PDA

View Full Version : Military Perspective, America's Finest



thedrifter
02-06-06, 06:34 PM
America’s Finest
Blogged in Military Perspective, America's Finest by CJ Monday February 6, 2006

I don’t do the “Doing Great Things” as much any more because I just don’t have the time nor the resources to keep up with it. I’m keeping the category because I’m sure I’ll find stuff to categorize there now and then. So, as I visit with these soldiers, I’m going to publish them under the new Category, “America’s Finest.”

I went to Walter Reed today to meet with a soldier who was injured in a suicide bombing. SGT Steve Markhill was manning a static checkpoint in the Abu Ghraib district in December of last year (I believe it was the 12th, but I forgot to turn on my recorder). There were on an overpass checking vehicles and on the lookout for terrorists. The overpass they were manning was used frequently by the Iraqi Army (IA). They would drive their vehicles through it often.

The terrorists saw an opportunity. Either stolen or given to them by a sympathizer, the terrorists were able to obtain a vehicle that resembles the trucks driven through the checkpoint by the IA. They packed the truck with ball-bearings and other materials to create shrapnel and then hooked up their explosives and trigger for the device. They drove the truck towards the checkpoint. Because it resembled a friendly vehicle, the soldiers were slow to react.

The last thing Steve remembers was someone shouting “STOP THAT TRUCK” and his gunner began traversing the .50 Cal machine towards the terrorists. Instantly the truck exploded about 25 feet away from him. The explosion was so strong it blew a hole in the bridge they were on. The blast threw him back. As he was being thrown, he was able to grab the rear bumper of his HMMWV. He felt pain in his stomach and legs. Steve kept himself calm by insisting the wind was knocked out of him. He tried to pull himself up by his arm but wasn’t able to. He again reminded himself that he’s fine and just needs to calm down. Again, he attempted to pull himself up to his feet. His efforts were in vain.

It was at that moment that he looked down at his injuries. He pulled his ballistic vest away from his body and instantly blood was gushing from his stomach wounds. Shrapnel had torn through his stomach and right leg, tearing body parts and internal organs. One of his buddies came around the truck and dragged him to safety. He later picked him up and put him in the truck next to his gunner who was unconscious from the blast knocking his head into the .50 cal.

Before going to Iraq, Steve liked to power lift. he was about 225 pounds of mostly muscle. A very active guy by nature, he had studied to be a firefighter and wanted to join the SWAT team when his time in the Army was over. He’s not a soldier that was prone to sitting on the sidelines and letting life pass him by. He was scheduled to go to the Staff Sergeant promotion boards just weeks after he was hit. That board will have to wait.

Steve never once lost consciousness during the whole ordeal. Many soldiers lose hours, days, even months of their lives as they struggle to regain consciousness after such an attack. Steve says he was lucky just to be alive.

Steve is married to beautiful Shelly (I hope I spelled that right), from Yuba City, California, about 4 years ago, about the same time he joined the Army. It was there that she learned of her husband’s injuries. She received a call that told her he had been injured but it was just a stomach injury, nothing of the scale she would later see for herself. Her complaint is that they weren’t open with her when she got that initial call from Germany. Sensing that things were worse than they made them sound, she immediately made arrangements to be with her hero.

Steve still loves the Army, but being a young, newly married couple, all Shelly has known is Iraq. Being a tanker, there isn’t a whole he can do but train and fight. Unlike some jobs where you can go to a particular post and not have to worry about deploying, there isn’t any such animal for tankers. Every unit a tanker goes to is going to be a deployable unit. Naturally, Steve cares deeply about his wife having to endure any more suffering and is looking forward to being medically retired from the Army.

Steve is a great soldier and NCO. From out talk today, I gathered that he loves the Army and the soldiers he served with. He’s proud of the accomplishments he’s made but admits that it’s frustrating fighting a war where the successes and failures are difficult to gauge. Soldier in a combat zone don’t get beyond their specific scope of fighting. All they know is what they witness first hand on the battlefield. Some witness the worst humanity has to offer and some are privy to the many successes we have.

I told Steve about this week’s IED Roll-Up and impacts that have been made in Iraq. I mentioned some other successes we’ve been having over there and in this war on terror. He was excited to know that we’re going forward and not backwards. “More soldiers should be told about these things,” he said.

There was something about my visit that really distressed me. I asked him if anyone from his unit or Fort Irwin had come to visit him. He told me that his First Sergeant and Troop Commander had stopped by. I asked if the Squadron or Regimental commanders or sergeants major visited. No. Anyone from Fort Irwin leadership? No.

No one can tell me that the leadership at Fort Irwin has so much to do that they can’t take time out of the Ops Updates, Post Awards Ceremonies, and changes of command to visit a soldier that the unit sent to combat and was injured. It’s just bad leadership to ignore those paid a heavy price for this country. While Steve said it didn’t bother him that he hasn’t gotten visits, it bothers ME. Steve is just being humble and soldierly. I am appalled that they think so little of him. It’s not like there are 50 Fort Irwin soldiers at Walter Reed and visiting them all would be difficult.

Now, I’m not naive enough to think that this is being done intentionally. I know the Fort Irwin leadership pretty well and know they aren’t bad people. They may have a lot on their plates at the moment. After all, since Steve injury, the post has been preparing for all the 11th ACR soldiers to return with honor from Iraq. I just don’t think that is a good enough excuse to “forget” one of their own still trying to recoup from injuries sustained in combat.

Other than that, it was a very good visit and I hope to have many more I can post about. I’d like to do this about twice a month, but don’t hold me to it. I want to put faces to the stories we read about. “A soldier died today…” “Three soldiers were injured today when…” etc.