Posted on 06/08/2002 6:39:43 PM PDT by HAL9000
ZAMBOANGA CITY — A wounded soldier recalled on Saturday a heartrending sight moments after the bloody battle with the Abu Sayyaf bandit group near the town of Sirawai in Zamboanga del Norte on Friday.
Gracia Burnham, wearing a black sweatshirt and gray trainer pants, sat slumped on the forest floor beside a hammock amid heavy rain, crying silently beside her dead husband, Martin Burnham.
"Martin lay prone beside her," Army Scout Ranger Rodelio Tuazon told the Agence France Presse beside his hospital bed here.
"She knew he was dead."
Martin had apparently tried to protect his wife up to the last.
According to the account of another soldier, when troops reached them on Friday afternoon, Martin's bullet-covered body was "covering" Gracia.
"He was determined to keep Gracia alive," Lt. Col. Reynato Padua, commander of the 1st Scout Rangers Battalion, told INQ7.net in a satellite phone interview.
Tuazon recalled Gracia asking, "if we got Sabaya," referring to Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya, who has acted as spokesperson for the ruthless bandit group in the missionary couple's 376 days of captivity.
Tuazon asked her "if he is the long-haired one," referring to a dead bandit whose blood-spattered remains lay nearby.
"No, in the green tent," Gracia Burnham told him.
Tuazon checked the tent, but it was empty except for an abandoned M-16 assault rifle.
The bloody operation in Barangay Sipawak on the border of Sirawai and Sibuco towns in Zamboanga del Norte resulted in the death of Martin and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap, as well as four Abu Sayyaf rebels. None of the four have been identified.
The Burnhams were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at the Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan when they were abducted with several others on May 27, 2001. All the other hostages were released after reportedly paying huge ransoms. Two hostages were beheaded, one of them an American.
Tuazon, himself wounded, noticed that the 43-year-old mother of three was bleeding from a leg wound, and he applied a tourniquet.
The first military unit on the scene attempted several times to administer intravenous medical aid on Gracia, but the rain foiled their best efforts.
In the end, the soldiers radioed their base to ask for medical evacuation, and five soldiers carried Gracia to the top of a nearby hill where troops had secured a landing zone.
Tuazon, whose own foot was fractured by a grenade explosion, was one of seven soldiers who received medals from Army Chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu in recognition of their role in the operation.
Padua said he was positive it was not soldiers' fire that killed Martin and Yap.
The small Scout Ranger team that figured in the clash with the Abu Sayyaf were using "single fire" tactics to avoid hitting any of the hostages, he said.
"We did not use automatic weapons to avoid any indiscriminate firing. We had snipers and we were very selective with our targets. That's why we are very sure the hostages were not hit by us," Padua said.
Padua was with a team of Scout Rangers and Marine contingent that left Basilan island for Zamboanga del Norte on May 27 after receiving intelligence information that the Abu Sayyaf had left Basilan with their three hostages.
An encounter on May 29 "confirmed the presence of the Abu Sayyaf," Padua said. He said the team caught up with the bandits at Barangay Sipawak.
The soldiers found the bandits putting up their hammocks on a mountain slope. Numbering about 30, the bandits had split in two groups. A bigger group was guarding the perimeter while the "main" group was higher up in the mountain.
The Burnhams were "sandwiched" between the two groups, while Yap was held by the larger group at the perimeter.
Padua said Abu Sabaya was in the main group.
He said the soldiers did not immediately attack upon sighting the bandits.
"The operation was planned very carefully, with sketches on the ground. The safe rescue of the hostages was the priority," Padua said.
He said two factors worked in the troops' favor: the terrain and the weather.
"They were on a slope and it was raining. That is what we call Ranger terrain and Ranger weather," Padua said.
He said the Abu Sayyaf were also in a "relaxed mood as they were preparing for the rains and were setting up their hammocks" when the Rangers moved in.
When the smoke cleared, seven soldiers and one militiaman were wounded. Of the wounded, two were snipers.
Padua said the recovery of the hostages has simplified their mission.
"It used to be rescue and annihilate. Now it's just annihilate," he said.
Telltale signs
A pair of slippers, a ball pen and dozens of footprints gave away the location of the Abu Sayyaf bandits and their hostages.
The slippers and the ballpen belonged to Edwin Reseroni, 28, a barangay resident whom the bandit group had abducted to serve as their guide.
