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Thomas Gibbons-Neff
@Tmgneff
hasbeen
Joined December 2011
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  • user avatar
    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Aug 23, 2020
    Today is my first day as a correspondent in Afghanistan for the NYT. Twelve years ago I was a 20-year-old Marine patrolling in Helmand Province (year 7 of the war) and weeks away from our flight home. I thought it would be my only trip to the country.
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Aug 25, 2023
    “You don’t understand the nature of this conflict,” Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, responded in one interaction with the Americans, a U.S. official recounted. “This is not counterinsurgency. This is Kursk.”
    U.S., Ukraine Clash Over Counteroffensive Strategy
    U.S., Ukraine Clash Over Counteroffensive Strategy
    From wsj.com
    904K
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Jun 2, 2020
    Army blackhawks are conducting “show of force” passes on protestors. One flyover snapped a tree that nearly hit several people.
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Jan 13, 2020
    “Passed away.” This euphemistic trash is part of the reason we’re still doing this. They were violently killed in an 18-year-old war when their armored vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb.
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    City of Aurora, IL
    @CityofAuroraIL
    Jan 12, 2020
    🇺🇸 ❤️Tonight, the Aurora community mourns the heartbreaking loss of Miguel Villalon, 21. He was one of two U.S. service members who passed away today while serving in Afghanistan. TA former student at East Aurora High School, Miguel was proud to serve in the United States Army.
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Aug 23, 2020
    Replying to @Tmgneff
    At the least, having been part of the poorly managed endeavor that was my war, leaving thousands of Afghans and Americans dead, I feel like it is one of the most important things I have been given the opportunity to do in my short life.
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Dec 6, 2022
    . @n_yermak and I spoke to a Ukrainian soldier who just came off the line around Siversk in Donbas. He was eating his first hot borscht in three months and wanted to show us where he had been living:
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Aug 31, 2021
    .@bdentonphoto found these pictures of my friend Josh Desforges, killed 5-12-10 in southern Afghanistan, and sent them to me today. For a brief a second he was alive again, here, at the end of it all.
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Aug 23, 2020
    Replying to @Tmgneff
    I returned once more as a Marine and several times on reporting stints. I can only hope to tell the story of the Afghan people and the violence they have long endured, their resilience, courage and complexities. And what could be the final act of the US military presence here.
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Jul 9, 2020
    The first woman has graduated Special Forces training since the Pentagon opened all combat jobs in 2016, and she is now a "Green Beret."
    A member of an Army Special Forces unit in 2017 in Afghanistan. The Special Forces are known colloquially as the Green Berets.
    First Woman Joins Green Berets After Graduating From Special Forces Training (Published 2020)
    From nytimes.com
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Apr 3, 2018
    Hard to pull out of Syria when this dude has already deployed the “we’ll be here for five years lawn chair” package. Via @StrategicNews1
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Apr 15, 2019
    “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done.” - Tim O’Brien
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Sep 7, 2017
    There are nearly 900 DACA "dreamers" in the U.S. military. Here are a few of their stories. via @AlexHortonTX
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    The military looked to ‘dreamers’ to use their vital skills. Now the U.S. might deport them.
    From washingtonpost.com
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    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Sep 3, 2023
    Found several miles south of the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium, a volatile frontline in World War II and in 2022. A British .303 round from UK’s lend-lease to the USSR that began in 1941. Cartridge stamped in 1918 at George Kynoch Ltd, a munition plant in Birmingham, England.
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    100K
  • user avatar
    Thomas Gibbons-Neff
    @Tmgneff
    Apr 20, 2018
    Pentagon intel report says a 5-ton truck appeared to move possible chemical weapons equipment away from one of the sites targeted on Saturday in Syria, the day before it was struck.
    Planning for the strike of 105 missiles on three targets — chemical weapons storage and research facilities near Damascus and Homs — took nearly a full week.
    Missile Strikes Are Unlikely to Stop Syria’s Chemical Attacks, Pentagon Says (Published 2018)
    From nytimes.com