Barack Obama bayonet jibe ignores Shropshire hero
A heroic bayonet charge by a Shropshire soldier was today the talk of Twitter – thanks to US president Barack Obama.
The president told Republican rival Mitt Romney that the days of the bayonet were over during the pair's final face-to-face confrontation in Florida last night ahead of next month's US election.
But hundreds of people jumped on to Twitter to take the president to task and remind him of the heroism of Market Drayton soldier Lance Corporal Sean Jones.
The 25-year-old was last month awarded the Military Cross after a bayonet charge across 80m (260ft) of open ground through Taliban gunfire in Afghanistan.
Father-of-two Lance Corporal Jones, of 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Regiment, took the decisive action after he and his patrol were ambushed in Kakaran village, Helmand, in October 2011.
It appeared that President Obama had not heard of the incident when he tried to put down an attack by Mr Romney during their debate last night.
The Republican claimed that Mr Obama had failed to invest in the military and claimed that 'our Navy is smaller now than (at) any time since 1917'.
Mr Obama countered that Mr Romney didn't understand the modern military, saying 'we also have fewer horses and bayonets'.
The exchange quickly trended on Twitter as #horsesandbayonets. Nicholas Augusta tweeted: "Hey @BarackObama Guess you were wrong about bayonets. Bayonet charge in 2011 in Afghanistan" and copied a link to the story
