(What follows is an edited story version of my narrative for the award of the Army Commendation Medal with Valor for one of the soldiers I work with.)
On a strangely overcast and slightly windy day in July during the mid-afternoon, a patrol I was traveling in entered a town at the edge of our sector on a mission to kill or capture a known criminal. Earlier that day, we had gone out to a few villages to talk to people and also look around in the palm groves for places that the insurgents could hit us with indirect fire. The wind was kicking up a fair amount of sand and it cut our visibility down to about 200 meters. As the LT in charge of the patrol went around looking for the Muqtar (or village leader), the 1SG, myself and a few other guys from the line platoon we were with went out into palm groves. Our 1SG usually tells us that we are “going out looking for the $#!+,” meaning that we are looking to try and find some bad guys, but our intent was to find scorch marks on the earth or actual rocket and mortar tubes. Unfortunately, we only ended up walking for a little distance in palm groves and over rice paddies, in full gear. It was actually nice to have the dust in the air, as it kept the heat down but the humidity was still high.
The patrol was uneventful, and we came back in time to shed our body armor and head off to lunch. When we got back, we got the news that some of us would be going out again. We quickly reorganized and soon found ourselves set-up and ready to head out. We would be going on a road that is the reason that I have to do the mental gut check before leaving the FOB. (See “Thought number 101”)
Our lead element went in before the main patrol to hit the target house, and then the main patrol that I was traveling with would come in and secure the buildings around the target house. Right outside of the town on a small road, the lead element captured a “lookout.” He was watching the road and had a bicycle and an AK-47. It’s not illegal for a man to have an AK, but you can’t just go around town with it. Approximately 3 minutes after the lead element entered the town and raided the target house, we rolled into town. At the first road junction “Y” in the town, the first two vehicles went right. Because of the dust in the air and the high mud brick-walled streets, we briefly lost sight if the vehicle we were following that went left. We quickly moved into position with one more Hummer behind us. At our position was like a town square. The area was surrounded by walls, but it opened up to where there was a stream, trees and only foot paths to your left side. As we pulled into our position we could hear small arms fire to our vehicles right side. We located the lead element, who were walking out of the target house which was to our right. The gunner on the truck I was in (K.O.) asked them if they were firing their weapons at the same time they were asking us if we were firing. We then began to take AK fire from the left side. As the gunner on my truck got his weapon oriented, another vehicle gunner heard rounds coming close to his position and asked my gunner what he should do. K.O. yelled out, in more colorful language than what I’m writing today, that he should fire if he’s being fired at. Then K.O. started to let the M2 .50 caliber machine gun sing, suppressing the building where the small arms fire was coming from. The truck behind ours was engaged by small arms fire from a rooftop and K.O. got his turret turned in the direction of fire and while dismounted troops engaged the target, my gunner again laid down suppressive fire on the rooftop.
At this time I started moving forward to a gun truck that was near an intersection to our front. As I moved closer to the truck, the snaps and wizzes from the bullets got louder. I guess a smart man would have turned around, but I moved until I got to the other truck for cover. When I got to the truck, I asked if they had been hit. There was anoughter staff sergeant there who told me no, it was just close and hitting the walls behind them. I moved forward to watch the intersection. The trucks continued to get engaged by enemy rifles shooting over walls and K.O. responded by continuing to put down suppressive fire on the walls where enemy were hiding.
The staff sergeant that I met at the truck and one other sergeant came up to me and asked if I thought we should clear out the nearest courtyards to the intersection. I agreed and we went in to the first courtyard finding nobody in it and cleared the living areas in that courtyard. As we prepared to move into the next courtyard, I heard the commander on portable radio I was carrying saying that we were going to move forward as he had information that the enemy was moving west through the city to escape.
While driving through the tight alley-like streets, we came to a fork in the road. The commander asked, “Which way did they go”, referring to the enemy fighters. K.O., who was trying to direct the driver then shouted, “Left sir. We need to go left!”
“All Right, Go Right.” The commander replied.
That was a moment when the clock to the world stood still.
The truck suddenly lurched forward right into a dirt alleyway. We were engaged by small arms fire over the walls as we continued to move to the edge of town and K.O. responded by firing quick bursts into the walls where the enemy was moving and shooting behind.
When we reached the western edge of town, we crossed a road and a canal that both ran north south along the entire edge of town. To the north and south were tall palm groves and we set up in an opening by a cemetery. We linked up with the lead element who had followed the fighters to the edge of town and they directed us that AIF forces had moved northwest into the palm groves. We then started to receive AK fire from a densely vegetated palm grove from the north. K.O. directed 1 other M1114 gun truck on the location of the enemy and started to return fire. First, he fired a few bursts at the suspected location and then he unleashed the powerful .50 Caliber to suppress the area. K.O. then directed the other truck to a new position to better cover the exposed flanks of the dismounted solders and teams on the ground.
After the truck moved to a new location to the south, which was closer to a wall that stretched northwest from the village just beyond the cemetery, we received small arms fire from the palm groves next to the wall. K.O. quickly traversed his .50 Cal and we returned fire in that location. K.O. again directed the other truck to engage and suppress that enemy in that area.
The enemy had fled the area. We took no casualties, not even a scratch. They lost a couple.
K.O. continued to pull security over the palm groves and had his truck act as a base for communications to our headquarters after the contact. We went back into the village and cleared more houses when the task force reaction force came in to back us up. K.O. actions deterred the enemy from being able to effectively engage Coalition Forces and directly affected friendly forces sustaining zero casualties during the running fire fight. Because of his actions he was put in and received a medal for valor.