Posted on 05/18/2004 6:02:24 AM PDT by Gothmog
From the same New York Army National Guard unit that picked up escaped hostage Thomas Hamill comes word of a young soldier who killed 20 or more Iraqi insurgents when his patrol was ambushed on Easter Sunday. Spec. Timmy Haag of South Glens Falls, N.Y., made his remarkable display of courage and cool under fire as C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 108th Light Infantry was conducting a sweep of southern Samarra in open 5-ton trucks. The vehicles are so slow and high-riding that it borders on the criminal to transport soldiers on them into a known hot spot bristling with rocket-propelled grenades.
Troops nicknamed the trucks "RPG magnets," Staff Sgt. Troy Mechanick said on Friday.
The nickname proved tragically apt when the truck carrying Haag and 13 other members of his platoon was roughly 100 yards past a mosque flying the fedayeen flag. An RPG slammed into the left side, killing 21-year-old Pfc. Nathan Brown of South Glens Falls.
Many more might have died had Brown not taken the brunt of the blast. Two others were seriously wounded, including Mechanick, who was lifted to his feet by the concussion.
"It turned everything yellow and green, then everything goes slow," Mechanick recalled.
The grenade was followed by automatic weapons fire, and Mechanick tried to reach for his M-4 rifle. His left hand did not go where he commanded it and he realized his arm was hanging limp at his side, broken in four places. He reached with his right hand and saw the middle finger was dangling, all but severed.
"I said to myself, 'I don't need that to shoot,'" Mechanick recalled.
He managed to undo the safety and raise his rifle, but the weapon failed to fire.
"It was full of shrapnel," Mechanick said.
Mechanick turned to a wounded soldier and asked to use his weapon.
"His response was I'm crazy," Mechanick recalled. "My response was, 'No, I want to live.' ... Somebody called out, 'Nate's dead.' I called out, 'We've got to keep security up, or we'll all be dead.'"
Haag had begun returning fire with his SAW machine gun from the first moments after the blast.
"First thing he did was stand up on the driver's side," Mechanick recalled. "He saw a couple of enemy soldiers. He suppressed them, killing two or three immediately."
Haag turned to the passenger side and suppressed the fire coming from that direction. He and fellow soldier James MacDonald then clambered down and fought their way down the line of vehicles to notify their commander their truck had been hit.
"Small arms fire, AK-47 and RPG," Mechanick recalled "Haag's just running though it and as he's running he's shooting, killing people."
Haag and MacDonald passed four alleys, each of which had between six and 15 enemies armed with automatic weapons and RPGs. Haag is said to have shot them all.
"Timmy Haag was phenomenal," Mechanick said. "When the firefight happened, Timmy Haag was the man."
Haag and MacDonald dashed back to their truck. Haag emptied the last 200-round drum of his squad automatic weapon and clambered into a truck so high-riding the unit had welded on a ladder in the back. An RPG skipped off the road where he had been standing.
Haag grabbed another weapon as the line of a half-dozen vehicles began lumbering toward the nearest American outpost. Haag called out that he would cover the right side while another soldier covered the left.
Mechanick had numerous other wounds and he was pale and short of breath from the loss of blood. Haag kept calling to him and nudging him with his boot as he fired.
"He knew I was going to sleep, and if you go to sleep you don't ever wake up," Mechanick said. "He's shooting at the enemy, kicking me, shooting at the enemy, kicking me: 'Sgt. Mechanick, don't you go to sleep.' Shoot a couple of rounds. Kick me. 'Sgt. Mechanick, don't you go to sleep.'"
Two roadside bombs went off close enough to lift the truck off the ground. Haag spotted an Iraqi fleeing a courtyard, detonator still in hand. Haag cut the bomber in half and kept firing, by one estimate 1,500 rounds in all.
Mechanick clung to consciousness as the patrol reached the outpost, and he was flown out by helicopter. He was later told that Haag stayed on the truck with Brown, covering the body with a poncho and keeping a kind of honor guard.
Haag saw that Brown's American flag shoulder patch had been blown off. Haag retrieved it, cleaned it as best he could and handed it to Staff Sgt. Patrick Abrams.
Finally, Haag and Abrams gently lowered the fallen soldier from a vehicle that never should have been used to send them into harm's way. Mechanick later described Brown as "the perfect kid" and recalled that the Army promised when they headed for Iraq in February that they would be given armored vehicles.
"They lied to us," Mechanick said.
No armor guarantees protection, but even unarmored Humvees would have at least been low to the ground and fast. One detail did not escape Mechanick's attention as he lay at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, watching news reports of his company's May 2 encounter with Thomas Hamill.
"What was in the background? Five-tons," Mechanick said.
Mechanick is now back home, trying to adjust to a country that imagines itself not at war and hoping we will learn something from Brown's death. Haag is still in that place called The Sandbox, riding RPG magnets, known to be extraordinarily bright and a talented artist as well as a soldier whose courage would be called uncommon had he not so many brave comrades.
