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.
Thanks for the ping!
We are proud of you Mr. Haag - you can eat at my table anytime. All gave some - some gave all.
I noted that too. More anti-armor bashing by the liberal Daily News.
Did you know the Daily news is currently in hot water because they flubbed a newspaper lottery, published the "wrong numbers" and a LOT of people won $100,000+ prizes. Big story in NYC.
Now the Daily News is welching.
Welcome home. Thank you for your service.
CMOH?
LOL, DAMN YOU PEOPLE! Where where you last year?
Welcome home.
I got very nervous reading this article -from a year ago- and praying frantically that it wasn't a follow up with bad news.
Thank God you have returned home safely, Thank God you were there at that exact moment to save the lives of many men, and Thank God we have such men as you to proctect and defend our blessed country.
They cant help putting in some anti Bush crap in every article..
Patriot Ping
lol, that's what happens...
Timmy Haag googled his name and pinged the thread (around 116)...look out...here's another bttt!
It seems to me that at 40 I think of someone who is 20 as a kid, yet, we are reminded conflict after conflict that 20 years olds are no "kids". They can put out as much as anyone, and they have fought and died in every war, winning those wars. It takes senior leadership and experience to get them there, but they always seems to impress.
Before the election, unarmored Humvees weren't the proper vehicle either. I guess the Army can't win. They either ride around in unarmored, low-to-the-ground Humvees, or they ride around in heavily armored, though not invincible, vehicles as large as dump trucks.
Loser?
automatic rifleman?
I don't understand.
You do the same thing that infantry has been doing for thousands of years.
Don't know...I usually avoid the Daily Snooze
I only mention "assuming you are who you say you are" because anybody can sign up an account under any name.
As far as bodyguard work, my understanding is that contract companies like Blackwater only take folks from specops units: SEALs, SF, Rangers etc. You would need to re-up and go out for SF or Rangers for a hitch to later get into Blackwater or similar outfits which train for and conduct personal protection duties.
On the other hand, you might qualify for some civilian jobs in Iraq, such as convoy duty, but I suspect you've seen enough of that.
In any event Timmy Haag, by the news account, you are a hell of a soldier, as brave as they come, and I salute you.
Welcome to FR, and yes, we do support the troops in harm's way, 1,000%!
Welcome to Free Republic, and thank you for your service.
Timmy, I am so very happy that you found us.
Thank you to you and all those who have given so much to do the job that needs to be done.
It is not often that one gets to read a report from the person who made it a report, we also need unfiltered news.
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