Posted on 09/23/2007 7:46:56 AM PDT by paulat
Unexploded Rocket-Propelled Grenade Impales Army Private in Afghanistan By RUTH REISS
[snip]
One RPG skidded past Lt. Mariani's vehicle. All of the vehicles had to quickly get out of the "kill zone." But before they could get to safety, two rockets hit Pvt. Moss' Humvee.
Staff Sgt. Eric Wynn, 33, the soldier in the front passenger seat, felt one slice through his face. Moss remembers the truck practically lift up. He was thrown up against the Humvee and then moved to return fire.
"I smelled something smoking and I looked down ... and I was smoking," he said.
Wynn turned to tell Moss where to fire and saw the tail fins of the RPG sticking out of Moss' side.
Roughly the length of a baseball bat, an RPG travels at the speed of a bullet. At the front end is the warhead -- a large grenade. The detonator and fuel are contained in the shaft. On the back are its fins, pieces of metal that stick out like legs on a camera tripod. The RPG is the weapon of choice for many of the world's guerillas.
Luckily for Moss, the company medic Spc. Jared Angell, 23, who the soldiers call "Doc," was in his Humvee
[snip]
A Human Bomb The RPG that had plowed into Moss' lower abdomen stretched from one hip to the other. If the RPG went off, it would kill everyone within 30 feet of him. Yet Angell stayed close, bandaging his wounds and stabilizing the weapon so that movement wouldn't cause it to explode.
Moss was still fully conscious, so Angell ordered him to not look down at the injury. He didn't want Moss to panic.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Good Morning!
Have to keep it short....More hot and dry today...at least the wind isn’t blowing now...maybe they will kick up again later. Fires all over the place, but none close to me. I just get to smell the smoke and breath the ash.
Later!
Mernin’!
My (step)grandson (marine) just got back yesterday from a tour of duty in Iraq, and got to meet his 9 week old daughter for the first time!
He wanted to be last off the plane, but because of his wife and mother, a policeman entered the plane and asked for my grandson to stand up. The officer then read off my grandson’s accomplishments in Iraq, as well as those of his dog, Dax, who saved his life.
When my grandson was finally able to leave the plane, he was given a police escort, as well as an escort by the Patriot Riders, into town, and there were several media affiliates to record it all.
He will be in Pendelton for at least a year, where he will train his new dog, and then he will go back to Iraq.
I wish I could have been there!
Congratulations! This is not the same grandson as the other grandson, is it? Isn’t the other one in the Army?
That’s Fantastic!
*HUG*
Yes, the other grandson is in the army, and it looks like both of them will be going to Iraq about the same time...about a year from now.
I couldn’t be more proud!
He’s such a good, quiet “kid!”
well, i'm back from an extended "off forum" stay again. more sickness in the family (at age 60, i'm the healthiest of the adults in the family right now.) that required my "presence".
Salute! It’s always nice to hear about this kind of stuff...
Yes it is! I read the email, looked at the photos and bawled like a baby.
But it was a GOOD cry! He is such a great guy! (Or did I say that already?)
My family is fairly lucky, I think. We have all managed to stay healthy, and I think it probably has to do with how and where we were raised, as much as the gene pool we came from.
Prayers for your family (and you!)
That’s great!
Well, congratulations on both your grandsons!
Gin!
Yep, it is!
He’s done his family (and his country) proud!
Rats! I thought we were playing Monopoly!
Only if you already have hotel on park Place.
I couldn’t afford to stay there.
And now it’s time to take lighter-than-air Pat to gymnastics.
Will he be floating home?
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