On October 19, 2001, Rangers from 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, selected as one of the first responders to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our Nation, conducted a daring, low level airborne assault onto an airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan, spearheading the ground operations against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

…I shall defeat them on the field of battle.

Rangers Lead The Way!

(U.S. Army Photo Illustration by Spc. Garry L. McFadden)

4 and served in three campaigns in the Pacific theater -- Guadalcanal, New Guinea, and the Bougainville.

After being discharged from the Marines, he joined the Army and the 82nd Airborne Division in 1947, until volunteering for the new Airborne Ranger companies at the outbreak of the Korean conflict.

In November 1950, after graduating from the first Ranger Training cycle, Ranger Waters, as a member of the 1st Airborne Ranger Company, was sent immediately to war and participated in four major campaigns during his first tour.

In 1953, he again volunteered for the newly formed Special Forces and returned to Korea to fight again. After instructor duty at the 101st Airborne’s Recondo School, Ranger Waters was selected to be one of the early advisors to the Vietnamese Army Special Forces and Ranger Units. He served two tours in Vietnam, always performing those duties in a true Ranger manner.

Ranger Waters’ diverse and distinguished background began in the beaches and jungles of the Pacific and continued until his death. He was truly one of America’s unsung heroes. Ranger Waters, in both civilian and military life, was a prime example of the Motto – “Rangers Lead the Way.”