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thedrifter
09-29-05, 06:09 AM
Marine recounts deadly incident in Iraq
MCB Camp Pendleton
Story by Lance Cpl. Ray Lewis

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Sept. 29, 2005) -- Think female Marines are any safer than their male counterparts in Iraq?

Tell that to Sgt. Alisha J. Harding.

“It just wasn’t our day,” said Sgt. Alisha J. Harding, reflecting on the fateful day when she and 12 other servicemembers be-came the target of a car bomb in Fallujah, Iraq, June 23.
Harding, along with 11 Marines and one sailor, were traveling to Camp Fallujah in a 7-ton truck when the
vehicle was hit.

“We were on the way back … from working entry control points searching Iraqi women,” said Harding, a multi-channel radio operator with Headquarters Battery, 11th Marine Regiment.

In Iraq, many female Marines are tasked with searching Iraqi women as a show of respect for the local culture and customs.

As Harding and the others approached the first entrance coming into Fallujah, an unknown vehicle containing three people advanced toward Harding’s 7-ton truck. After initially halting at the request of the Marines, the vehicle turned out and left the area.

Suddenly, the vehicle containing a man, a woman and a child and two propane tanks sped for Harding and the other servicemembers, striking the side of their truck.

“I remember distinctly hearing the explosion – a hiss, then the bomb – a big explosion,” said Harding.
Harding said she then saw a ‘big ball of fire’ coming toward the truck with ‘tons of black smoke.’

“I wasn’t scared or nothing but adrenaline was definitely pumping,” she said.

“My main concern was getting the (hurt) females out of the area,” she added.

Five Marines and one sailor were killed in this incident.

With a contused knee, second- and third-degree burns, Harding rolled out of her truck, grabbed other wounded female Marines and took them to safety behind the truck.

“Then I grabbed more (females) and led them to the other 7-ton in front of us,” Harding said.

Harding said her injuries didn’t stop her from moving forward even after the incident.

“I just put my pack back on and kept going,” she said.

“I’m ready to go back out (to Iraq). It’s my job – it’s what being a Marine is all about,” she said.

Harding encourages other other Marines to stay resilient during deployments.

“Stay strong and keep your mind in the game because you’ll never know what duty you’ll get,” she said.

Ellie

thedrifter
10-04-05, 08:39 AM
2nd MAW NCO of Quarter works hard with light heart
2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story by Cpl. James D. Hamel

AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 3, 2005) -- At first glance, Cpl. Deborah L. Myatt, administrative clerk for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 764, doesn’t seem like the prototypical recipient for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter award.

The third-year Marine from Lancaster, Calif., is known by those she works with for her sense of humor, and for good reason. But there’s a lot more to Myatt than a few jokes.

“She livens things up,” said Cpl. Ryan M. Brown, an administrative clerk with HMM-764 and Chino Hills, Calif., native. “She’s like the clown of the office, but not in a bad way. She’s a really hard worker.”

Myatt is one of the reserve squadron’s active duty Marines. After looking into other services, she had given up on the military.

“The Air Force kept blowing me off and the Army offered me a lot of money. But I wasn’t joining for the money,” she said. “I never wanted to join the Navy and my parents said they’d never let me be a Marine.”

When a high school friend came home from recruit training, Myatt’s interest was sparked, and eventually her parents relented.

“They were not all about it, but they came around and they are very proud,” she said.
After completing all the necessary training, Myatt spent a year in Okinawa, Japan, before receiving orders to HMM-764. When the unit deployed to Iraq, she was happy to support a mission she cares about.

“People who protest the war don’t know what it’s about,” she said. “In the long run, it’s not about (weapons of mass destruction). It’s about people and about the freedom to not be afraid. Protestors need to realize that.”

In Iraq, Myatt has grown into a better Marine and a more confident leader. She wore a tan belt when she arrived in Iraq, the lowest qualification level in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. When HMM-764 leaves Iraq, Myatt will wear a green belt, a considerable accomplishment in seven months. But Myatt’s peers have also noticed other improvements that are harder to measure.