Pfc. Abner Eustaquio, a Scout Ranger, related how he and other members of the team were resting inside the Dacon Logging Co. compound when company commander, Lt. Oliver Almonares, was sought out by two informants.
One of the men was Bernardo Reseroni, 55, Edwin's father.
He said the slippers and the ballpen belonged to his son who was abducted on June 2.
A team was dispatched to check on the trail of footprints.
It was Alejandro Ebo, a Cafgu from the 44th Infantry Battalion, who acted as the guide through the mountains.
Ebo's participation in the operation was vital as he knew the area by heart.
"We took off at around 7 a.m. We crossed several bridges, climbed a number of hills but the footprints were consistent. Maybe because it was raining hard, the soil was soft, the prints were very obvious," said Cpl. Rene Mabilog.
At around noon, a lead scout saw the armed men.
"Some of them were lying in hammocks while others were preparing their food," Mabilog recounted.
Almonares instructed the snipers' team to assess the situation before acting.
Cpl. Jerry Pulmano, one of the snipers dispatched from the Army's 1st Tabak Division in Zamboanga del Sur, noted that although the armed men were resting, they were watchful.
"They assumed defensive positions even though they were relaxing. They had three up to four teams taking turns in ensuring that they were safe," Pulmano said.
At first the soldiers could not tell the hostages from the bandits.
"All of them were in black. While others were hidden by the hammocks, some had their faces covered with pieces of black-colored plastic," Pulmano said.
After a few minutes, Pulmano said the soldiers were able to recognize Martin and Gracia Burnham who stood out from the group because of their coloring.
"We hit the bandits first and then they fired back at us. The encounter began, and then it rained hard again. That was around 1 o'clock, if I'm not mistaken," he said.
Their binoculars could not help to establish a good sight because of the rain but the soldiers continued to fire at the bandits, Pulmano said.
"We only ceased firing when we noticed that the response was weakening," said Cpl. Jose Lagadon, a sniper with the 1st Reconnaissance Team of the 6th Infantry Division.
Pfc. Alvin Madatu, who was about 15 meters away from where the bandits were, said Abu Sabaya was leading the firing from the bandit group which was using high-powered firearms.
After about three hours, the firing subsided, and at least half a dozen soldiers lay wounded.
The bandits were nowhere in sight.
Almonares instructed his men to secure the area while calling for reinforcements and helicopters to evacuate the wounded.
It was at this point that Tuazon saw Gracia Burnham.
"Thank God. I've been with the bad guys for one year now and then suddenly with the good guys again. I can see my children already," were Gracia's first words, he said.
Taking Gracia to safety proved to be difficult.
The helicopters could not descend because of the lack of a landing area.
"So we carried her uphill," Tuazon said.
"Don't worry. I can walk. Thanks to you guys," he quoted the American as saying.
Eustaquio said the soldiers were confident that one of those wounded was Abu Sabaya.
He said that among the items recovered from the encounter was Sabaya's baby Armalite and M203.
"That why we have a strong belief that he was hit," Eustaquio said.
Also included in the war booty were several bandoliers, ammunition, magazines, pouches, Sabaya's alleged sunglasses, a cell phone, several backpacks and Gracia's personal belongings.
Among Gracia's prized possessions was a letter from Martin for their children in Wichita, Kansas.
For their efforts, the government troops, including Edo, received the Wounded Personnel Medal from Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen Roy Cimatu yesterday at the Camp Navarro Hospital at the Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga City.
The soldiers will also be receiving cash awards.
As Cimatu was pinning his medal, Ebo told the Armed Forces chief: "I hope I will become a regular soldier one day, Sir."With a report from Agence France-Presse
His body has been transferred to Japan for an autopsy at a U.S. military facility, so that may provide more information about the circumstances of his death.
May the letter bring them comfort. Prayers for the Burnhams Bump!
Yup. I wondered about that too.
Terminal ballistics (where the bullet hits the bone) are strange. All bets are off.
I once shot a rodent at 20 paces. The bullet apparently did a 180 and exited right next to the entrance wound.
Go figure.
Wow. What a chronicle. And what brave soldiers. I am in awe.
"It used to be rescue and annihilate. Now it's just annihilate," he said.
The only way. The islamic radicals must be annihilated.
What a noble man. And the cowardly terrorists can't figure out why we dispise them. They hide behind their women and con children into blowing themselves up while those worms stay behind in safety.
This is what a REAL man does. Protects his woman with his own body if necessary.
God?
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