Posted on 09/23/2007 7:46:56 AM PDT by paulat
Unexploded Rocket-Propelled Grenade Impales Army Private in Afghanistan By RUTH REISS
[snip]
One RPG skidded past Lt. Mariani's vehicle. All of the vehicles had to quickly get out of the "kill zone." But before they could get to safety, two rockets hit Pvt. Moss' Humvee.
Staff Sgt. Eric Wynn, 33, the soldier in the front passenger seat, felt one slice through his face. Moss remembers the truck practically lift up. He was thrown up against the Humvee and then moved to return fire.
"I smelled something smoking and I looked down ... and I was smoking," he said.
Wynn turned to tell Moss where to fire and saw the tail fins of the RPG sticking out of Moss' side.
Roughly the length of a baseball bat, an RPG travels at the speed of a bullet. At the front end is the warhead -- a large grenade. The detonator and fuel are contained in the shaft. On the back are its fins, pieces of metal that stick out like legs on a camera tripod. The RPG is the weapon of choice for many of the world's guerillas.
Luckily for Moss, the company medic Spc. Jared Angell, 23, who the soldiers call "Doc," was in his Humvee
[snip]
A Human Bomb The RPG that had plowed into Moss' lower abdomen stretched from one hip to the other. If the RPG went off, it would kill everyone within 30 feet of him. Yet Angell stayed close, bandaging his wounds and stabilizing the weapon so that movement wouldn't cause it to explode.
Moss was still fully conscious, so Angell ordered him to not look down at the injury. He didn't want Moss to panic.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Thanks for posting, I’ll add this one to my YGBSM file.
Aonther point, if you think prayers for the troops are wasted, think again.
“Heartwarming Soldier Hero” Ping! (Unusual ping, but it’s a must-read.)
Several soldiers involved with saving Moss have since been honored or promoted. Here are their current ranks and awards they have received.
Maj. John Oh, general surgeon — The Soldier’s Medal
Maj. Kevin Kirk, orthopedic surgeon — Army Commendation Medal with Valor
SSG Eric Wynn and Pfc. Channing Moss — Purple Heart
CW3 Jorge Correa, MEDEVAC pilot, and Sgt. John Collier, flight medic — Air Medal with Valor
CW2 Jeremy Smith, co-pilot, and SSG Christian Roberts, crew chief — Air Medal
Sgt Jared Angell, field medic, and SFC Dan Brown, explosives expert — Bronze Star with Valor
*APPLAUSE*
Dang. Just dang.
FYI prayer ping. It’s worth it to go to the link and read the entire article. Please reply to paulat
Thank you so much, Guenevere. The video is AWESOME!
Unbelievable. Thank you so much for posting that link to the video.
Thanks for the correction. I remember the kick the Marines got out of firing an M-79 round into the ground beside my foot.
Damn funny. I can still hear myself laughing, maybe not. I didn’t care what the Marines told us at Camp Pendleton about the round rotating to arm itself. I got on my gunboat and left, knowing that if I got killed it would be by a Vietnamese, of course the boat crew was Vietnamese so it was a sure thing. I could get it coming or going.
Dear God in Heaven, thank you for our brave fighting men and women! “The same can’t be said for our politicians.” You are so right - there are quite a few people in our country who don’t deserve our soldiers.
Yeah, those Marines do have a sense of humor don’t they?
Didn’t realize you’d served. Hope my explanation of fuzes didn’t offend.
This whole thing on fuzes reminds me of my days back at Benning. During training on the LAW, they told us that the fuze wouldn’t arm until 10 meters (more or less, I’m getting old). That evening on NBC, there was a reporter claiming fraud on the part of defense contractors building the LAW. The dufus claimed that the LAW should kill any tank to 300 meters and he’d seen LAWS bouncing harmlessly off tanks at less than 5 yards. Just my first step to being a sceptic on anything military on TV.
God bless them all. I’m not surprised. We have the BEST who did their best.
Nana
Amen. I was moved to tears.
True American heroes. God bless our military,and their families.
Read this blurb about John Oh without a lump in your throat, and love and pride in your heart, if you can:
"Oh got married this past May. Although he could leave the Army and make a nice, safe living in private practice, he says he expects to spend the rest of his career caring for soldiers. This past June he was shipped back out to the combat support hospital in Baghdad and is expected to be there for a year. He says that no amount of training could have prepared him for the situation he encountered on March 16,2006. "I think it's just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And we just happened to have...a whole crew of extraordinary people helping us that day." (John Oh)
That is some story!!
The story is the main story. But I am very surprised by this positive story from ABC. I did note the following:
“A year later Moss is home with his family and the new baby daughter, Ariana, he thought he would never meet. Despite the aches and pains, he is grateful for the risks so many soldiers took that day.”
Did ABC sit on this story for a year? I’m just curious. Still, it’s better late than never.
There is a video on You Tube of either Brits or French infantry firing a what looks to be an anti-tank weapon.
Its great. The projectile comes out of the tube with no velocity. It falls right at their feet. I think the camera crew outdistanced the infantry guys.
Amen.
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