ONE U.S. SOLDIER KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN BAGHDAD ATTACK (82nd Airborne)

CentCom Website ^ | 6/10/2003 | CentCom

[BagCamAddict]

June 10, 2003 Release Number: 03-06-38 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ONE U.S. SOLDIER KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN BAGHDAD ATTACK

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait -- One paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team was killed and a second injured Tuesday afternoon in a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack while operating a weapons collection point in southwest Baghdad.

The soldiers were evacuated to a field medical facility for treatment, and one soldier later died of his injuries. The injured soldier is listed in critical condition.

The soldiers were manning the weapons collection point when a van with four passengers stopped in a nearby alleyway approximately 250 meters from their location. Two attackers exited the van, and each fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the squad. One RPG struck a vehicle and the other landed short of the soldiers’ location. Eyewitnesses at the scene of the attack said the attackers fled down the alleyway. U.S. Forces increased patrols and searches in an effort to find the assailants.

Names of the injured and deceased are being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.

Coalition Forces are currently operating weapons collection points throughout Baghdad in accordance with the Iraqi “Weapons Turn-in Policy’s Amnesty Period”.

[BagCamAddict]

A total of 183 American troops have now died in Iraq -- including 127 in "hostile fire" -- since the beginning of the U.S.-led war that ousted missing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Since Baghdad fell on April 9, 40 have been killed in hostile action.

A Reuters article on this can be found at One US Soldier Killed, One Wounded in RPG Attack in Baghdad

[ohioWfan]

Please dear Lord, protect these brave American men and women who are still in harm's way. Bind the enemy, we pray, and bring comfort to those families who have lost ones they love so dearly.......

[BagCamAddict]

Oops, that wasn't an excerpt, it was the full press release. Sorry about that. But the ABC news website has an article.

[Radix]

They are killing our Troops at a rate of 1 per day it seems. This is intolerable. We need to take these people a lot more serious, and it is imperative that they take us more serious. We need to take off the kid gloves.

Everytime I hear that one of our Troops has been killed, I feel sick inside.

[Lijahsbubbe]

It's terrible, and it's not receiving the attention of the others killed in action.

I think there seems to be an awkward silence.

[VRWC_minion]

We need to take off the kid gloves

We could rape their women and revive public hangings.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Full is better, and I don't think that site is owned by LA Times or Washington Post!

[Bringbackthedraft]

OK, here is what we do. We take 20 hostages for every American soldier killed. We put them against the wall and we shoot them. If that don't work we find the village the hostiles came from and wipe it off the map. After we do a couple of those they'll understand. Hey, it worked in Czechoslovakia in the early 40's. OK, so its not the American way of doing things. But when you think of it? Nahhhh.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See this:

US warns of prolonged Iraqi resistance as violence flares again

[zxn61]

Yes I agree, I feel sick every time I hear one US soldier has been killed or wounded. I hope something is going to be done.

[Types_with_Fist]

They are killing our Troops at a rate of 1 per day it seems.

It's becoming so routine that even AP isn't carrying the news anymore. They are, however, lamenting the Israeli attack on that Hamas leader.

[BagCamAddict]

I agree. I just didn't want anyone clicking on the excerpt link hoping to find more info or a larger story. In fact, I had initially composed the post using the ABC story, but I knew I could only excerpt it... then when I saw that CentCom had the press release, I used their full release rather than snippets of the Reuters (ABC) story.

[Burkeman1]

There is not much we can do I am afraid. Our troops are in urban environments and no matter what superiority you have in fire power and technology it is pretty easy to snipe someone or fire an RPG from a concealed position and get away.

I think we will continue to sustain these casualties as long as we have a major presence in the cities and are acting as cops. As soon as some sort of civilian government is put in place with an effective police and security force we can pull out to remote bases and just do token patrols.

[Radix]

I do appreciate sarcasm!

[Radix]

Dude,

I just peeked at your profile.

Wasn't Flutie a total sell out after that? I could not believe my eyes when I saw that crap with him and the PIAPS.

[Burkeman1]

I haven't followed or read a thing about him since the Hillary endorsement. He always touted himself as a "conservative" before that.

[Defender2]

"We need to take off the kid gloves." Definitely agree!!!!
I've been advocating the General Curtis Lemay approach ever
since 09/11/01. If they kill 1 of of us, let's eliminate 100,000 of them, if they kill 3,000 of us, let's eliminate
300,000,000 of them!!!! Then those who dare take potshots or terrorists acts against us will learn, Do Not Mess With The U.S. of A.!!!!!!!!

[Norse]

I would have Special forces operatives laid out throughout the city in civilian clothing, perhaps with hoods, some hiding out in buildings in sniper positions, and minimize the amount of visible ground patrols. We need to get Guerilla on these folks

[ellhow]

No can do, remember using uniformed combatants is a war crime that the US can prosecute you for.

[harrym]

My son and my son-in-law are both in a Cal. National Guard unit in Iraq. There is a website for families on the net and here is a letter posted from one of the gals in their unit:
Here's a letter from one of the Sgts. that she wrote to her mom. It explains a lot about what they've seen....

"Greetings from Iraq!

Thought you might like to hear that I’m safe and sound in Iraq. I know that you may have heard of interesting things that happening here, and hope that you haven’t been too worried. Our company has had a few close encounters, and one of our soldiers was injured and is has been sent to Germany for better care, then he will be heading home with a broken leg. He is just fine, but prayers for SPC Justin Anderson are appreciated.



