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DEL.ICIO.USShrapnel meant for us, then silent sigh of relief
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Curtis Compton/AJC
Seconds after his Humvee is hit by a roadside bomb flattening three tires and filling the vehicle with smoke, driver Spc. Greg Carter, 37, drives through the blast.
Al Anbar Province, Iraq — Twenty-two miles east of the Jordanian border, Sgt. Brian Lancey reached for a PowerGel.
His Humvee was the lead vehicle providing security for a U.S. military supply convoy on a dangerous stretch of road between the border and central Iraq. The insurgents who operate here can easily track convoys as they move across the flat, featureless landscape.
They knew he was coming.
He knew they were waiting.
Without warning, a deafening blast ripped through the Humvee from the right side of what is known as Route Mobile.
Shrapnel from three or four mortar rounds fashioned into an insurgent’s most feared weapon, the roadside bomb, ripped holes in the back and right side of the Humvee.
Three tires blew out. The cab filled with thick, black smoke. Gas spewed from the punctured fuel cans strapped to the back.
Lancey felt like someone had blindsided him with a baseball bat. The gunner’s head snapped back as if he had been kicked in the face. The driver reflexively took his foot off the gas pedal. The vehicle shuddered, vibrated and sputtered.
Turning to his men, Lancey yelled: “Is everyone OK? Get us out of here!”
He grabbed the radio mike, calling the two Humvees following.
“Kill zone right. Look for possible triggerman,” he warned.
Lancey looked like Tom Hanks in the movie “Saving Private Ryan.” His eyes were intense, adrenaline was flowing. Yet, he was in control.
The driver, Spc. Greg Carter, straining to see through the smoke and dust, hit the gas and the Humvee emerged from the grip of the blast.
“Stop right here!” Lancey yelled.
He jumped out and began directing his soldiers. Weapons raked the Mars-like landscape, sending clouds of desert sand into the air.
Lancey ran to the blast site and raised his M-14 rifle, aiming down the sight line he suspected the triggerman used. Standing in the still-smoldering debris, he sent rounds down range in search of the enemy.
After a few shots, Lancey returned to his disabled Humvee. Carter, the driver, opened the trunk, which was penetrated by shrapnel. He picked up a steel can that normally is used to carry bullets for the machine gun. This crew used it to carry muffins.
It was ripped to shreds, along with the gunner’s backpack. Lancey paused to look at the can. His favorite snacks, chocolate and blueberry muffins, were destroyed.
“They got the muffin can!” he shouted. “Game on!”
Humvees roared off into the desert in a sweep pattern searching for insurgents while Lancey checked for secondary bombs. He looked over the crater from the blast and recovered pieces of debris that gave clues to the bomb’s makeup. There was no contact with any insurgents on the sweep and Lancey returned to his crew as the soldiers began changing tires on the Humvee.
There was still a convoy to protect.
Lancey addressed his crew before they took off again:
“Great job everybody. Carter, you drove right through there. Roberts, you got right up on the gun. All right Ramblers,” he said, using their nickname, “let’s get rambling.”
Once on the move, 15 minutes of silence passed.
The near-death experience was sinking in. Each man quietly contemplated the experience.
Spc. Jason Roberts, the gunner, was the first to speak.
“Everybody’s real quiet right now,” he said cautiously.
They all exhaled.
“I’m going to call home and tell my wife to buy lottery tickets,” Lancey said. “Until we [return home], my wife doesn’t need to know any of this. She doesn’t need to know anything I do. You know the reality of it is we are all really lucky. We got to see the severity of it and nobody got hurt.”
Lancey held up some of the jagged pieces of shrapnel meant to kill them.
“Man, if I can take these home,” he said, “it means I make it home.”
Comments
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By Jill Roberts
December 5, 2005 10:28 AM | Link to this
My husband was one of they guys that survived that blast. All I can do is pray that God continues to watch over him and the rest of the men and woman in Iraq. Many thanks to Jeremy Redmon and photographer Curtis Compton for there great reporting!
By Erin Lancey
December 16, 2005 01:39 PM | Link to this
My husband also was one of the soldiers from this incdent. His wife does know…I’m thankful for the men who were with him, andI am praying too with Mrs. Roberts for the safe return of the soldiers we love so much as well as the rest of our armed forces.