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DEL.ICIO.US‘Buffalo Bill’ digs out bombs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mahmudiyah, Iraq — The bomb blew the Humvee and four soldiers inside it off the ground, shredding the hood and mangling the engine until it was an unrecognizable hunk of black metal.
Second Lt. Homer J. Wright III bit off a chunk of his tongue when he rocketed out of his seat and smashed his head on the roof. Blood oozed from his mouth and chin.
As black smoke and the smell of burning oil filled the vehicle, the Georgia Army National Guard soldier wondered, “Is this the end?” The Humvee was rolling off the road, toward a canal filled with deep, greenish water.
LOUIE FAVORITE / AJC One of the Humvees escorting the Buffalo was hit by an IED. MORE PHOTOS
The driver, Pfc. Jason Hall of Valdosta, was knocked out. The blast slammed him against the steering wheel. He hit the wheel so hard he bent it toward the dashboard.
Hall regained consciousness within moments and slammed his foot on the brakes. They weren’t working. But the vehicle came to a rest on its own, dangerously close to the water.
Wright, Hall and two other combat engineers with the 48th Brigade Combat Team in the Humvee were searching for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, when one found them. It’s not uncommon for that to happen.
Some members of the 648th Engineer Battalion have survived as many as four or five explosions. Bombs have destroyed 24 of the unit’s vehicles.
One of the key missions is to find these bombs before they kill more members of the 48th. Since the brigade arrived in Iraq in early June, 14 have been killed in bomb attacks. That includes three 648th soldiers killed by a car bomb attack in August.
Rumors have spread through the battalion that insurgents put a price on the engineers’ heads as high as $100,000.
“They are out to get us,” said Wright, 38, who lives in Hazlehurst and works at a fabrics manufacturing company.
Wright’s Charlie Company alone has found more than 50 IEDs. When they got hit Saturday morning, the soldiers were riding in a convoy in mostly rural areas near Mahmudiyah and Yusufiyah, towns south of Baghdad.
Bombed-out buildings, scarecrows and piles of trash and rusting scrap metal dot the landscape. Bullet shell casings litter the roads. A pack of wild dogs loped by.
As the soldiers entered Yusufiyah, a flock of pigeons took flight. Insurgents sometimes use the birds to signal that U.S. soldiers are coming, said Spc. Jason Troupe. The insurgents bury their bombs in the sides of the streets, in storm water pipes that run under the roads, in piles of trash and in the carcasses of dead animals. Their weapons: leftover artillery shells, gas canisters, propane tanks, rocket fuel. They even set up fake bombs just to observe how the engineers try to disable them.
“It’s kind of like a chess game,” said Troupe, 31, of Douglas, a police officer in civilian life.
Troupe and two other soldiers in Wright’s convoy rode in one of the battalion’s bomb-detecting vehicles, called a Buffalo. The engineers nicknamed the heavily armored vehicle “Buffalo Bill.” Others go by “Grave Digger” and “Fat Bottom Girl.” Buffalos are equipped with a remote-controlled arm with a forklike device on the end of it. Soldiers use the powerful arm to dig through dirt and lift up trash in search of bombs.
An eye for detail
As they drove into the countryside, Troupe motioned to the side of the road, showing where his unit had found a large bomb in a refrigerator. A building nearby was riddled with bullet holes.
“Somebody has had a bad afternoon,” he said.
Farther down the road, Spc. Johnnie Perkins spotted something that didn’t look right in the shoulder. It was a mound of dirt where the engineers had previously found an IED. The soil around the site looked loose and disturbed.
Perkins and other sharp-eyed engineers have learned to look for things out of place. Sometimes they look too perfect, like a smooth layer of sand on a busy road covered with tank tracks.
Perkins drove closer and spotted two purple wires sticking out of the dirt. Troupe handed him the yellow control box for the Buffalo arm. Perkins dug into the soil until he unearthed a 155 mm cannon shell.
“Good job,” Troupe said.
Perkins flashed him the thumbs-up sign.
The soldiers continued on, sweeping the area for more bombs. Then it happened.
From inside the Buffalo, the explosion sounded muffled. But the shockwave vibrated the bottom of the vehicle. About 100 meters ahead, the blast tore through Wright’s Humvee, the second vehicle in the convoy.
A black crater measuring more than 4 feet deep and 6 feet across yawned in front of the Buffalo. Inside sat a piece of the Humvee’s hood. A radiator lay on its side by thick chunks of asphalt. Much of the Humvee’s front half was gone. The vehicle was totaled. The soldiers could have been inches from death.
