do not remember me, but I was an E5 under your command, blah blah blah....." I went on to tell him that I acheived a degree of success in the civilian sector, was raising a family, yet longed for the 1/75 "glory days".....

His response took me by surprise. He wrote me a letter telling me that he did indeed remember me (Stacey, how could I ever forget your huge sunburned Irish head?), and was glad I remembered him (like you ever forget a guy like that; how humble is that?). He also went on to tell me that he commanded 2/75 as a LTC for s short stint after the Antelope Island helicopter crash in OCT92 claimed the life of LTC Stauss(?), who had been earmarked to take 2/75 over. It was an assignment that fell in his lap on short notice, and I got the impression he was not there as long as he would have liked. Forget where he is now, but I want to say the 25th ID in Hawaii(?) A great man.

I could go on and on about CSM (I knew him as SFC and 1SG) Hall, as he is a demi-God to me and others I served with. The only senior NCO in the ranger RGT I ever met that commanded more immediate respect than a flag officer and NEVER raised his voice in garrison. I model his leadership style even today......

[Hardrock Charlie]

Good guy, I remember him and I was in "Hardrock Charlie" Co.

Once during JRT, I was on a team that detailed to work with the D. We were in civillian clothes and driving a rented Ryder truck when we pulled into the AO to meet with A Company. Range Control was there too, bitching at us about the civvies and the Ryder. Capt. Cole heard about it, walked over and basically told them to F...k off and that they didn't have the security clearance to even see what kind of equipment we were using, let alone make us get it out of there..

He was (is) a great guy...