Posted on 09/29/2005 5:26:35 PM PDT by SandRat
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Sept. 29, 2005) -- One team of Marines operating with 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, bound together after facing the effects of a deadly improvised explosive device here.
While conducting routine operations with the tanks May 1, the gun truck, known as “Black Three,” was hit by an IED. Marines from Headquarters Platoon, Bravo Company, 2nd Tank Bn., 2nd Marine Division affected by the explosion, Lance Cpls. Jamby Perez and Brandon Wells, and Sgt. Brent Sheets, were riding in the vehicle when the blast occurred.
“It went off right beside our truck,” said Sheets, the truck’s vehicle commander. “We really didn’t have any good way to detect that it was there because the side of the roads were covered in trash.”
Perez, who is a motor transport operator with Bravo Company, said when the IED detonated, the boom was so deafening he temporarily lost his hearing, except for intense ringing in his ears.
“All I heard was sirens,” said Perez, describing his ear’s reaction to the blast. “It was like a police car. I didn’t hear the actual IED go off.”
When Perez realized what was going on, he and others rushed to help fellow Marines who were injured.
“I looked to my right and saw my vehicle commander, Sgt. Sheets,” said Perez, who was piloting the armored humvee at the time of the blast. “Sgt. Sheets was able to get out of the vehicle, but he just collapsed. He was bleeding from his nose and he couldn’t move his knee. I saw my gunner (Wells), and he was dripping blood, but I just didn’t know where it was coming from. He was walking around because he was so hyped up.”
Marines of “Black Two,” another humvee operating with Bravo Company, did what they could to calm and aid their injured teammates until they could be evacuated from the scene.
The “Black Three” driver came out of the explosion unscathed.
“I was the only one who didn’t get hurt,” said Perez. “The biggest two pieces of shrapnel that went through the truck missed me by inches. It would have taken half of my leg off. That’s pretty scary.”
After the attack, Perez was able to return to duty within a week, while the other Marines of “Black Three” recuperated from wounds received in the explosion.
“It took me about two weeks,” said Sheets. “I missed one mission.”
According to Sheets, Wells was back in the turret three weeks later.
“We were able to overcome it through each other, giving each other support,” said Perez. “We were kind of scared of going back out there. Somehow we were just able to overcome it.”
Sheets said the incident made him angry, and he was ready to get back into the fight as soon as he could.
“It makes you push a lot harder when you are out in the field to find the bad guys, because you don’t want that stuff to happen to any other Marine,” he said.
There is something special about the bond the “Black Three” Marines created supporting 2nd Tank Bn., in Iraq, and an IED didn’t stop the team from thriving through the rest of the deployment.
“The bond that we have, I never thought it was possible,” said Perez. “Our crew has never been separated.”
Sheets said the Marines who serve as a quick reaction force for the tanks, dubbed “The Rat Pack,” are a close-knit group in the battalion.
“I think honestly out of everyone in Bravo Company, we have a really good bond because we are always the ones going out with the tanks and clearing these buildings, and we depend on each other a lot more,” said Sheets. “When you go clear buildings and you have that man covering you while you are going in, there is a bond that gets a lot thicker.”
“Black Three” has been very instrumental during operations while attached with 2nd Tank Bn.
“If tanks have a certain mission, we will be the ones to clear houses in that area so the tankers don’t have to dismount,” said Sheets. “We get more involved with the ground than they do. If a tank breaks down, we will go out and set up security for the tanks while they are fixing the problem in the field.”
A deadly IED wasn’t enough to break the bond among the Marines of “Black Three,” or enough to stop the mission of Bravo Company in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Marine PING
I love Marines.
I'm an Army vet, and I'm proud of servicemen of all services...but I just love Marines.
They are always such honorable men.
Damn-it , If I wasn't 53 I'd enlist!!!
BTTT
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