Sgt. Jose Navarro recovers from RPG that went through him

Soldier survived ambush while serving in Afghanistan
By Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/26/2008 11:23:26 PM PDT

POMONA - Sgt. Jose Navarro was anxiously awaiting winter's arrival in Afghanistan.

Once the cold set in, the enemy would take refuge and so could Navarro and the other members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.

It was October when Navarro's convoy of 11 Humvees entered a village to establish relations with the elders and prevent future attacks on U.S. troops.

There was only one way to enter and leave, the 23-year-old Pomona native said, and it was a long, narrow road edged by orchards, mountain sides and steep dropoffs.

"Another platoon had been up there and got wasted," Navarro said. "The terrain favors the enemy."

When the convoy left the village, Navarro was in the second Humvee.

"I was right behind the lead truck coming out of the village and everyone was gone. You know something is going on," he said.

"I saw a dude with a white turban on and I could see his eyes," he said. "He detonated an IED," an improvised explosive device.

Rocket-propelled grenades followed and soon the lead truck was destroyed. The fire shifted to the vehicle Navarro was in.

More RPGs came and Navarro, who was operating a machine gun, fired back.

In the course of the attack, a rocket-propelled grenade hit Navarro. It didn't explode, but left him with massive injuries to his hips and thighs. After passing through Navarro, the grenade kept going. It eventually exploded, injuring five other people in the Humvee, he said.

"I wasn't supposed to be in the gunner hole," he said referring to where he was sitting.

Actually, he wasn't supposed to be on the trip at all. He was 11 months into a 15-month deployment, and had gone out in place of a friend simply because he wanted to be busy that day.
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