Photo By Sgt. Armando Monroig | A gaping hole remains on the interior of the roof of a containerized housing unit in...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Armando Monroig
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
MOSUL, Iraq -- After being in Iraq for less than three months, Staff Sgt. Moshe Mayfield had dodged death by mortar round — twice.
Call it luck, the work of guardian angels or the grace of God. Mayfield is grateful he's alive to talk about it.
"I feel very lucky," said the licensed practical nurse, who's assigned to the 399th Combat Support Hospital, a Reserve unit from Taunton, Mass., serving at Forward Operating Base Diamondback. "I think all the stars were aligned."
Mayfield was walking back to work from the dining facility, Oct. 28, when a mortar round flew about three to five feet in front of his face and hit a nearby tree. The Springfield, Mass., native had yet another close encounter with a mortar round on Nov. 26 when three mortars landed on Diamondback, one of them striking his living quarters. He managed to make it to a bunker during the attacks.
Mayfield never received a scratch.
"Everyone was like, 'Not Staff Sgt. Mayfield again,'" said Staff Sgt. Kimberly Mika, assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of the hospital's immediate care ward.
It was Mayfield. Again.
When he was assigned to the hospital upon arriving to Iraq in September, he thought it he would be safe from enemy attacks. He never seriously considered the possibility of being near the impact of a mortar on even one occasion, let alone two. But after his recent brushes with death, the 28-year-old now realizes there is no safe place to be in Iraq.
"It was a wake up call. I never thought it would happen to me," said Mayfield.
Learning that lightning can actually hit the same place twice has given him a zest for life.
"I feel like this experience humbled me," said Mayfield. "It's made me appreciate the little things. It's made me want to do things I've been putting off doing."
Bungee jumping and riding a motorcycle are at the top of a newly written list of activities Mayfield wants to experience after his deployment to Iraq is over.
His experiences have brought on other unexpected changes, as well.
Although he no longer takes life for granted, being the victim of two unlikely mortar impacts left him rattled.
"I couldn't sleep at night for a week," said Mayfield. "I was so scared to go to sleep."
Mayfield is scared that a third mortar will come his way.
"You never know when those things will hit," he said. "You just hope and pray it doesn't hit where you are."
Before the mortar strikes, Mayfield was a heavy sleeper. Now, every little noise makes him jumpy. There are times when he hasn't wanted to be in his room and went for a walk to calm his nerves.
"I'm scared, but I can't live scared. My life flashed before my eyes. It's almost like a second chance," said Mayfield.
Those who live and work with Mayfield now consider him a good-luck charm.
"I think he has a guardian angel watching over him," said Lt. Col. Gloria Vignore, officer-in-charge of 399th's intermediate care ward.
Mayfield is not sure what unseen forces were at work, if any, and thinks it just wasn't his time to die.
"I wasn't supposed to get hit when I was walking from the dining facility," he said. "I wasn't supposed to be in my room that day. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was destiny."
| Date Taken: | 01.10.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 01.10.2007 10:57 |
| Story ID: | 8782 |
| Location: | MOSUL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 269 |
| Downloads: | 53 |
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