“She’s a good Marine, a fast learner,” said Sgt. Raymond M. Garcia Cartijo, the squadron administration chief and Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, native. “She trains junior Marines and her peers and ensures they’re taken care of, and she hasn’t been a corporal for that long.”

It came as no surprise when Myatt won the NCO of the Quarter award for her squadron. The real challenge was the competition that came next.

“(The MAG-26 NCO of the Quarter competition) was scary,” she said. “There were so many people there I thought, ‘No way am I going to win this!’” But she did, and went on to win the next competition, for the entire 2nd MAW.

When the Commandant and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps came to Al Asad, they ate lunch with Myatt and other outstanding Marines. Sergeant Maj. of the Marine Corps John L. Estrada announced and personally rewarded the 2nd MAW NCO of the Quarter.

“I jumped when he called my name,” she said. “It was definitely one of the top five experiences of my life.”

As Myatt and the rest of her squadron prepare for their return home, she looks forward to where her Marine Corps career will take her next. If she is promoted again, Myatt would like to become a drill instructor. If not, she plans on leaving active duty and going to college. But even if she decides to do it, Myatt said she’ll join the reserves.

“Rifle qualifications, physical fitness tests and the rest all motivate me,” she said. “I’m going to stay in. I love being a Marine.”

Ellie

thedrifter
10-05-05, 07:38 AM
California paper adds 2nd MAW pilot to list of '2005 Military Women of Merit'
2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story by Cpl. James D. Hamel

AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 4, 2005) -- Capt. Jessica M. Moore is one of a handful of female AH-1 Cobra pilots. As the daughter of a Navy radar intercept officer, Moore had never planned to join the military, and even if she had, the Marine Corps seemed the least likely option.

“My dad wanted me to join the Navy or the Air Force,” she said. “But, I was always impressed with the Marine Corps, and when I decided to join the military, the Marine Corps was the only branch I wanted to join.”

Perhaps it was the choice to join the Marine Corps, or maybe it was a successful deployment to Afghanistan and a successful first month in Iraq. Regardless of reasons, the North County Times, a large San Diego area newspaper named Moore one of its 2005 Military Women of Merit, an award recognizing outstanding female service members.

Moore was notified of her award in mid-September, and though the Poway, Calif., native is proud, she’s not the type of Marine to brag.

“I’ve kind of kept it on the down low,” she said. “It’s one of those things, you don’t want to highlight yourself.”

Moore’s low-key personality is evident in the way she conducts herself around the squadron. She’s not condescending when dealing with junior Marines. Neither is she arrogant when dealing with her superiors.

“She’s kind of quiet, very focused and hard working,” said Lt. Col. Lawrence E. Killmeier, the commanding officer of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167, the unit Moore belongs to. “She wanted to keep this under the radar because she said she was just doing her job.”

Killmeier took command of the squadron a short time before the deployment. In that time, he’s realized that in a squadron of elite pilots and officers, Moore holds her own.

“A slightly above average officer falls behind the pack in HML/A-167,” he said. “With my pilots, we don’t care about male or female. They perform well and do their job.”

For Moore, the award is as much about her parents as it is about her. Because she was deployed, her parents accepted the award at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. For her mother and father to accept the award in her stead is a quiet tribute to the two people who have had the greatest impact on her life.

“I’m really lucky to have such good relations with my family,” she said. “They are my inspiration.”

Though she would have enjoyed receiving her recognition in person, Moore said the real honor is being able to perform the tasks that won her recognition in the first place.

“I’m glad I’m here,” she said. “We train really hard to do our job and it’s good to support the guys on the ground.”

Ellie

thedrifter
10-05-05, 07:43 AM
Purple Heart recipient describes attack
2nd Force Service Support Group
Story by Lance Cpl. Matthew K. Hacker

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Oct. 4, 2005) -- It was June 23, 2005, when 20 Marines boarded a seven-ton truck and began their treacherous journey back to Camp Fallujah, Iraq. What happened a short distance down the road is something that has, and will, continue to change their lives forever.

Sitting in the second to last seat in the back, on the right side of the truck, was Lance Cpl. Erin Liberty of Niceville, Fla., an ammunition technician with Ammunition Company, 2nd Supply Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group. She remembers talking with the female Seabee next to her, when a series of combined explosions violently lifted the truck from both sides.

