10 years after Boston Marathon bombing " knowing we all made it through such darkness"

Readers share their memories of the Boston Marathon bombing 10 years later

The Boston Globe
By Jenna Reyes Globe Staff
Updated April 11, 2023

"I cry as I write this because I cry whenever I think about this bombing. Tears of sadness for what happened but also tears of joy knowing we all made it through such darkness and we are all stronger because of it.”-Anonymous, Cambridge

Three women with somber looks on their faces embrace. ( Michael Malyszko)

It’s been nearly 10 years since the domestic terrorist attack that took place at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Three people were killed and hundreds of others were injured when two homemade pressure cooker bombs were detonated near the finish line of the race. Following the attack, two suspects were identified and a manhunt ensued.

For those with a connection to Boston at the time, the week of the 2013 Boston Marathon is one they will never forget.

One decade later, we asked our readers to tell us what memories have stuck with them from the bombing and the days that followed.

No matter how at peace I feel, no matter how much I think I’ve forgiven myself. However much I heal, it’s not enough. It’s hard. It’s not always hard because of the guilt, either. Just all the pain you experience when you live through something like that -- you can’t forget it. So every time there’s a mass shooting, a bombing, news coverage of war, you feel the pain again, because you can feel it when you see it happen to other people. You know what it’s like to feel that terror, live through each moment in that chaos, and make decisions that you have to live with forever.”-Avery S., Arlington

All of us eventually made it home safely that afternoon. Still, I couldn’t shake the feelings of confusion, unease, and sadness. This attack hit too close to home—a place where I felt safe—and it left me more unsettled than I wanted to admit. But the tragedy did bring me closer to my family, friends, and city.”-Ryan T., Cambridge

Read more of these powerful stories here

Five Years After Bombs, Boston Strong and Inspirational Survivors

CARLOS ARREDONDO

AP FILE - In this Nov. 26, 2017 file photo, Carlos Arredondo, center, gives a thumbs-up before participating in a Salute to Service military appreciation campaign before an NFL football game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass. Arredondo helped save the life of marathon spectator Jeff Bauman after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. He now volunteers with the Red Cross, and his family foundation works to prevent military-related suicides. He is preparing to run in his first Boston Marathon on April 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

THEN: Millions know him as the man in the cowboy hat who helped save the life of marathon spectator Jeff Bauman, the double amputee played by Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2017 movie "Stronger." Arredondo had become an anti-war activist and suicide prevention advocate after one son was fatally shot by a sniper in Iraq and another killed himself, and he was at the finish line handing out American flags when the bombs went off. Instantly, Arredondo became a symbol of courage.

NOW: Arredondo continues to do whatever he can to help others. He volunteers with the Red Cross, and his Arredondo Family Foundation works to prevent military-related suicides and hand out Thanksgiving turkeys to veterans and their families. He's now preparing to run his first Boston Marathon.

In his own words: "What many people don't realize is that first responders also go through some of the same trauma as survivors. I've been dealing with some issues, but that doesn't slow me down. It's been an amazing journey." 
read other inspirational stories of survivors here

Iraq Veteran, Army Ranger Boston Officer John Moynihan in Coma

UPDATE
Boston officer improving after surgery to remove bullet
The Associated Press, March 29, 2015

Decorated Boston cop, Iraq veteran in coma after being shot in face 
South Coast Daily News
March 28, 2015

The suspect in the shooting hopped out of the stopped car on Friday evening and opened fire on officers, striking Officer John Moynihan just below his right eye and an apparent bystander in her arm, police Commissioner William Evans said

BOSTON (AP) — A police officer who was honored for his role in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing was in an induced coma fighting for his life early Saturday after being shot in the face during a traffic stop, authorities said.

The suspect in the shooting hopped out of the stopped car on Friday evening and opened fire on officers, striking Officer John Moynihan just below his right eye and an apparent bystander in her arm, police Commissioner William Evans said.

Other officers returned fire and killed the suspect at the scene, Evans said. The woman suffered a flesh wound and was in good spirits, and three other officers were taken to a hospital with stress-related problems, he said.

The names of the suspect and wounded woman weren't immediately released.

Moynihan, 34, is on the police Youth Violence Task Force and is a highly decorated military veteran, Evans said.

He is a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and was honored at the White House in May with the National Association of Police Organizations TOP COPS award. 

Moynihan received the award for being one of the first responders in Watertown following the April 2013 gunbattle with the Boston Marathon bombers.

Moynihan had helped transit police Officer Richard Donohue, who was shot in the leg and nearly bled to death when police tried to apprehend Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Lieutenant Michael McCarthy said. read more here

Two recycling plant workers killed by mortar rounds

Mortar round explodes at recycling plant, killing 2
The Associated Press
By SARA BURNETT and JOHN O'CONNOR
Published: August 25, 2014

GRANITE CITY, Ill. — A mortar round exploded Monday at a suburban St. Louis metal recycling plant that does business with the military, killing two people.

The explosion at Totall Metal Recycling in Granite City occurred about 6:25 a.m., police said. Totall Metal Recycling, which employs about 160 people, according to its website, does business with the military and it's not unusual for it to have items such as "military engines and ammunition casings," police chief Rich Miller said.

Bomb technicians were sweeping the site for other possible explosives Monday afternoon.