They didn’t find the triggerman, but the engineers found the receiver and timer for the remote-controlled bomb beside the road. The blue and silver receiver box was labeled in English: “Super Long Range Cordless Telephone.” The bomb had been stuffed in a storm water pipe beneath the road. It probably consisted of three 155 mm artillery shells stacked together, the soldiers said.
Dazed by the blast, Wright climbed out of the Humvee and took cover in the Buffalo.
He held up the receiver and timer. “God has been with us.”
Still pumped with adrenaline, talking fast about his near-death experience, Wright suddenly calmed. Tears welled in his eyes as he cradled his head in his hands. He was thinking about his two young sons back home.
“I love my boys,” he said. “I would do anything for my boys.”
He waved his arm, as if he was trying to wave off his emotions. He insisted he was fine.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By James Kirchner
September 26, 2005 07:15 AM | Link to this
Welcome to Mahmudiyah Jeremy, Sgt. K
By mike Greeson
September 26, 2005 08:04 AM | Link to this
Great photos AND there are extra pictures behind the article photo.
I’ve been on my son to send more pictures of Mahmudiyah. I keep telling him he will regret not taking more.
By had enough
September 26, 2005 08:06 AM | Link to this
I hate this war
By Frances
September 26, 2005 10:18 AM | Link to this
What a report to read this morning. I am so thankful that they made it out alive. Our soldiers sacrifices are absolutely priceless.
By Deana Thompson
September 26, 2005 11:12 AM | Link to this
my husband was with the group that found these IEDs and it is by the grace of GOD that they found them and saved countless soldiers lives including their own.I am more proud of you guys than words can say and pray to God everyday for your safty and well-being.Know that HE walks with you always as your shield and keep up the good fight.I LOVE YOU MY SOUTHERN SOLDIER BOY say your prayers and stay safe.
By Jenny
September 26, 2005 11:22 AM | Link to this
You guys do such an awesome job, and I know this family supports you 110%. One thing confuses me though…why is the heavily armored buffalo being escorted instead of escorting the humvees? It just seems like it could weather an explosion and save lives better than the other vehicles.
Not to turn this into a political thing, but I’d just like for you guys to know that this weekend’s anti-war rally in Washington does not speak for most Americans, especially Georgians. We appreciate what you do and the sacrifices you make. You make us proud!!!
By Sheila Stevens
September 26, 2005 03:56 PM | Link to this
I always knew my son SPC Johnnie Perkins had an eye for detail. Keep your eyes open and your head down.. Love YOUR MOM
By George
September 26, 2005 04:30 PM | Link to this
These men are true American Heros that have stood bravely in the face of our enemy. I am really proud of them.
By doing a job
September 26, 2005 08:38 PM | Link to this
It seems that Sgt K has alot to say about Iraq, when he is not even here. Yes, he USE to be here but YOU are NOT ANYMORE— YES, YOU got HURT, but you Lived. You don’t know what it is like to still be here and having to see more then one should have to, in a life time. You stick with reading the paper every day and making comments. WE will cont. to do THIS JOB
By Natalie
September 27, 2005 09:29 AM | Link to this
I hope everyone in the 48th knows how proud we are of you!We know that freedom is not free. It’s a shame that some of the “liberal lefties” here in the U.S. can’t see that while enjoying their own freedom. Keep “fighting the good fight” God is with you!!!
By Joy
September 27, 2005 11:57 AM | Link to this
Dear “doing a job”
Must make you feel like a big man to browbeat a fellow soldier, especially an injured one. It’s not like he chose to be wounded. He sounds like he is jut trying to stay connected to his friends - why begrudge him of that? It’s called healing.
I’m going to pray for you, as I do for my husband and all of our soldiers “doing the job” both here and over there. Believe it or not the cooks, mechanics, medics, supply personnel, fuel handlers, etc have jobs that are just as important and just as vital as the one you are doing. There are enough anti-war voices bashing the military without you being nasty too. God bless you and give you peace.
By Michael Wife
September 27, 2005 02:53 PM | Link to this
“Doin a job”, you are very bitter and should not turn that to a fellow soldier. You say “you” are seeing more than you should. Are you hurt? Did this happen to you? No, it did not, obviously he has had an incident in which you have not experienced. I thought soldiers stuck together and supported each other. No, he is not there but that is because he got hurt not by choice. I think he would have chosen a different path if he would have had a “choice”. He is more of a hero than you will ever be, and I truly hope you are not at a camp with my husband, because you certainly do not have anyone’s back. To the soldier’s in the article God Bless you all. Bless all of you and God Speed.