“When it blew up, we all flew back and then forward again in our seats,” said Liberty. “I looked at the girl next to me and saw her bounce up and down in the flames. I just closed my eyes and waited for it to end. I felt myself being thrown in the air, but my eyes remained shut. When I impacted the ground, I realized nothing hurt. I felt everything that was happening, but it was like there was a bubble around me, because when I hit the ground and woke up, I felt no pain. I looked at my hands and saw the skin hanging off my left pinky finger, but it still didn’t hurt. Not then. ”

Lying on the ground and covered in dust, she knew it was an improvised explosive device, but it was later she learned it was constructed of five, 155-millimeter incendiary rounds and a few propane tanks, according to Liberty. They had gone off about six feet from each side of the truck.

Trying to recover from the concussion and the ringing in her ears, she looked over and saw the Seabee she had spoken too just seconds before the blast.

“She was lying next to me, unconscious,” Liberty added. “I tried to pull her away from ground zero, but there was a firefight happening at the same time, so a few guys pulled me off and threw me against the wall. I wanted to go back for her, but the way the truck was positioned, it rolled over on top of her before I could.”

After the firefight had died down and the injured Marines and sailors were recovered, they loaded onto another vehicle and headed straight for the Battalion Aid Station at Camp Fallujah, according to Liberty.

“We then just jumped on another seven-ton and drove away,” Liberty said. “We all just sat there in silence, except for the sounds of discomfort and pain. I can still see the people with their skin hanging off of them. I remember seeing this girl with blood all over her flak jacket and the skin on her fingers falling off. Then, suddenly the silence broke, when a girl in the back of the truck started singing, Amazing Grace. I remember praying to God, and thanking Him that I was alive.”

When they returned to the camp, they were rushed into the surgical unit, but all the serious and critical injuries were rushed in first. Liberty walked in after everyone else, following the blood trails, she said.

They fixed both of her badly burned hands before she went back to her room. When she got there, she saw she got some packages from home that day.

“One was from my mom. She got me the most gorgeous rosary,” said Liberty. “That night, I just remember lying in bed, praying to let me forget about it. I tried to sleep that night, but obviously I couldn’t sleep much. All I wanted was to just wake up in the morning and feel like it didn’t just happen. The whole thing just kept playing in my mind.”

The next morning, she remembers waking up and thanking God, because her thoughts of the present, rather than the tragic events of the day before. She was glad to feel that, but with the morning sun came a new pain. Her neck began to hurt, so she went back to the BAS.

The doctors told Liberty she had broken a cervical vertebrae in her neck and she was going to have to return to the United States.

She returned to Camp Lejeune shortly after the incident and has been on convalescent leave since July 3. Not long after she went on leave, she received her Purple Heart Medal.

“It was extremely hard to accept, knowing all the people that had died,” said Liberty. “It’s nothing you can train or practice for, and you always receive it under the worst circumstances.”

Now, she wears a neck brace to assist in stabilizing the break and help with the pain. She is currently recuperating from first, second and third degree burns on her hands and two black eyes in addition to her broken neck.

Liberty will undergo surgery in Florida next month, where they will put a metal plate between her C4 and C5 vertebraes in an attempt to stabilize the break.

In light of the life-altering events she’s been through, she’s still moving forward in her life. Liberty married on Sept. 19, after getting engaged right before she left for Iraq in February.

“It’s been a rough engagement,” Liberty states, with a light, but respectful chuckle.

Liberty confesses, that even though it has been almost four months since the incident, she still has thoughts of that day.

“I wonder what would have happened if those guys wouldn’t have pulled me away from the truck,” Liberty added. “I imagine what would have happened if I had the strength to pull her away. I’m sure that will always stay with me. Honestly, my mind and my heart hurt way more than my body ever will.”

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200510495338/$file/liberty1low.jpg

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – Lance Cpl. Erin Liberty, an ammunition technician with Ammunition Company, 2nd Supply Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group, sustained several injuries when an improvised explosive device blew up near her convoy near Camp Fallujah, Iraq, June 23. The Niceville, Fla., native, received a Purple Heart. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Matthew K. Hacker

Ellie