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DEL.ICIO.USTarget practice with a bang
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Louie Favorite/AJC
Members of the 48th fire mortars near Mahmudiyah. Spc. Mike Petrone, 19, loaded mortar rounds. Sgt. 1st Class Charles Astin is on right. | Hear a mortar being fired
Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah, Iraq — “Hang it!”
Spc. Mike Petrone, of Columbus, is yelling for his two buddies to get ready. He’s holding a green and yellow bomb as big as his arm just above the mortar tube. Then he drops the 120mm round into the tube, screaming, “Fire!”
The explosion is deafening. It sends a shock wave through the bodies of Petrone and his fellow mortarmen: Spc. Jeremy Powell, of Acworth, and Sgt. 1st Class Charles Astin, of Atlanta. They are enveloped in smoke.
The bomb lands in an open field in a rural area thousands of meters away. A forward observer sees the explosion and calls back to base, advising them how to adjust their fire.
Astin gives Powell new coordinates. And Powell adjusts the mortar tube’s position. Then Petrone yells “Hang it!” again and drops another round in. “Fire!”
After several more attempts, they find the target and fire several rounds at it.
They weren’t trying to hit anything in particular Wednesday morning. There were no insurgents this time. They were “registering,” or making sure they could hit a specific area in the event they start taking enemy mortar and rocket fire.
The three men are part of the mortar platoon from Georgia’s 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment.
The platoon’s motto sounds menacing: “High Angle Hell.” Their call sign used to be “Smoke.” But it wasn’t strong enough, so they changed it to “Punisher.”
But it goes both ways. Firing mortars takes its toll on soldiers, too. “I can’t hear a damn thing,” said Powell, 29, who works at a heating and air conditioning company back home. “It kills your ears.”
Powell and the others rarely get to fire their mortars, however. Lately, they have been escorting explosive ordnance disposal experts outside the wire. That’s when they sometimes get hit with roadside bombs.
Petrone, for example, has a scar near his mouth from an attack in August. Shrapnel from a roadside bomb drilled through his lip.
Despite the danger, Petrone, like Powell, enjoys what he does.
“It’s been a good experience,” said Petrone, 19, who has “God Speed” written on the side of his helmet. “I wouldn’t take it back. I’ve done more than most people have done in their whole lives.”
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By Caity Craig
October 16, 2005 08:00 PM | Link to this
Michael I love you and miss you!!!!!!! I pray every day that you come home safely