For everyone that has watched the 9-APR-2004 video, I would like to give you some insight on the photos that were used. All of the photos were taken during and after the attack and nothing was added to make it more dramatic for the viewer. I also attached a document that was written by Richard E. Killblane Transportation Corps Historian Words alone cant describe what took place. Tommy Hamills photo is the first one you see. This was taken right after he was captured by the Australian news reporter. They made no attempt in helping to get them to release him. The next two photos are of Sgt. Matt Maupin who was captured and later executed. The two photos after Matt Maupins are of Gregory Goodrich and Elmer Krause, both U.S. Soldiers that were part of our escorts, the 724th Transportation group. They were killed during the attack. The next seven photos are the KBR drivers that were killed. Tim Bell, who is the African American, was never found and was later changed from MIA to deceased. A HUMVEE driven by SFC Groff, picked up as many soldiers and drivers as he possibly could. He had a total of 12 men in a HUMVEE that is designed to only carry four. Elmer Krause was hit while sitting on the lab of PFC Walsh. He died within a matter of minutes after being hit. One of the drivers that was picked up by Groff was Steve Fisher. Steve had a wound to his shoulder that severed an artery and bled out before they reached the Khan Dairy which was called FOB Daisy. This is where the convoy ended up at. Towards the end of the video there are three photos of Lt. Brown showing his wounds. He was in the lead vehicle which was one of the first ones hit that day. His driver, Jeremy Church, took control of the convoy and while driving was firing off rounds at the insurgents and attempting to bandage the Lt.s wounds. Lt. Brown lost his left eye from being hit. After the photos of Lt. Brown there are two photos of the truck in which I was driving. The first one was looking out the drivers side windshield. There are two rounds coming in that was fired from an overpass of which neither hit me. I remember looking behind me to see where the rounds exited that cab and couldnt see any holes. To this day I dont see how they missed me. The other photo is what my tuck looked like after I bailed out when I reached another convoy that was sitting on MSR Tampa in the middle of another attack. As you can see in the photo of the windshield, there was no other trucks in front of me. Nor was there any behind me. I was out there by myself. The convoy got split in half and when the gun truck that was in front of me had come to a halt when the bobtail came up to assist another truck that was loosing power from being hit. When the gun truck took off, he missed the exit. He too didnt know what exit we were to take that day. The trucks behind me saw where the other trucks were burning and got off on the ramp leading down to where they were. I often wonder why they didnt follow me instead of going down into that hell hole after they saw those burning trucks. Only one soldier knew that route and he was taken out early on in the attack. At the end of the video it shows the Memorial Wall being painted in five stages. The Memorial Wall was painted from the photo I took going over the elevated bridge prior to the attack. The photos after the Memorial Wall are of Tommys escape, Jeff Parker and Jack Montaque. Next you will see a photo of a man paddling a canoe up a river with mist rising off of the water. That was Steve Fisher. His photo was posted earlier on in the video. He was the one sitting in a white cab-over truck with muddy boots. The last photo is one that was at FOB Scania which was placed there shortly after the attack. It was situated at the front of the staging yard for every driver to see and never forget. Most ambushes only last 100-200 km. This attack was a complex attack and well planned that lasted over 2 hrs. and covered more the 5 miles of highway. Its very difficult to find peace after we experienced something of this magnitude. Just like the last words in the beginning of the video readThe wounds you dont see hurt the most. After this attack, there were people demobbing faster than what the planes could land and take off. Everything was shut down. Some DEFACs were running out of food and MREs were being handed out. The military came to KBR asking for volunteers to run fuel missions. Nearly everyone at TTM raised their hand. The reasons why we stayed changed that day. It was no longer about the money, it was more about who we were doing this for. The soldiers and drivers of the Good Friday Ambush did the best they could with the training and resources they had. The planners had made mistakes in route planning; but even with the best planning, convoys will still drive into kill zones. Specialist Row summed up the experience best, “It wasnt anyone’s fault, it was just hell.” But if anyone had to fight that battle again, there are some things that could be done differently.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 22:08:01 +0000
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