I was expecting to read a non-stop commendation of a true American Soldier. I was wrong........
Sounds like a Medal Of Honor winner.
For the military, 1-offs or evern 300-offs aren't viable due to the separate supply chain necessary for them. That's why the military tries to standardize on certain vehicle types and then make variants. Depending on the circumstances, it is likely a lot cheaper to keep more armored HMMWVs or Strykers coming off the assembly line than to pull these out of mothballs and support them in the field.
Anti-RHINO is right.
And I don't blame the Sgt. for beefing about the failed delivery of armored vehicles. Holy Christmas! Look what those guys have been through.
Thanks for the heads up. I've been out of the net for a few weeks, and fixing to go to the field next week, getting ready for our turn in the box. Good read.
regards,
Wow , I was doing a search on my own name but I never thought I'd find something like this . My name is Timmy Haag , 22 years old . Loser . I'm an automatic rifleman with 2nd Platoon Charlie Comapny 2nd/108th Light Infantry Battalion . I was fortunate enough to have the honor of serving with the greatest group of guys on Earth . I love my job and I love serving this country , and I plan on doing it till the army takes my boots away . I am not prejeduce against the Iraqis and/or insurgents I killed , we were both fighting for what we believe in and did what had to be done . I recieved a Purple Heart for very minor wounds and a Bronze Star . I didn't go to Iraq wanting anything but to get my buddies home and if I was lucky me too . I don't care about the politics of this country , because no matter who is in charge money and power will corrupt them eventually , so I don't stress about that . As for the armored vehicles or better , lack of armored vehicles . Rumsfield was right : You do go to war with the military you have . We'll learn from the mistakes and tough lessons and over come them . I'm new to this site and I think its great from what I've seen thus far , so I'll be around . Right now , I've been home for almost 3 months , I hang out with a lot of my buddies everyday and I'm trying to get back into the civillian world . I miss a lot of things and at the same time I don't . I think its important for everyone in this country to voice their opinions about whats bothering them and hopefully that will turn into action . But please contiue to support the troops , because the cold hard realtiy they're carrying our way of life on their shoulders and continuing to drive on and complete the mission . Thank you for reading me . PS: Anyone want to hire a body guard ?
Oh yeah SSG Mechanick is the man . He trained our squad hard and long on everything we MIGHT need to know . Our 9 man squad was always , cold , wet , and nasty , during the train up before we hit the sand box , and it obviously paid off . He was an asshole when he needed to be . Mack speaks his mind and if something is F'ed up he'll let you know it .
One more thing and this is just my opinion , Keep your armour I'll keep my boots . Timmy out .
Spec Haag
Thanks for the update. A special thank you for your service, and congratulations on receiving a Bronze Star.
Well deserved, I might add.
a mosque flying the fedayeen flag
Target acquired...
Wow. Thanks for stopping by.
Your service is truly appreciated. It sounds like you went far beyond the call of duty.
Thank you!
American hero responds.
From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
I guess by now you know I can't resist a story like this. I guess I must have pinged many of you when the story was new.
God bless you, Timmy Haag! Welcome to FReeRepublic.com!
Are you assigned to the 42nd Infantry Division or the 27th Infantry Brigade, or could the latter be assigned to the 42nd ID, and were you told that your unit would become mechanized infantry?
Yeah, that's about the rights of it.
As you SECDEF, will I have you permission to get a lot of really outstanding new and modern equiptment?
BTW, Dad proofed the M1---perfection!
:-)
Probably, most FReepers are their own body guard. I suggest maximizing your educational benefits. I believe you have free tuition from SUNY and CUNY schools of higher education. Please, use it to the max.
'PS: Anyone want to hire a body guard ?'
lol, no, .. thanks to YOU and your buddies we don't usually have the need to hire body guards...but if I had a job to offer, doing ANYTHING, you'd be the first guy I would hire! Young men of determination, strength and experience...the returning soldiers...will be the vanguard of remaking this country the strong assertive Republic it was intended to be.
Thank you for your service.
neverdem, thanks for the ping
Thanks for your service! Y'all are doing a great job, and I wouldn't rather have anyone else representing America.
Have you been to the FReeper Canteen yet?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1372725/posts
ping-worthy. meet a new friend.
Welcome to FreeRepublic.com, Timmy Haag.
From the article:
From the same New York Army National Guard unit that picked up escaped hostage Thomas Hamill comes word of a young soldier who killed 20 or more Iraqi insurgents when his patrol was ambushed on Easter Sunday. Spec. Timmy Haag of South Glens Falls, N.Y., made his remarkable display of courage and cool under fire as C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 108th Light Infantry was conducting a sweep of southern Samarra in open 5-ton trucks. The vehicles are so slow and high-riding that it borders on the criminal to transport soldiers on them into a known hot spot bristling with rocket-propelled grenades.
Have you seen auto plants shift over to military production, instead of 2005 shiny mobiles?
Have the borders been locked down?
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