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DEL.ICIO.USGoodbye, Lucy. He’ll miss you.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah, Iraq - Lucille’s war wounds are hard to miss. Her metal hide is dotted with ugly scrapes, dents and gaping holes.
The desert-tan Humvee sustained these wounds over the past five months, surviving 10 roadside bombings from insurgents, said Sgt. Joe Picon.
Picon, of Calhoun, credits Lucille’s thick armor with saving him and other Georgia National Guard soldiers from serious injuries, even death. He named her Lucille after a close friend who died in a car wreck.
Louie Favorite/AJC
Sgt. Joe Picon is sad to bid his Humvee farewell.
Lucille was brand new when Georgia’s 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment picked her up in Kuwait. Now with 5,529 miles on her, Picon is turning her in.
The Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division is taking over this base, Lucille and many of other vehicles and weapons. Picon and the rest of his unit are moving soon to a much quieter military complex called Scania, 65 miles south of Baghdad. They will get other vehicles and equipment there.
Picon hung by Lucille’s side this week, staring admiringly at her as 101st soldiers looked her over and verified she had all her parts.
“She is my baby,” said Picon, 40, a Gordon County detective who handles personal security for his battalion commander in Iraq. “Dang. I’m giving her up. Seriously, I really want to take her with me.”
Picon pointed to her various scars and recalled in detail how she got them. He said one of the roadside bombs that hit her this summer knocked everyone out in the vehicle except him.
“I felt like I got beat with a baseball bat,” he said of the headaches that followed the blast. “And then the next day, goodness gracious.”
Many soldiers have good luck charms in their vehicles. Picon’s is a small scrap of paper that reads: “Trust in God.” A friend gave it to him. He stuck it to Lucille’s windshield, where it points toward the road.
Picon’s counterpart from the 101st showed up as he was talking. Picon turned to Staff Sgt. Grant Wilson, and asked him what name he will give the Humvee.
“I have a name for her - Sally. Like Mustang Sally. I’m a Mustang freak,” said Wilson, 39, of Annandale, Va., who has a green 1965 Ford Mustang back home.
Picon smiled: “I like that.” And then he repeated himself, as if he was still getting used to her new name: “I like that.”
As a sign of approval, Picon reached up and bumped his fist against Wilson’s.
Now Picon could move on.
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By Linda M. Hill
October 28, 2005 12:56 PM | Link to this
Hi Jeremy: Thank you so much for reporting the activity in the very dangerous Sunni Triangle. My son is over there with the newly-arrived 101st airborne division. I imagine you will be moving with the 48th…however, do you know of a journalist who is tracking the 101st & the website where they may report? This has been my daily contact with what is going on “over there”. Thanks for such a great job of reporting and keeping us in touch.