I tried to edit this story of how Carter got blown up as little as possible; it’s the actual e-mail conversation Carter and I had a couple of weeks ago. There are 2 separate stories, and I guess I could have made it two entries but the one kind of leads to the other.
I put this one on this blog and the Herb’s Friends blog because it affected me directly that my buddy almost got himself blown up.
IED is “Improvised Explosive Device” or what the drive-by media refer to as a “Roadside Bomb.” “dew” is Mountain Dew.
I also did not fix all the language and/or grammar and/or spelling problems. I figure, if you got blown up, you are welcome to say what you want. For a while anyway. Until I get tired of you.
I am sorry to report that even his getting blown up didn’t improve his looks, though.
The IED from hell
Thu, Apr 13, 2006 at 6:47 AM
Carter
To: Herb
massive f****** IED the other day,4 dead,one guy 30 per cent burns,but stable.All the XOs went to inspect it today after it got hauled back-OMG……..2 130mm arty shells just blew it to f***
Thu, Apr 13, 2006 at 1:38 PM
Herb
To: Carter
Wow. You were an acting XO?
Fri, Apr 14, 2006 at 1:09 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
yeah,told you that-been the XO for awhile now
Fri, Apr 14, 2006 at 3:53 AM
Herb Thiel
To: Carter
You didn’t say what got blown up. Hummer?
Fri, Apr 14, 2006 at 5:11 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
a bradley-it blew a huge hole in the floor of the crew compartment and killed the 2 JAFOs back there-the gunner was trapped,but the TC and driver made it out,although both were severely burned.We were looking at it,and under the engine/tranny was a sheet of quarter inch steel,which held up-but it did’nt extend as far back as the JAFO seats-a couple hundred bucks in steel could have saved these guys-maybe.We’re looking at local modifications our wrench elements can do to increase survivability.
Sun, Apr 16, 2006 at 1:21 PM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
we had the memorial service tonight for our dead.it got a bit intense.
Tue, Apr 18, 2006 at 4:39 AM
Herb Thiel
To: Carter
I’m sorry.
Wed, Apr 19, 2006 at 12:46 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
another guy KIA yesterday. it was the commander of Alpo Troop-they got him with an EFP-explosive fired projectile-a new twist on IEDs-sort of an improvised disposable cannon,firing a length of steeel rod that will penetrate the armor on the guntrucks.It breached the armor and went through his helmet.I went out yesterday,down to the town of Saba al boor,which was where our guys were killed in the other IED last week.It was uneventful,other than getting stuck in a traffic jam on the Baghdad freeway….
Fri, Apr 21, 2006 at 4:02 AM
Herb
To: carter
That’s sick.
Fri, Apr 21, 2006 at 1:20 PM
Carter
To: Herb
the EFP or the traffic jam?
Sat, Apr 22, 2006 at 4:33 AM
Herb
To: carter
I was thinking about the EFP, but the traffic sounds bad, too.
Sat, Apr 22, 2006 at 6:38 AM
Carter
To: Herb
alpo troop got hit by mortar fire today-5 WIAs,but no dead-and they caught 2 bad guys-the trunk of their car was chock full of IED components
Sun, Apr 23, 2006 at 5:51 AM
Herb
To: carter
HWere do the get that stuff?
Tue, Apr 25, 2006 at 11:37 AM
Carter
To: Herb
common household items-oh,had some first hand expewrience with an IED today….
Wed, Apr 26, 2006 at 3:23 AM
Herb
To: carter
You better be careful. What happened.
Wed, Apr 26, 2006 at 8:24 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
I was om a missionwith the S-3,and was riding shotgun in the 3rd vehicle-went down a road,heard a big boom,and decided to test the flying abilities of an M1114 HUMVEE…blew us off the road,hit a culvert and were bouncing across a field before the truck stopped-I got everyone out of the truck and out on security(even though I was like the 3rd ranking guy on the truck,with an american captain and Estonian major being aboard)-we looked for the triggerman to kill him,but did’nt see anyone.we waited for recovery assets and EOD to show up and waited forever….they finally showed up,along with a platoon of pissed off Estonian infantry to sweep the village looking for suspects.All five of us on the truck walked away with nothing more than bruises(well,I slopped dew all over myself when it went off,and ripped my pants).EOD said it was 2 artillery shells-one 130mm and one 152mm.they burrowed underneath the shoulder of the road and buried it,but buried it too deep,as we were just about on top of it when it went off,and the road and the dirt took most of the blast.
Thu, Apr 27, 2006 at 3:16 AM
Herb
To: carter
Well, thank God they didn’t know how far to bury it. I guess everybody’s prayers for you are working, except that your still ugly. Mind if I post that one, and the pics? I only do if you say it’s okay. I don’t want to mess up any security issues.
Thu, Apr 27, 2006 at 5:45 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
yeah,go ahead and post it-nothing in the pic that the insurgents don’t know already.Just glad I walked away from it-CPT ***** has added leaving the wire to list of things like making coffee that I’m not supposed to do-and they’re starting to refer to my coffee as “aggravated assault”
Wed, Apr 26, 2006 at 8:53 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
a couple pics after the IED yesterday-does’nt show the crater as well as I’d like,but you can still see it was a sizable blast
Thu, Apr 27, 2006 at 3:09 AM
Herb
To: carter
Wow! How close were you?
Thu, Apr 27, 2006 at 6:01 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
right on top of it
Fri, Apr 28, 2006 at 3:45 AM
Herb
To: carter
Yeah, read the story later. God’s looking out for you!
Fri, Apr 28, 2006 at 8:34 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
I’m a member of the IED survivor club-and the weird thing is,I knew we would get hit that day,but was’nt afraid in the least-well,our PFC driver DID piss himself…but as the truck was flying through the air,I really was’nt too worried
Sat, Apr 29, 2006 at 3:35 AM
Herb
To: carter
Well, maybe God didn’t want ya to die with that fin ya owe me still on yer conscience.
Sat, Apr 29, 2006 at 11:12 AM
Carter
To: Herb Thiel
uh,hello….YOU owe ME that fin-plus 30 altairian dollars and a cup of mus and a greaseburger and……………
Sat, Apr 29, 2006 at 2:48 PM
Herb Thiel
To: carter
No, you ‘re confused. You owe me the fin, 30 Altairian dollars and a beer milkshake. Since I quit drinkin’ you kin have that.
And that was how my buddy Carter almost got himself blown up. Some people will do anything to get out of payin’ ya back, won’t they?
Oh, BTW, if you’re the lib with the 400 bumper stickers (They always seem to plaster their nice little cars with 100’s of paint-wrecking stickers) one of which said, “If you’re for the war, enlist” I tried to catch you and shout at you, “I’ll let you know that not only did I do my time you draft-dodging coward, I did try to re-enlist.” Of course, with my luck, it would the day you loaned it to your conservative, gun-toting, brother-in-law who’s already mad about having to borrow it.
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