The Aussies lost a national treasure on July 8. Ted Kenna, their last living holder of the Victoria Cross from WWII died. The Living VC Holders of Australia Dinner Club can meet in a small diner now. In most respects, that's a good thing, as it means Australia has managed to not find itself fighting in desperate existential wars since 1945. H/t, Chuck Z.
Next up, two posts with video clips of Canadians and Brits in Afghanistan. Just a disclaimer - if you click through on the LiveLeak videos, the sidebar ads at LiveLeak are *not* worksafe. And there is very un-worksafe "soldiers in combat" language.
First - a little zen for the Redleg soul. Canadian Gunners in action serving their M777s in Afghanistan. H/t, Boq.



Very nice video BTW. Call me shallow but I like them best because they go boom more.
Same for the Brits. Lots of love and respect for the Tommies, or squadies, or whatever they call em these days. Not so much for their senior commanders though.
The Canadians are also standing up, stepping in and throwing down with good effect. They'll need to stand down soon to recover and reorganize for awhile, but that's no slam at them.
I've also heard from some Marines that fought alongside Lithuanians that those guys tend to be "crazy brave". That's about the highest praise Marines can give.
The Poles ain't slackers either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMF1gCmRuJ0&feature=related