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 ...
It’s tough to “be there” for someone when you’re not all there with it yourself.
Hi Sis!
I’m glad you are both doing alright.
*HUGS*
LOL!
Thanks for sharing TC.
;-D
Thanks!
My daughter will appreciate the prayers, when she’s awake enough to understand what I’m saying. ;o]
I figured it was just one more time when I had to be “Mom.” Knowing that she needed me was quite a change from previous years.
But I’ll die on the vine tonight, for sure.
*HUGS*
Thanks, Sweetie. I would never tell her what a strain it was for me, but I wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to give her some extra love.
Oh, you heard about that intraveinous vodka treatment, did you?
It does save a lot of needless walking.
Right now, I could really use a vodka boilermaker. ;o]
Sure! A nice upbeat one called "The New Job" (or something like that) -- sorry, DC!
It has been a wild week. First off, I think I might have mentioned some three weeks back that I had gotten the job I'd pitched to the higher-ups. I was a little concerned about some elements of it as presented to me (almost two weeks later) because the they didn't quite match reality -- but then again, I'm the one familiar with the committees and how they operate; these folks aren't. But overall it looked good, even if I got hit with some relatively heavy initial assignments (tests) -- they're opportunities to show what I can do.
Being a classic overachiever I overshot my first goal this week. The job was to go to a committee meeting in Germany and get myself placed on the board of directors. Not really a big deal, because I'm replacing the prior representative who left the company and he'd greased the skids for me. And did he ever -- I was elected to the Executive Board as Secretary. (It didn't hurt to be well-known and liked by these folks. "Finally we get minutes in good American English," said a wag.)
My bosses are really happy with that -- especially the one in Germany.
But this requires that I attend all meetings, not just the twice a year in the original plan. So this morning I receive a new copy of the plan, I open it... and it says I'm to be at all meetings. Hm. More flexible than I'd thought. (And ugh, 4 trips to Europe each year on top of all existing travel. I better get really used to jet lag!)
But being there so regularly makes my second goal, one that corporate thinks will be difficult, almost a slam-dunk. (I'll spare you the particulars.) It's a little bit political, a little bit technical, and a large part of keeping the right folks talking with each other, conveying the right messages.
But all in all, this is becoming the job of my dreams. Recent dreams, anyway: Once upon a time a job that involved not writing software in some quiet back room but instead inflicting lots of travel, writing magazine articles, public speaking, political negotiations, grasping giant standards in a single bound, etc., would have had me recoiling in horror.
But for now I have a job very few people can do -- I've probably got more job security than most folks my age in this corporation (and industry), and a whole lot more than someone who writes software in some quiet back room.
It looks like the hell of the past seven years here is over. I am rejoicing.
You are absolutely right.
IMNSHO,
The whole point of our struggles is to see every challenge as an opportunity to give more love.
Uh. Excuse my ignorance... what is that?
Unless one has been a really bad mother, there will always be a time when "Mom" is needed.
IMVHO, The whole point an element of our struggles is to see every challenge as an opportunity to give more Christian love.
But that's me.
Nite folks!
Yepper!
Love works!
That’s beer with vodka back, or mixed in. I like the vodka back approach. It makes me mellow!
Ask, ...
I’m pleased that your daughter made it through successfully. I’m sure you were a comfort!
I’m going to be gone all day tomorrow, so don’t expect me between 7:30 and 6:30.
I’m waiting for some laundry to finish before going to bed The catz are exchanging mild hostilities.
Here!
Hello?
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