Lewis-McChord soldiers in Afghanistan see sudden action
ADAM ASHTON
The (Tacoma) News Tribune
The insurgents didn’t have a chance. Helicopter surveillance spotted them moving to a weapons cache and preparing to bury a powerful homemade bomb. It weighed 45 pounds, and they took turns carrying it. From the air, Apache helicopters laced into the insurgents with automatic cannons. On the ground, an infantry platoon from Joint Base Lewis-McChord marched to find the explosive and complete the job.
The Stryker soldiers looked to have won the opening round in the Taliban’s annual spring offensive, and it was a fight the enemy picked. But they still had a long night ahead with unknown dangers in the dark. They had to find out whether the insurgents had laid other bombs before they’d been spotted. And they had to secure the weapons cache. “There’s still a mine out there,” said the mission planner, Capt. Brian Rieser of Lacey. Spc. Eric Pollack of Puyallup treaded lightly as the platoon approached the scene, looking for mines, sticking in tight single-file formation.
Pfc. Uriel Velazquez, a medic, made it to a wounded insurgent and tried to give aid, but the man was near death.
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Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Lewis-McChord medic tries to save insurgent in Afghanistan
Will this story get as much coverage as Staff Sgt. Bales?
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