Jeremy,

COL Morgenthaler and I have a connection. I was at the memorial service for PVT Vega that was held at Al Asad. Her unit supported the camp where I was located. She was on the Nov 2 2003 Chinook that was shot down. One of my soldiers was on the other Chinook. It was a long day waiting to find out his status. I was playing the odds in my head. 50/50 (2 helicopters on shot down) another 50/50 (36 soldiers,16 KIA) that made it 75% chance that he survived. Reassuring but not great. His story is one of pure horror. The made some sudden maneuvers then an unscheduled landing. The ramp dropped and a crew member waved them out. They saw some wreckage but it did not look like a helicopter. The rescuers had only the first aid kits on their field gear and what was on the helicopter. The only weapons they had were what the helicopter crew had. They turned in their weapons for the R&R / Leave trip. They only had the fire extinguishers from their Chinook. They secured the area, put out the burning fuel, and started rescue, recovering, and first aid for the wounded. It took about half an hour for the Medivac arrived. My soldier was every where. He helped remove the pilots. Splint fractures. A difficult task because of the lack of wood and hard to

find suitable splints at the crash site, and multiple fractures. Many, many wounds and injuries. Put out fires with his bare hands and sand. Those that survived should thank God for a miracle that day. And thank the pilots (God rest their souls) that were able to bring the helicopter down as well as they did. When word came that those that were on the helicopter that did not get hit were coming back, I quickly went to the airfield to get the manifest to see if my soldier was on it. He was. All was good, for me, a nightmare was beginning for many others. I attended all the memorial services that were held at Al Asad. I viewed it as my responsibility as a Field Grade Officer, a representative of my unit, and just the right thing to do if I knew

 the soldier or not. I attend too many services and knew too many soldiers that were killed. It was a long week following the shoot down. Every day there was a service.

 Sometimes for one soldier, sometimes for more It ended with a ceremony for all that died that day. To quote General Sheman: "War is Hell". Then again the price of peace is eternal vigilance. Prepare for war, pray for peace.

 MAJ Miller

Jeremy,

I don't see why not. After all that has been on there, this is pretty mild. The IED ( Improvised Explosive Devise) was three artillery rounds, most likely 122mm, daisy chained (linked to go off at the same time) along the right side of the road. We were traveling about 60 miles per hour on a road that followed a canal that ran East West just north of Baghdad. We took this road to avoid Ramadi and Fallujah. It was four vehicle convoy on 12 Aug. 2003. My vehicle was # 4. The .50cal gunner was facing to the rear. The vehicle in front disappeared in a cloud of dust with a loud boom. I saw a soldier come tumbling to the ground and come to a rest in the middle of the road. We drove by and the sergeant behind the driver called out that a soldier was down. We turned around and headed back to the soldier. I jumped out before we stopped to provide cover on the right side. I was sitting in the front passenger seat. The windshield was bullet proof. Good thing. We cleared the area and checked out the craters. While we did that the lead vehicle came back and the combat life saver started first aid. They climbed into their hummer and headed out of the area. We called for medivac. They were about 15 minutes out. I told them to meet us at Taji. There was an airfield there run by the 4th ID Divarty. We got there before the medivac and went to the aid station. they started working on the wounded. The front passenger had been hit on the leg and arm. The drive we found out later had lost his hearing. The right rear passenger was the soldier on the road. He was blown out of the vehicle and had severe neck injuries. He did not survive. He was on his way to visit his wife at the camp we were going to visit. He (nor I) had to be on that mission. We were just going to see people, and provide security for those on the mission.

Thats about it in a nut shell. The soldiers name was SGT Taft Williams, 3rd ACR. A name I will never forget.

MAJ Miller