1173rd Transportation Company convoy leader denies ABC News report (And he's pissed)

The convoy leader of a Rocky Mount-based National Guard unit rebuts an ABC News report that he and other members of the 1173rd Transportation Company abandoned a civilian convoy. By John Cramer

Civilian contractor Preston Wheeler claims a guardsman abandoned him during an ambush in Iraq.

Related Video Watch the ABC News report A Virginia Army National Guard convoy leader and an American truck driver on Tuesday angrily denied an accusation that the guardsmen abandoned a civilian supply convoy that was ambushed in Iraq.

U.S. Army and Guard officials also criticized ABC News for reporting the accusation last week from one civilian contractor driver without getting comment from military commanders, soldiers and other contractor drivers, all of whom said the U.S. troops reacted properly in the firefight on Sept. 20, 2005.

The soldiers, including several from Southwest Virginia, were members of the Rocky Mount-based 1173rd Transportation Company.

The ABC News report included video taken by contractor driver Preston Wheeler of Mena, Ark., that showed an Army gun truck driving away when insurgents opened fire in the village of Ad Duluiyah in the hostile Sunni Triangle.

Military officials said the convoy got lost because of an erroneous map, putting the 15 soldiers in five gun trucks and 13 unarmed drivers in 12 trucks up against 100 to 200 insurgents firing AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades for about half an hour before U.S. air and ground reinforcements arrived.

Three drivers with KBR -- a Halliburton subsidiary -- were killed, three were wounded and four trucks were disabled, blocking the street as the front part of the convoy moved forward and the back of the convoy remained stranded. One soldier was wounded.

Wheeler said U.S. troops didn't return to the scene for nearly 40 minutes, during which he watched insurgents execute two civilian drivers.

"I don't know who the driver was of that Humvee, but he abandoned us," Wheeler told ABC News.

The Army's standard procedure, which soldiers and civilian drivers are briefed on before every mission, requires troops to advance through the ambush "kill zone" so they can regroup and counterattack, military officials said.

The convoy commander, Staff Sgt. Marty Herron, who was riding shotgun in the Humvee in Wheeler's video, said he and his soldiers reacted properly by pushing through the quarter-mile-long kill zone, calling in air and ground reinforcements, evacuating the wounded and directing the movements of gun trucks further back in the convoy.

The two gun trucks remaining at the ambush site fired continuously at the insurgents and a third gun truck returned immediately to the scene, military officials said.

"I'm fed up with ABC and Mr. Wheeler," said Herron, 39, a 20-year combat veteran from Ivanhoe. "I'm very angry. They're accusing us of being cowards. If we abandoned him, why is he back in the U.S. telling his story?"

An Army investigation immediately after the incident found that the soldiers reacted properly.

All 15 soldiers in the convoy received military decorations for their actions during the ambush, including Bronze Stars with V for valor, Army commendation medals with V for valor, Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

"The actions of the unit saved numerous lives during this attack," Lt. Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, a spokeswoman for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, said in a statement. "At no time did any individuals abandon the convoy. They fought back bravely while waiting for reinforcements and attending to the casualties."

Capt. Mike Waterman, the 1173rd's commander in Iraq, said all the surviving civilian drivers except Wheeler say the soldiers reacted properly.

Soldiers at the back of the convoy fought forward to reach the rest of the civilian drivers, including Wheeler, until reinforcements arrived, military officials said.

"To me, those guys are gods," said civilian driver Rick "Poncho" Wynne of Wellpinit, Wash. "I have all the respect in the world for them. If it weren't for them, a lot more people would have died."

Waterman said two gun trucks were initially about 50 yards behind Wheeler's disabled truck before fighting their way forward to him.

"I'm sure he thought it was the insurgents doing all the shooting," Waterman said. "He was freaking out, but he didn't realize two gun trucks were holding off I don't know how many insurgents."

Wynne, who was in the back of the convoy, said the soldiers and most of the drivers remained level-headed, but that Wheeler was hysterical when they reached him.

