3 soldiers killed near Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AP) — Three U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi translators were
killed in two attacks south of Baghdad, the military said on Friday.
Eight soldiers were wounded.
In the worst of the two attacks Thursday, two soldiers were killed
and seven wounded in an attack on their base south of the capital.
The two Iraqi interpreters died in that attack.
The military statement said U.S. forces dispatched a quick reaction
force and attack helicopters to relieve the unit.
In a second attack Friday, the military said, one soldier was killed (Sgt Bowman)
and one wounded (Sgt Whitaker) in a roadside bombing, also south of Baghdad.http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...I did a search for April 13, 2007 in LBN for this.
I wish I could've been here when Eugene brought this to our attention to share this with you guys.
A little background, I was in the US Army from Oct '05- Jun '08 and I deployed to Iraq from Jul '06 to Jul '07 as M915A2 truck driver. At the end of March of '07 I broke my right hand playing basketball at a base near Al-Hilla, thru arguments thru command I continued mission but however at BIAP I switched Convoys to one that was lead by SSG Maertz, I was ready to go but the Assistant Convoy commander who was Sgt Whitaker noticed I had a profile that prevented me from firing a weapon so he himself got into arguments with TOC back in Kuwait to fly me back to base on a C130 to be replaced by another driver. My first day back in Kuwait, there was little work to do as most personnel were on convoys so I was tasked to be the armor's assistant(in charge of the weapons connex). For about a week me and Bowman have gotten to know each other well, he had this book about that investigated that a couple of missing climbers may have been the first to reach the top of Mt Everest, then expressed desire to climb Mt Rainier when we returned home. He also mailed a beautiful anniversary gift of a glass structure with their wedding picture inside of it and it said something in english and arabic. It was beautiful. However there was alot going on that week, battallion was re-organizing the motor pool which meant that the weapons connex was being moved as well and let me tell you he busted his ass providing cover, setting up generators to provide AC and power and was working 24 hour shifts (The other armor was on a mission) to take weapons coming in from incoming convoys. Sgt Maertz mission came back set to go out again the next day. That day which was a Saturday, I was pulling guard on the weapons connex while he was doing mission prep, the last thing Bowman said to me was in a conversation. He said "I don't want to go on this mission." I said "Well atleast you will be able to get some sleep." (In reference to his working 24 hours setting things up. He said "Well yeah, but Dominguez (A jokster - perhaps one of the funniest person I've met) is just going to fuck up everything that I worked on." That was it, then 6 days later on Friday the 13th word came down that we had a KIA, Bowman's truck was blasted by an EFP (significantly stronger then a regular IED) The first thing that set it is considering the lengthiness of the mail system from Kuwait to the US that his wife got the anniversary gift near or after the time of receiving news of his death.
He was truly an overall stand up guy and I wouldn't be saying that just to be saying that. He had a great personality, definately helpful when it comes to anything, and was well liked by just about anyone. When the convoy he was on returned to the base in Kuwait it was very eery, there was fog as trucks were pulling into the movie and our entire task force was walking about to the trucks to ground guide them, pmcs, etc. I swear it was like a movie.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Granite Falls soldier dies in roadside attack
Larry Bowman, a 29-year-old Army sergeant from Granite Falls, died in Baghdad Friday when a roadside bomb exploded near the vehicle he was driving through the desert, officials said.
Bowman, whose convoy was heading back to its Kuwait base, left for the Middle East in July from Fort Lewis, Wash.
Bowman, a specialist with the 513th transportation company, was promoted to sergeant after his death, said Joe Hitt, a spokesperson at Fort Lewis.
He joined the Army in February 2003, Hitt said, and has received various awards including the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
http://www.iraqwarheroes.com/bowmanl.htmYou don't know how much that means to me that you posted this article for other DUers to see. I just however wanted to provide a little bit of background. :cry:
-----------------------------------------------------------
It should be noted that wasn't reported was the best friend I ever had was in the rear maintenance bobtail, he was a driver alongside with a mechanic. They were the truck directly behind the truck that was blasted, he and the mechanic were the ones that had to pull his immediately dead body out of the truck. He is currently in Gulf Port but it has affected him permantly. Let me tell you, while I had a 'friends', whenever someone that he seemed to be disrespecting me, let me tell you he wouldn't let that kind of thing slide and called them on it numerous times while me I typically let things go right away. BTW - this was during the "surge"
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
