PDA

View Full Version : Iraq War Veteran Would 'Do It Again in a Heartbeat'



thedrifter
02-03-06, 01:20 PM
Iraq War Veteran Would 'Do It Again in a Heartbeat'
Friday, February 03, 2006
USA

POWELL, Wyo. — "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Despite being wounded three times in three different conflicts and battling pain from shrapnel he still carries in his back, veteran Gary Peabody would do it all over again.

"Its my country," he said.

The wounds that ended Peabody's military service came early in the Iraq invasion in a brutal battle near Baghdad. He was one of only seven in his unit who survived the battle; last Thanksgiving, one of the other survivors committed suicide.

Now at home on disability, Peabody has, himself, battled depression and bad dreams as well as pain, but said he is now recovering "with the help of Jesus."

Peabody comes from a military-oriented family. His father fought in three wars, and Peabody's twin brothers served in Vietnam. One was wounded during the Tet Offensive in 1968 and one died in the battle of Khe Sanh.

Today, his oldest son, Matthew, is stationed in Iraq with the 4th Infantry.

Peabody grew up in Wisconsin, and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1987. During his tour, the U.S. invaded Panama, and he was hit by a mortar fragment during the action.

He left the Marines in 1991 and moved to Powell, where he had vacationed with his family, "because I always wanted to move out here."

He met and married his wife, Shari, and worked for Big Horn Enterprises.

But in 2001, things weren't going so well economically for his family, and he talked to a recruiter about re-entering the military. He enlisted in the Army and began basic training.

Then came the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Two days later, Peabody graduated from basic.

He was in one of the first units deployed to Afghanistan, and spent six months in the mountains pursuing the Taliban. He received his second wound when a bullet hit his flak jacket. The bullet didn't penetrate, but broke a plate in the jacket, which caused the injury.

"I don't even remember being shot," Peabody said. "I just found myself lying on the ground. I didn't think I had even been hurt."

But the impact had caused some internal damage, and Peabody was put on convalescent leave.

When the Iraq war began, Peabody was stationed with the 12th Infantry in Kuwait. He was technically still convalescing from the injuries he had received in Afghanistan, but he had signed a waiver to be deployed with a Stryker brigade as a sergeant.

When the 2003 invasion began, his unit advanced into Iraq and initially met light resistance, but the resistance stiffened as they approached Baghdad. The unit was deployed in the Baghdad area as a blocking force. Iraqi units attacked, but American firepower destroyed their armor and they withdrew.

Peabody's final battle came when his platoon, with one Bradley fighting vehicle, was sent into a suburb on a reconnaissance in force mission.

"They let us walk right into town," Peabody said. "Then it seemed like the gates of Hell opened up. I counted 11 RPGs in the air at once."

The Bradley was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, wounding the Peabody also credits church members for "the love I received there when I was near the bottom."

Peabody traveled to Denver recently for medical evaluation. A piece of shrapnel lodged close to his spine has him in pain much of the time, and neurosurgeons will be examining him to see if the shrapnel can be safely removed. His hope is that he can eventually go back to school and possibly learn to fly.

Despite his troubles, Peabody doesn't regret his service in Iraq. He believes the invasion has taken the war to the terrorists who "are over there going after our soldiers who can shoot back instead of attacking us here."

"We're helping a nation that was being murdered by a madman," Peabody said of former leader Saddam Hussein. "He was a dictator that needed to be removed."

"I was proud to serve my country," Peabody said.

Ellie