A friend of mine recently completed his 8 years of service in the US Army. During part of that time, he was deployed to Afghanistan and did everything from routine patrols to providing support for special forces. He told me a bit about working with Gurkhas, and the essence of it was "Don't fuck with Gurkhas, don't piss off Gurkhas, don't even joke around with Gurkhas," in a way that suggested a mix of respect and a slight touch of fear. Hearing that tone of voice from someone who nonchalantly mentioned the time he shot a 40mm grenade
through an insurgent who was pointing an RPG at him and laughed about the fact that he was lucky the insurgent's incompetence allowed him to get a shot off first really says something.
Oh, and one Gurkha recently received Britain's Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for repelling a Taliban attack and saving several lives
BBC News - Gurkha who repelled Taliban attack gets bravery medal
Quote:
For more than a quarter of an hour, alone on the roof, Acting Sgt Pun fought off an onslaught from rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s.
In total, he fired more than 400 rounds, launched 17 grenades and detonated a mine.
At one point, when an insurgent tried to climb up to his position, his rifle failed and he resorted to throwing his machine gun tripod to knock him down.
Acting Sgt Pun, who is originally from the Nepalese village of Bima, believed at the time that there were more than 30 attackers.
Local villagers later told him the figure was more likely to have been 12 to 15.
Recalling the incident, he said: "As soon as it was confirmed [they were] Taliban, I was really scared.
"But as soon as I opened fire that was gone - [I thought] 'Before they kill me I have to kill some.'
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Not exactly the kind of person I would want to piss off.