Raul Rico

## Raul Rodrigo Rico

### Affiliation

United States of America Army, 101st Airborne Division, 501st Infantry Regiment, Ajax Company,

## Physical description

### Gender

Male

Lieutenant Raul Rico is an officer in the 101st Airborne Division and recipient of the Medal of Honour.

### Life

Rico was born into a Mexican family in Austin, Texas in 1993. All of his family returned to Mexico shortly after his birth except for his mother who refused to leave Texas. Rico and his mother moved to Fort Worth and she found a job as a waitress. Rico joined the military as soon as he turned 18.

After completing basic training, Rico was assigned to the 501st Infantry Regiment in the famed 101st Airborne Division. During training Rico had attained the Corporal rank and was assigned section leader. Around this time Rico began dating his girlfriend and moved in with her in Austin.

### Afghanistan War

Rico was deployed to Afghanistan as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom XII-XIII in December of 2011. Rico and his men fought Taliban insurgents for several months in the province of Khost and Paktia. Rico and his men had stumbled into a minefield whilst on a patrol and were ambushed by Taliban insurgents and 6 of Rico's men were killed in action from Taliban mines and small arms fire. Rico managed to gather the survivors and escape and the following day returned with the rest of Ajax Company to flush out the remaining Taliban soldiers and disable all the mines. 2 more of Rico's men were killed during a Taliban car bomb attack on a checkpoint whilst Ajax Company was in Khost province. This now meant that all the men Rico had arrived with from the USA had now been killed. Within a week they were replaced by new recruits. Following his tour in Afghanistan, Rico was promoted to Sergeant.

After returning home, Rico found that his girlfriend had cheated on him and moved in with her new boyfriend. She also claimed ownership over Rico's car and dog. Raul Rico moved in with his mother in Fort Worth and began dating his childhood friend. He got married to her a year later.

### Deployment to Poland

Now a jaded and veteran soldier, Rico was deployed to Poland as a part of the NATO intervention in the Warsaw Crisis. Rico was made platoon sergeant in Ajax Company, 2nd Platoon. Many of his men have commented that Rico was a much more competent and charismatic officer compared to Lieutenant de Graaf. Despite Rico now being deployed with completely new men, he was still able to keep close relationships with them all.

### Battle of Lubartow

The 101st Airborne was assigned to the southern front of the Warsaw Pocket during Operation Bastion and the 501st Infantry was deployed on search and destroy missions in the metropolitan area of Lublin. Ajax Company was ordered to enter Lubartow and crush any rebel resistance. A local baker secretly provided information to NATO, telling them about a small SWR force in Lubartow. As Ajax Company approached Lubartow, they engaged by heavy mortar fire from the suspected SWR forces. Rico took 2nd platoon on an offensive from the west of the town but the intelligence provided by the baker had been false and in reality a garrison of 3,000 strong resided within the town. 2nd platoon was now cut off from the rest of Ajax Company and Lieutenant de Graaf refused to retreat as he believed that if they retreated not only would they all be killed but also that the SWR troops would escape into the countryside and cause problems for the rest. As a result, 2nd platoon were forced to dig in whilst pinned under heavy mortar and machine gun fire with 2 being killed during the four hour debacle.

2nd platoon were informed that the rest of Ajax Company had been more or less wiped out with around 70 injured and 20 killed. The two other platoons had withdrawn and were set to return from HQ in around 6 hours. As night began to fall, the amount of mortar fire decreased and eventually stopped, as did the machine gun fire. However in the middle of the night, a small squad of SWR troops had sneaked up on 2nd platoon's foxholes and killed 3 men before being wiped out. Following the start of this engagement, the mortar fire and machine gunfire began again and Rico and his men were subjected to around 7 hours of constant fire. Lieutenant de Graaf was killed during the barrage and Rico assumed command. Instead of remaining static, Rico sneaked his remaining men through the dark and away from the town. The men crawled through open fields in the pitch black and Rico had saved his men.

### Świętokrzyski Bridge

Ajax Company was sent to participate in the Siege of Warsaw and were ordered to defend Świętokrzyski Bridge from Republican troops which were suspected to launch a counterattack. Ajax Company arrived at Świętokrzyski Bridge and pushed back a Republican force. Rico and his men began setting up defences on the bridge before being pinned down from counterattacking Republican troops. Swarms of Republican troops assaulted the bridge at a very vulnerable 2nd platoon. Rico and 2nd platoon were only equipped with their rifles and machine guns and lacked anti-tank weapons. Retreating from the defences on the bridge would mean 2nd platoon would be massacred in addition to leaving the main city exposed and due to this 2nd platoon was forced to defend their exposed positions. After hours of fighting, several tanks appeared on the other side of the bridge and began shelling their position.

Elements of the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade had arrived and now 2nd platoon appeared destined to be wiped out completely.. Whilst under heavy small arms fire and shell fire, Rico retreated by himself to retrieve anti-tank infantry weapons and helped destroyed four tanks that were shelling his exposed position at the entrance of the bridge. The 12th Battalion of the Line arrived following this incident and relieved Ajax Company and the 501st. Following the battle, Rico was once again the sole survivor in his section and also his platoon. Replacements soon followed however, but Rico was left feeling hopeless and lonely. If it wasn't for Rico's heroic actions, his men would have been defeated at Świętokrzyski Bridge and the main city of Warsaw would have been vulnerable from a potent Republican counterattack.

Due to this heroism, Rico was awarded the Medal of Honour. When President Trump visited the Warsaw Pocket, he awarded Rico with the medal personally. Rico was also given another promotion to Lieutenant.

Rico was nicknamed "Iron Man" by President Trump and later in a tweet called him his "very own mad funny Moniker".

   Rico continued to be stationed in Poland, helping patrol Warsaw with his men and defeat the remaining Republicans and other guerrillas. He is still there today.

### Trivia

Rico's dog is called Panteres, named after his favourite soccer player.

Rico is a life long follower of the Dallas Cowboys, an American football team.

In high school, Rico was the captain of his soccer team and was scouted by Real Madrid. He was given a contract offer but failed to respond in time because he was busy making rat soup with his friends.