"BOB'S" LETTERS HOME - 31 March, 2004
Today starts as yet one more full of sadness in Iraq. We no longer have five of our greatest men. I may have not known them personally but none deserved to die.
I was going out to OP8 with Spc. H, from Support Platoon, when I heard a loud explosion followed by 50 Cal gunfire fired from a truck. I went into X-ray to let Cpt. S. know that we had a unit in contact. He was on it. I left for my post and everything went nuts on the radio.
Bulldog, the engineer unit, called for a sit rep from that convoy: several soldiers were severely wounded. Centurion X-ray pushed Cobra, another element of engineers, Apache, four scout trucks, and the Quick reaction force (QRF) medics went to provide care at the IED site.
The next report was three dead and two expectant, meaning they would not survive. The medics and Centurion tried to get a helicopter in the air to evac, but that got scratched. The military doesn� like to put a bird in the air unless they know the person has a good chance of surviving. Apache swept the northern area to find anything related to the bombing. They found nothing.
The final total was five dead but they didn� go quickly. From the radio I heard their humvee was blown apart. If it was anything like most other IED incidents there wasn� much left of the vehicle. As for the passengers at least two were incapacitated, didn� feel anything, and died in peace. Or not.
All day long missions have gone out to recover the vehicle, conduct searches of the area, and find those responsible for the deaths of innocent men. Cpt. S., First Sg. R. and W. recovered the vehicle. They took three HEMTT�, an M88 and a Low Boy truck. Also we had a Mortuary Affairs Unit from TQ go to the site to recover bodies. That was like pulling teeth from a small child. They couldn� get their trucks to the front gate for about an hour, just way too long. Wolf 4, the Scouts, was waiting as soon as the trucks rolled out the gate. Wolf 4, Sfc. T. (Scout PSG), had four vehicles to escort the mortuary guys. Wolf 1, First Lt D. was already on daily patrols. So it was a packed house.
As the convoys headed to the site we heard another explosion in the distance. It turned out to be unrelated to earlier events. If that IED was directed at Marine convoys no one was contacted. Or, if a convoy was hit, it moved on unscathed. Thank God for that.
"Bob's" Letters Home from Habiniyah (near Ramadi and Fallujah)