"Because Concussions Are Cool..."

- Warning -

This blog contains a graphic recount of the past mission, to include adult language. If you don’t want to hear exactly what went on then don’t read. For everyone else, proceed with caution.

When I was in high school I was captain of our rugby team. One year we got the idea to have team t-shirts made with a quote on the back, “Because Concussions Are Cool…” the girls loved them and we thought we were all pretty clever. Little did I know that the quote would come back later in my life, after I had hung up my cleats.

We weren’t even supposed to be going out that morning. We were supposed to have the day off, work on the trucks and prepare for future missions. At around 0830 however we got the word that we were going to have to go to Patrol Base Love to drop off some supplies for our infantry platoon so they could accomplish their mission. No big deal just drive there and back. Easy right?

At around 1240 we left the Patrol Base headed north on Route Tampa. “Tampa”, as we call it, is a four lane highway with rock shoulders and a rock median about 30 feet wide. The shoulders of the route are covered in blast holes and debris from past IED’s making the job of spotting them not quite as easy as we would like. For this mission I was gunning from the lead truck of our four truck patrol. The weather was cold and cloudy and spiting rain on us every now and then. We were south of the canal bridge, in a place known as “The Chicken Farms”. At one time back before the war the buildings to the east of the road use to be a chicken farm for Saddam’s family, or at least that’s the rumor. You can still see the large wall that use to have his face painted on it. But these days it’s covered in graffiti and has been used as target practice trigger happy gunners passing through. There are several large metal buildings, some still together, others have been stripped for their sheet metal from locals and others have been shot up by convoys that have been hit in that area before. This place is a hot area for IED’s; our platoon had been hit twice in this area before. There have been several triggermen killed in the area also, but IED’s continue to be a big problem there.

At 1303 our patrol was moving closer to the bridge where there was oncoming traffic that needed to be pushed off to the side of the road. Following our rules of engagement, I flashed my turret lights at them and then stood up to wave my flag at them. This is to let them know that they need to pull over and stop or they will be engaged by us. No one moves on the roads as we come through. It’s just one way to make our travels on the route safer.

I guess they saw me stand up and expose myself. I think they were going to hit the convoy regardless, but when they saw me stand up they knew they had a good opportunity to do more damage. That’s when it hit. More violent then any car crash or really anything you could imagine. The IED detonated directly on the front driver side tire no more than 10 feet off the road, we never saw it coming. The blast sent shrapnel and debris screaming through the fireball and thick black smoke. The blast and debris slammed me from right to left thrusting me into my M-4 rifle and shattering the ballistic glass surrounding me. I remember the heat, the smoke, the unimaginably loud explosion; and then nothing…

This is where the rest of the crew had to fill me in. When the blast hit the cab of the truck it immediately filled with dust and smoke. My driver, Dwight, pushed us through the smoke and everyone started screaming, asking if everyone else is okay. I didn’t answer, the blast had smashed me so hard against the turret it knocked me unconscious. From there I collapsed to the floor of the truck landing in the lap of my loader, Graves. For fifteen to twenty seconds I was completely out. Then I remember starting to hear things getting louder and louder, like someone was slowly turning the volume back up in my head bringing it to the roar that was going on inside the truck. I could hear the radio going nuts, I could hear Graves yelling at me, shaking me trying to get me to wake up and then I could hear the gunfire from the other trucks. I laid there on the floor of the truck for a split second checking myself, everything looked like it was present and still attached so I couldn’t be too bad. That’s when my crew tells me I said, “Oh, fuck this...” I stood back up in the turret to find that the blast had blown my M240 machine gun out of the mount and it was now lying on the roof of the truck and the ammo can was blown out as well. I quickly put the “240” back in the mount, switched the weapon from safe to fire and began unloading every round that I had. Blowing rounds into everywhere that I thought they could be. Every wall, building, tree, rock, mound of dirt, house out there was lit up. Not to mention that the other three gunners were laying down some serious suppressive fire as well. I continued firing until I ran out of ammo. I fired all 200 rounds I had loaded in just a few seconds. The barrel was glowing red and I dove back in the truck to find more ammo. When I dove back in they told me to stay down so they could finally check me out. I had jumped up on the gun before they ever got to see if I was alright. Luckily, all I had was a little gash on my forehead, just a little knick from a piece of rock probably; it was nothing to be really concerned about. It was now 1305 this had all just happened in less then a few minutes.

We searched the area from the triggermen but never found them. This is all too often the case around here. There are just so many good places to hide and so many avenues of escape that you have to get really lucky to see them. We left the scene and headed back to the FOB without any more drama. We got back and “Doc”, our platoon medic, took me to see the army doctor on the FOB. They evaluated me and told me that I had suffered a pretty serious concussion and that there was some slight bleeding behind my right ear drum. My head felt like someone had bashed it with a hammer. I had a serious headache, worst than any migraine I had experienced and my ears were ringing louder than I thought possible. My arm and shoulder also feel like they were hit with that same hammer too but this is all to be expected after standing up and taking a blast like that to the head.

The “Post Blast Analysis” determined that it was possibly two 155mm Russian artillery rounds that had blown us up. We got extremely lucky. We rarely see IED’s this size in our area and we were very fortunate to not take any serious injuries. The power of these things is devastating, but the Army has came such along way with additional armor for these trucks and there is no telling how many lives have been saved by these advances. I know that they can add one more life saved for sure. Less than a week ago we got the new “Ibis Tek” turret shields for the trucks and there is no doubt in my mind that the ballistic glass on them saved my life. The pictures prove it. My head was exposed, but the small additional piece on the front stopped a large piece of shrapnel from hitting me and making this story much different and probably written by someone else.

I wrote this not to scare anyone but to make sure everyone heard the same story, from me. To also let everyone know that I am fine. The doctor said I will be good to go back out on patrols in a couple days once the headaches go away and the ringing in my ears stops. I do believe all this does have a large part to do with the prayers from you all, so please I ask you, keep up the good work, your prayers are working, I am living proof. I will be fine and I will remain fine for the months to come. And as for those terrorist, their days are numbered.

The song selection for today’s blog comes from the band Coldplay and their song:
“God Put a Smile on Your Face”

“God give me style and give me grace;
God put a smile upon my face…”