Well, it has taken me some time, but here I am. I was one of the soldiers in 1-64 AR during the "Thunder Runs" into Baghdad. There is a little known story about that day. As mentioned in the article, one of the tanks in my company was disabled and caught fire. The tank was later destroyed not by grenades, though they were used, but by a main gun round of the last tank, one Maverick missile by close air support assets and two JDAMMS (spell). The real part of the unknown story is of the loader and driver of the disabled tank. I drove the 1sgt's M113 and was right behind that tank. Those two soldiers jumped into the back of my vehicle and continued the fight from the rear troop hatch with their M4 carbines. Just before we got to the release point at the airport, they were both wounded. The loader received a head wound and the driver a chest wound from AK-47 fire. We raced them to the airport and our M113 was the first onto the airport grounds from our column. Both soldiers were evacuated by helicopter and survived their injuries.
I personally thank you for your support while we were there and for your continued support of our troops that are there now.
With Best Regards,
SGT Andrew Coffman