We moved into Iraq a couple of weeks ago, and started running missions from an abandoned Iraqi air force base near Karbala. The trip here was very interesting – a long, two day convoy though the middle of nowhere. Most of the trip is though exceedingly barren desert, and the green, populated swath around the Tigris was a sight for sore eyes. Its obvious that our route has been well traveled by US troops – the MRE litter and empty water bottles strewn along the road is one sure indicator, as are the remnants of Iraqi tanks, trucks, and whatnot. Sometimes its hard to tell what is recent damage and what has simply been lying around for the last twelve years. There is one spot an hour or so from the border that seems to be a large military vehicle graveyard from the first gulf war, as though a large fighting force was attacked on the highway and they simply pushed it to the side of the road and left it in the desert to rust away. I guess it’s a good of a spot as any. As you move north you see more anti-aircraft weapons, tanks, and trucks, all bombed out and destroyed. It’s a sad sight to see, as it is so obvious that they never had a chance. I imagine that many of your average soldiers knew that, and abandoned their posts as soon as they safely – i.e. without fear of reprisals from the regime - could.



The country is obviously very poor, and the contrast between wealthy Kuwait is striking. Immediately after crossing the border – a long ditch in the desert – you pass though a crumbling town with streets lined by people waving, selling AK47 bayonets, and begging for food and water. The people in Southern Iraq like us quite a lot, and are very happy to see convoys move through. Convoy watching – and dodging - seems to be the game of choice among Iraqi children, and it’s been hard on people with kids to see such small children in obvious need. The kids are very cute – they give us the thumbs up and peace signs, and love when we notice them and wave back. We aren’t supposed to give them food or water, or buy from vendors on the road, but everyone does from time to time.



They aren’t as fond of us around here, though. The air base that we’ve been calling home is quite isolated and exceedingly barren. It was, as best we can determine, hit very hard during the first gulf war, and they didn’t seem to have the inclination or money to make many repairs. The base is quite large, and there are planes and ordinance lying around everywhere. They tried to hide the planes in the desert, digging large rectangular berms in the sand, dragging the planes inside, and covering them with cammo net. Sometimes they dumped sand over the planes to hide them – now THAT is a cleanup job I wouldn’t want. By and large, the ploy didn’t work, and so there are lots of destroyed planes lining the desert now. Most of the buildings are a wreck, either a total loss from bombing, or a crumbling mess from looting and neglect. One bit of damage that is obviously from this latest conflict is the damage to the runways – large craters blown in the middle of each runway intersection. Its either a testament to the accuracy of our laser guided weapons or a last ditch bit of sabotage by the Iraqis, an attempt to stop us from using the runways. Engineers have been busy the last few days patching them up, and in the meantime we’ve had a lot of fun tear-assing our trucks around the runways. J Our missions take us to various camps scattered throughout northwestern Iraq, so we’ve been staying pretty busy.



Its not all work, though. The company “occupied” a couple of large hangers and, to the dismay of the local birds who had other plans, made it home. 3rd Platoon, my platoon, only travels in style, complete with generator to power our laptops, DVD players, Playstation, fans, small fridge, lights, and karaoke machine. We even have movie nights, using a movie screen made by taping loads of white paper to the walls and the projector and speakers that every National Guard Company worth its salt should have. Yes, we like our comforts, much to the envy of the regular army units ratting around. Still, the absolute highlight of this base is the LAKE. Yes, in the middle of the desert we get a lake – I looked it up on a map and one point but now can’t remember the name. You geography freaks can look it up – its the smaller of the two lakes near Karbala. Every afternoon we’re not on missions we head down there for a bath, some R&R, and a cold Pepsi from the locals who come by on boats to sell us ice and soda at outrageous prices. The locals entrepreneurs are out in force, though we think the lure of seeing “naked” women – in shorts and t-shirts, the only authorized swimwear - is a draw for them as well. It’s a beautiful lake – even Saddam thought so, as he had a palace on its banks and the rumor is that he spent quite a bit of time here. I now have a bit of marble from that palace. J Its also the source of our drinking water, as the battalion has a water purification company. There is also a laundry and shower unit around, but as the shower water is also the lake water and shower time cuts into lake time, most of us just take soap to the lake and suds up there. I’ve also had lots of fun fighting the omnipresent flies, learning to live with blinding sandstorms (a treat in our drafty hanger, which had its doors blown off) and mastering the art of burning shit – pulling pans from under the latrines, pouring in some diesel, lighting in on fire, and stirring it until there is nothing left. Sometimes, it feels downright biblical around here.



Unfortunately, just as we were getting settled here, we received orders to move to a new location north of Baghdad. Folks that have been there report that it is absolutely infested with mosquitoes, so with me luck in that battle. The company left yesterday; I and three other people stayed to guard a bit of equipment that was left behind. We have 10 tractors in my platoon, and each has two trailers, so every time we change locations a few of us have to make two trips. That has its benefits – I got to make an extra trip to Kuwait and back, which meant that I got to eat a bit of “real” food (an ice cream bar almost made me cry, it was so good) and hit up the PX with a shopping list from half the company. When we went back for our trailers, though, two were missing… things like that can’t be left unguarded in this army, where “acquiring” things is considered a highly prized skill. Needless to say, this time we’re staying to keep an eye on our stuff, which means that a) I get a few extra days at the lake, b) I feel like I’m on vacation – lots of peace and quiet, nobody wanting to bend my ear at all times, time to watch movies, read & work on my tan, etc, and c) I finally have a chance to write a decent letter to all of you! I’ll be heading out in a few days, and will try to drop a line at some point to say hello. In the meantime, know that I really miss you guys! Drop me a line when you can and let me know how you’re doing. Also, send bits of news! We have almost no idea what is going in the world & the war, or what is left of it. At night we can see firefights all around the skyline, but no one tells us what is going on unless it affects our convoy routes. VERY frustrating for a news freak like me. When I get online I don’t have much time to hunt for news, so all interesting tidbits (and red sox updates!) are appreciated.



Big hugs –

Dory"