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.
ping
Then they should start comandeering all the Brinks trucks that come off the line and sending them to Iraq. I can't believe that this man's army doesn't have a GI armored car.
Sounds like a CMH to me. Especially if shooting a wounded teenager who may or may not have had an RPG in the back is Silver Star material, but I shouldn't go there.
The fact that he not only exposed himself to fire, but did it over and over and over again, killed dozens of enemy, saved his sergeant, and refused to be relieved until the body of his buddy had been done for... what in the world could be finer than that?
Yes, not only do we know we are at war, we also know something that Michael Daly may not know -- we are at war on the home front too.
TimmyHaag: Thanks for your brave and courageous service to our country! Welcome home from a Vietnam vet!
REH: Great story!
Assuming you are who you say you are, and I have no reason to suspect otherwise at this point, why the "loser" comment? Was that a typo?
Loser? I don't understand.
No typo. Translation for (some) places in the Tri-State area [NY, NJ, and PA] would be a REGULAR. You could hang 10 medals on his chest today, and he wouldn't think any more of himself (or of the people hanging the medals on his chest) than he did yesterday.
So "loser" in that context is Jersey-speak for "just an ordinary Joe?"
Thanks for the translation, if I've got that right now. The things you learn here!
Thanks for the ping. But I seem to remember this story posted last year. Time enough for a CMH to be processed -- wonder what he eventually got?
You've got it, but for a strict translation you would have to strike "just" and add "with edges". The jihadist revolutionaries got to see some of those edges, LOL!!!
Trav: I thought you were writing and not jacking around on FR (sound of crackin' whip).
Also, Blackwater took two non quals from us, including one who had an NTR letter from SFQC. (Never To Return -- a letter you really don't want -- and it was over a character issue). They have taken some guys whose high-speed didn't go much further than poolside. By the way, I'm told SFAS has a GONG now, shamelessly cribbed from y'all's bell.
Timmy -- there is an SF company in the Mass. National Guard that has a lot of members from NY State in it -- more than from Mass. actually. If you think you (or Mechanick) are interested FReepmail me and I'll get you into contact with the right guys. It's not for everybody, not even for every good soldier, because it is a life "outside the box." Yes, it's soldiering, but it's different, and while you have great power, you have to exercise great discipline/responsibility with it.
Just a suggestion to a soldier who did the right thing when the bell rang and the fight was on. Most of the sickeners in our training are there to find guys like you have already shown you are, guys who keep thinking when it's pretty, ah, busy. Agree, Trav?
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Armored HMMWVs are relative slugs in moving, lose most of their off-road ability, and wear out quickly as they trash their own suspension. The armor also drastically reduces the (cargo and troops) carrying capacity of the vehicle.
One of the documents I saw here on FR showed the armored version of the HMMWV having a 0-50 of a shade under 18 seconds.
An armored (cargo) vehicle would have been ripped up just as much by the RPGs, and would have encouraged the people to stay inside instead of acting like infantry. Getting out and taking the battle to the enemy is what saved many lives. It's usually what saves the lives. Until you get to the point of having a real infantry fighting vehicle, effective armor stops outgoing fire as much as incoming.
Good job Timmy Haag.
Thanks for your deeds, and for your service.
Wrong person to reply to.
Plainly every troop should have at least 4 or 5 different vehicle types to select from on a given day.
Sorry. I forgot to separate the comments you were replying to from your reply. Doh!
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.
This is not correct. I have an acquaintance who was a Gunny that spent 12 years in the Marines. Most of the last six as a recruiter and other than jump qualified he has no special training. He just returned from a hitch with Blackwater in Iraq.
Yes I am Timmy Haag .
Automatic Rifleman = M-249 SAW Gunner .
Blackwater sounds like fun , I have to look more into it but hopefully they like my record . We worked with 10th and 5th Group guys a lot and they always requested our unit to work with them . I got hooked on SF and outside of the box is where I'd rather be .
I recieved the Bronze Star . I was originally put in for the Bronze Star with Valor device but it was down graded at Brigade level , I don't think the 1st ID liked my National Guard unit very much . I couldn't care less though .
Michael Daly wants to interview me . I haven't returned his calls .
NBC is doing a story about my buddies and I , how we were friends before the war , what happened in Iraq , what's going on with those that got wounded , and what we're doing now . It should be good , they arn't making a political point , just a story about a bunch of buddies .
Right now I'm trying to get a day job , hopefully with the United Sates Postal Service in my area . Any Post Masters reading this ???
If sleeper jihadists or anyone else wants my blood , well your a moron . I did my patriotic duty and will continue to do so . I tryed my best not to take things personal over there and just do my job .
I am with Charlie 2nd / 108th . From the latest rumors , the rest of the NYARNG is converting to MP's ( F THAT ) , and the 2/108 is staying Light Infantry , getting more funds , and becoming a Unit of Action , which I'm guessing means we get deployed more now ( sweet ) .
I never shot an Iraqi teenager with an RPG in the back , I eliminated the threat before he could eliminate us .
Medal of Honor should be awarded this soldier.
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