By Staff Sgt. Merrion LaSonde
122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP RUSTAMIYAH -- In the time they have spent driving the highways and byways of Baghdad, the "Scorpions" have seen it all; from the road-side car bomb that engulfed one of their trucks in flames to the occasional enemy sniper attempts. Of all the experiences, none sticks more in their collective memory than Dec. 3, 2004.
"As we approached the situation we didn't know exactly what was going on," explained Birmingham, AL., native Spc. Jermarcus Hunter, an M240B machine gunner with the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
"I had a feeling something was about to happen, so I unlocked my turret to spin around. It was right then that I actually saw a round coming straight at me," Hunter recalled. "Literally, [it was] about two or three inches from my face. It was like that movie The Matrix. I ducked down, the round hit the shield, bounced over my head and I came back up firing."
Their convoy was headed out to take Soldiers to the airfield, for their 15-day environmental leave.
It was supposed to be a break from the action.
On the way, the convoy commander, 1st Lt. Derek Brown, noticed a few of the Iraqi police lying on the ground wounded and covered in blood. He pulled the convoy of up-armored [HMMWV]'s to a halt and told them all to make a U-turn to gather the wounded and take them to a safer place.
The IPs had just been ambushed. Now it was the Scorpions caught in the cross fire.
While making the U-turn, the rear vehicle of the convoy started receiving small arms fire. The third vehicle came under fire as well.
Soon, they were receiving fire from all directions, including rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47 armor-piercing rounds and small arms fire.
Rounds were ricocheting off the gunners" shields as they stood up out of the vehicles to return fire.
Remarkably, the Scorpions sustained no casualties during the firefight due in no small part to the selfless and vigilant actions of Seattle, Wash. native Spc. James Vanderpool.
He provided much-needed suppressive fire while the other members of his team extracted the downed rear vehicle from the kill zone.
"Dec. 3rd was the worst experience I have ever had," Vanderpool said. "I would prefer an [improvised explosive device] over that ambush, any day. The attack only lasted a few minutes but it seemed like forever. I am doing this more for the guys I am with than anything else. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to go out there every day."
Spc. Thomas Alderson, a native of Portage, Ind., echoes his teammate's sentiments. He, however, had a slightly different perspective on the battle.
"We were in the rear vehicle," Alderson said. "We took two shots to the engine and were shut down right there. Then all four tires were shot out. I was scared. We took over 30 shots on our truck, were pinned down and nowhere to go.
We couldn't get out because we were being shot at from every angle. Luckily we had three other trucks that were more than willing to get us out of there."
Sgt Jason Perrego is the escort team's noncommissioned officer in charge and currently calls Fort Hood home.
"Being in a situation like this gives the Soldiers and leaders an opportunity to validate all the training that they have done over all the years they have put into the military," Perrego said. "I know for most everyone here, this is their first deployment.
When we were in that situation on Dec. 3rd we were the lead truck and I told my driver to turn around, go back into the kill zone and help recover the damaged truck still stuck in the rear.
To have to make a decision and give a Soldier an order when both of your lives are on the line and given the fact that he has to not only trust in your order, but carry it out instantly just validates us as leaders, them as Soldiers and makes you realize all the training prior to this deployment really paid off."
Their lieutenant, Brown is a native of Prince George, Va. He joined the team as the platoon leader late in the year after completing Ranger and Airborne school stateside.
"We are a battalion asset," Brown explained. "Whatever they need us to do from escorting a battery from War Eagle to Cuervo to transporting prisoners to Abu Ghraib, we are the go-to team. It is a 24/7 job so it is rare that we get a day off.
We have completed over 800 missions, logged more than 25,000 miles and seen just about every inch of Baghdad. This is a pretty close bunch. They look out for one another and watch each other's back because they have to and they want to.
The nature of our mission is simple. The high threat level on the roads we travel is what makes it difficult. While I shadowed the former platoon leader prior to taking over, I automatically became comfortable with these guys. I trust in their ability to get the job done.
I have seen what they could do in all kinds of situations and each time they handled the situation extremely well. I have every confidence in them. They make my job easy. I give them the mission and they execute. I will do anything for these guys. They are a great group of guys and I am glad they are on my team."
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2005 12:00 |
| Story ID: | 1168 |
| Location: | CAMP RUSTAMIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 243 |
| Downloads: | 12 |
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