Wynne said much of the gunfire Wheeler heard while hiding in his truck came from guardsmen who were standing next to the truck, beyond the view of Wheeler's video camera. Wynne said two gun trucks were behind Wheeler's disabled truck within minutes, fighting off insurgents attacking from all directions.

"They stood toe to toe and brung out everyone alive they possibly could against impossible odds," Wynne said.

Helicopter gunships arrived about 15 minutes after the attack started, and ground reinforcements arrived in about 30 minutes, he said.

Wynne said Wheeler, who was shot twice in the arm, continued to scream into the truck's radio that the insurgents were going to get him until Wynne and a soldier pulled him from the truck. "I know you're under fire, but you have to keep your head on your shoulders," Wynne said.

Herron said he ordered one of the gun trucks to return immediately to the ambush site to defend the drivers.

Wynne said another driver later told him the only female soldier in the convoy, Spc. Caroline Kibogy of Roanoke, didn't hesitate when ordered to return to the firefight.

"That's the kind of guys they are, the 1173rd," he said. "They weren't going to leave anybody."

Maj. Gen. Robert Newman, the Virginia National Guard's military commander, said the ABC News report was incomplete and misleading.

He said it "insulted our brave soldiers" by giving the impression that "my guys are cowards who left a fellow American, a helpless guy, to these 'heathens' over there.

"What really insults me is that at a time when this nation is locked in hand to hand combat ... ABC News does this shabby reporting for the sake of a quick sound bite. I expect them to do what any credible news agency would do and present the entire picture."

Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president with ABC News, said the U.S. Army, the Virginia National Guard and Halliburton refused repeated requests to comment for several days before the story aired Sept. 27.

Schneider said the report accurately portrayed Wheeler's experience during the ambush.

ABC News was unable to reach the soldiers and civilian drivers in the convoy because the military and Halliburton refused to release any information, said ABC News producer Rhonda Schwartz.

The day after the report aired, the Army and Guard issued responses, which ABC News posted on its Web site.

The Military
The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate;

he was probably an average student,
pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy,

and has a steady girlfriend

that either broke up with him when he left,

or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm howitzer.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now
than when he was at home

because he is working or fighting

from before dawn to well after dusk.

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thus letter writing is a pain for him,

but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds

and reassemble it in less time in the dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature

of a machine gun or grenade launcher

and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines

and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop

or stop until he is told to march.

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but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.

He has two sets of fatigues:

he washes one and wears the other.

He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

he sometimes forgets to brush his teeth,

but never to clean his rifle.
He can cook his own meals,

mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.

If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.

He'll even split his ammunition with you

in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons

and weapons like they were his hands.

He can save your life - or take it,

because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian ,

draw half the pay

and still find ironic humor in it all.

He has seen more suffering
and death then he should have

in his short lifetime.

He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies,

and helped to create them.
He has wept in public and in private,

for friends who have fallen in combat
and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body

while at rigid attention,

while tempering the burning desire to

'square-away' those around him

who haven't bothered to stand,
remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out,
far from home,

he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather,

and Great-grandfather,

he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy.

He is the American Fighting Man

that has kept this country free

for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return,

except our friendship and understanding.
Remember him, always,

for he has earned our respect

and admiration with his blood.

And now we even have women over there in danger,
doing their part in this tradition

of going to War

when our nation calls us to do so.

As you go to bed tonight,

remember this shot..

A short lull, a little shade

and a picture of loved ones in their helmets

Prayer wheel for our military... please don't break it. Please send this on after a short prayer.

Prayer Wheel

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families

for the selfless acts they perform for us

in our time of need. Amen."

Prayer :

When you receive this,

please stop for a moment and say a prayer
for our ground troops in Afghanistan , sailors on ships, and airmen in the air,
and for those in Iraq .

There is nothing attached....

This can be very powerful.......

Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Coastguardsman, Marine
or Airman, prayer is the very best one.
I can't break this one, sorry
This is a ribbon for soldiers fighting in Iraq . Pass it on to everyone and pray.

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