"Our Gunner's down and he's bleeding from the head!" The shout out over the radio made every heart drop. One of the soldiers in the turret (or hole in the roof) of the last vehicle in the convoy received a blast from a hand grenade someone threw.
I spoke with him today after he was seen by the medics. He stood there holding the scratched glasses that saved his eye sight. He had a Band-Aid over his right temple and was smiling. I couldn't help but think of the comment a good-hearted NCO said of him earlier this morning when he called up the report to higher headquarters. Although he didn't know who the soldier was at the time, he said nonchalantly, "Yeah, one of our guys took some shrapnel to the face, but it's okay, I know the guy and he wasn't that good looking to begin with."
"So," I said to the solider, smiling a little myself while thinking of the comment I had heard earlier, "did you shoot the guy who tried to kill you?" I knew he hadn't, but I wanted to ask anyway.
"No sir," he replied. "I had blood trickling down into my eyes and I couldn't see," he said, still smiling and happy to be alive.
"Well," I said with a big smile, "at least you get a Purple Heart," and I smacked him on the shoulder and winked.
About Me
- Jeffrey Denning
- I'm the author of four books: Warrior SOS, The Work of Death, Together Forever, and Leaders Wanted. I'm in the doc film Please Remove Your Shoes. I've blogged for The Washington Times, and I write for Guns.com. I've worked for the high-profile U.S.-led Roadmap to Mideast Peace in Israel and Palestine. I've also worked as a SWAT team leader, a Federal Air Marshal and a sole-source training instructor on a classified contract with a U.S. government customer. My master's degree is in Military Studies and terrorism. I'm a former noncommissioned and commissioned Army officer, with service in Iraq. I've been Scuba diving and skydiving; I have trained with members of the U.S. Olympic Ski Team, and I'm an FBI-trained crisis negotiator. My interests lie in helping others and in strengthening America through inspiring moral courage, government fiscal responsibility and accountability, and maintaining principles that have made--and will continue to make--the United States of America a blessed and prosperous country. I'm a father of six, a husband, and a police officer. I reside in Utah, and I'm a Mormon. See also https://jeffreydenning.wordpress.com.
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