| Immediate response saves life of fellow soldier after improvised explosive device detonates. |
| By U.S. Army Spc. Brian Schroeder 10th Mountain Division |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 21, 2005 Before a deployment, soldiers learn how to react to situations that arise in combat. Two soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division were able to successfully apply the skills they learned to save the life of their platoon leader. U.S. Army Spc. Henry Adames and Spc. Joey Collier, both part of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment reconnaissance team, went out on patrol. Just like any other morning, Collier was behind his weapon in the turret and Adames behind the wheel.
That morning Adames said they were joking with their platoon leader, 1st Lt. William Reynolds. Adames said a comment was jokingly made about Reynolds's multiple encounters with improvised explosive devices. "We thought it was funny that (Reynolds') vehicle always gets hit by [improvised explosive devices]; not just his convoy, but his vehicle, too," he said. "He could be riding in another vehicle and nothing would happen, but that one vehicle would always get hit." While they were patrolling their sector, a call squawked over the radio saying that B Company of the battalion was attacked by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive devise. Adames got word, and he began making his way towards the site. Upon arrival he noticed several casualties and learned that a medical evacuation by helicopter was soon coming. "Everybody moved into the area to help B Company" he said. "While we were helping B Company, we were talking about how it takes less time to just pick up your casualties and take them to the emergency medical support location than calling in a helicopter for evacuation." Once the situation was under control, the platoon decided to stay in the area to look for more possible improvised explosive devices. Collier said he noticed an object behind a freshly cut tree. Reynolds and 1st Lt. Jeff Adams, a platoon leader with 1st Battalion, 156th Armored Regiment, decided to get out of the vehicles to conduct a closer inspection of the object. "The two platoon leaders dismounted the vehicles and they were going to go look for wires around the object," Collier recalled. They checked the side closest to the road and decided to go down into the field to check the other side. Once they got down into the ditch the [improvised explosive devices] just blew. "When it blew, I got knocked back into the turret by something that I wasn't sure of at the time," he continued. "The smoke cleared and I saw the two lieutenants lying on the ground. I got out of the turret and called on the radio to our battalion headquarters to tell them we'd been hit. I instructed Spc. Adames to go help the lieutenants." Adames recalls Collier falling into the humvee and almost instantly telling him to go take care of Reynolds. |
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"I pulled 1st Lt. Adams out to the side of the road," Adames said. "I couldn't see 1st Lt. Reynolds because of all the smoke, but I saw that he fell on the side of the road in a hole. He yelled at me to get him out of there. They say there is no way Lt. Reynolds could stand up, but I swear he was standing up to get out of the hole. He gave me his arms and I pulled him out of the hole." As soon as the two lieutenants were pulled aside, Collier said he noticed an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier was approaching their location. Collier waived them in and they loaded the injured soldiers into the vehicles. Collier said, because of time constraints, he decided to take the injured platoon leaders directly to the field hospital rather than call a helicopter for medical evacuation. "I was going to call in for a helicopter evacuation, but it would take too long," Collier said. "I decided to make the call and take them directly to [field hospital] where they could stabilize them there." When the soldiers were loading their injured platoon leaders into the M113, Adames said he noticed something strange about Collier; he had taken shrapnel in his hip and arm from the improvised explosive device blast. "When Collier came out of the humvee, I saw that he was having trouble walking and I thought he was hurt," Adames said. "When we got to [the field hospital], Collier was yelling "Take care of my LT!" I saw he was bleeding from his shirt. I thought it was blood from 1st Lt. Adams, but he was actually bleeding. He lifted up his shirt and I put my hand over his wound. One of the volunteers came up and took him away to treat him." The next day, Adames and Collier went to the hospital to visit Reynolds. Adames said that upon seeing Reynolds, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't feel right until I saw 1st Lt. Reynolds the next day," he said. "The best thing is that those two guys are alive." Adams is home recovering in Louisiana. Reynolds, a Rochester, N.Y. native, is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and recently sent an e-mail to Adames and Collier thanking them for their bravery and courage that day. Reynolds wrote that he would not be alive if they did not react to the situation as they did. "When a buddy of mine got hurt, I had to help him," Collier said. "We do anything for each other because we are such a tight unit." |
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