Prelude

June 2012, Afghanistan

The rocky shoreline of the Qargha Reservoir offered a picturesque backdrop for the wedding photos. Staff Sergeant Rob “Coop” Cooper was best man, his buddy Sgt. First Class Tommy “Ratatat” Gunn taking the plunge with Marine Gunnery Sergeant Mckenzie “Mickey” Walters on the warm Thursday evening.

There was a much larger wedding taking place on the other side of the resort hotel, with what looked to be several hundred in attendance. It wasn’t until near midnight before the first sounds of gunfire erupted. Initially, Rob and the guests thought it was just some drunks at the other wedding, but when he looked through night vision goggles, he could clearly see armed men shooting and killing guards.

Leadership instincts took over as the groom and his men quickly got the lights doused and moved everyone to more secure quarters. Three of the groomsmen, including Rob, were Sniper School graduates. They retrieved their weapons from the lockbox in the Hummer and took positions atop the hotel. Because of the relatively short distance the projectiles would need to travel, silencers were affixed.

Slowly the intruders, later determined to be Taliban militants, were picked off by the sharpshooters. When the few remaining figured out what was happening, they fled the scene.

Three months later, for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States, saving both civilian and military lives, Rob and four others were awarded the Silver Star.

A few months after that, it was an ambush that prematurely ended his military career. Caught in a crossfire, Rob caught a round in the knee, sending him stateside, and then discharged with disability pay and a Purple Heart.

With a few months of recovery in store for him, Rob moved back to his hometown of Spencerville, OH, population 2,223, where he settled into an apartment and finally started to work on his goatee, now that he was free of Army regulations.

Six months later, he was working as a Deputy Sheriff, and within a couple of years, was elected Sheriff.