The victims, whom responders could not initially get to because of the fear of further explosions, were not immediately identified. A third person was injured and taken to a St. Louis hospital, police said, but a condition was not available.

"This corporation recycles everything you can think of, from plastics to cardboard to metals, and some of their contracts involve getting materials from the military," Miller said at a briefing for reporters near the plant Monday afternoon.
read more here

Five soldiers killed by "friendly fire" bomb drop in Afghanistan

'Friendly fire' kills 5 American service members in Afghanistan
CNN
By Ed Payne and Masoud Popalzai
June 10, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
More than 2,300 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan
The incident also killed an Afghan soldier
A U.S. defense department spokesman says he has no comment
In April, 5 British service members were killed in a chopper crash

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Five American service members were killed in southern Afghanistan, when a coalition jet called in to help ward off a Taliban attack mistakenly bombed them, an Afghan official said Tuesday.

The five were killed along with an Afghan soldier in Zabul province, said the province's Police Chief Ghulam Sakhi Roghliwanai.

According to NATO, the troops were conducting a security operation. Such operations have been stepped up ahead of the Afghanistan's presidential runoff election, which will take place on Saturday.

The service members' unit came in contact with enemy forces. That's when the casualties occurred, the NATO statement said -- but then it added this line: "Tragically, there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved."
read more here


UPDATE
Pvt. Aaron Toppen, of Mokena, was one of five U.S. troops killed Monday during a security operation in southern Afghanistan, his sister said.

Army Nurse Died Trying To Save Wounded

Details of death of Army nurse in Afghanistan
ERIE TIMES-NEWS
APRIL 29, 2014

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — In her last moments of life, Army nurse Capt. Jennifer Moreno heard two orders.

One was a call to help a wounded soldier struck by a blast in a booby-trapped killing field at an Afghanistan bomb-making compound.

The other was a command to stay put lest she strike another mine in the bomb belt.

The nurse from Madigan Army Medical Center chose to help the wounded soldier, and gave her life trying.

In the words of her commander, Moreno ran "into hell" to rescue a comrade on the night she was killed. Newly released narratives of the Oct. 5 battle reveal the kind of hell Moreno and dozens of Army special operators found while trying to disrupt a plot to kill civilians in the city of Kandahar.

A total of 12 bombs exploded that night — a chain reaction that took the lives of four U.S. soldiers and wounded at least 25.

The fifth bomb killed Moreno, 25, of San Diego who volunteered for a dangerous assignment supporting special operators in combat.

The 11th bomb wounded three soldiers trying to recover her body.

Moreno is Madigan's only fatal casualty from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though the hospital south of Tacoma has continuously deployed soldiers to medical facilities in combat zones.

Moreno "sacrificed her life so others could live," her Bronze Star commendation reads.
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Boston Marathon blasts caused PTSD symptoms in vets

Marathon blasts caused PTSD symptoms in vets
Boston.com
David Abel
November 8, 2013

In the days after the Marathon bombings, which brought home a horror that many military veterans faced abroad, some began to experience again the trauma they had spent years struggling to overcome.

A study released Friday of Boston-area military veterans previously diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder found that 38 percent of those surveyed said they experienced emotional distress as a result of the bombings and the lock-down during the search for the suspects. Of those, a majority told researchers that they experienced unwanted memories of their own trauma.

“These veterans are among the unrecognized victims of the terrorist attacks, those whose injuries are hidden,” said Mark Miller, associate professor of psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine and the lead author of the study. Full story for BostonGlobe.com subscribers.

UK 19 year old soldier killed after taking place of another soldier

Soldier aged 19 took his friend's spot on Afghan patrol... and died with five comrades in tank fireball
Private Christopher Kershaw, 19, took the place of a colleague
Warrior armoured vehicle was blown up by an IED in Helmand Province
All the 'men would have died instantly or been knocked unconscious'
Taliban's single deadliest strike on British forces since the start of the war
By IAN DRURY
PUBLISHED: 16 October 2013

Victims: The six men killed in the bomb blast in Afghanistan. They are top row left to right) Sergeant Nigel Coupe, Corporal Jake Hartley and Private Anthony Frampton, with (bottom row left to right) Private Christopher Kershaw, Private Daniel Wade and Private Daniel Wilford

WHEN the driver of an armoured car failed to turn up for a patrol because he was taking a shower, teenage soldier Christopher Kershaw ‘stepped up to the mark’ and volunteered to take his place. He paid for his dedication with his life. A few minutes after the 40ton Warrior left its base, it was ripped apart by a roadside bomb – killing Private Kershaw and five comrades.

The explosion blew a crater almost 5ft deep and flipped the truck on to its side. Its gun turret was blown off and landed 60ft away.
read more here

I had a Marine dealing with something like this. He wasn't well on night in Iraq and another Marine took his place. He was killed. The other Marines told him it was his fault. Imagine dealing with that kind of pain. Not just that he thought it could have been him but when his "brothers" said it should have been. Not sure if he ever really recovered from that.

Boston First responders still in grip of Marathon’s horror

First responders still in grip of Marathon’s horror
The Boston Globe
By David Abel
GLOBE STAFF
OCTOBER 15, 2013

The trigger can be unpredictable, but when the flashbacks come, they feel like spasms, rippling through her mind and body, rending her as she relives that day with harrowing clarity.

They take Nicole Fluet McGerald back behind the thin canvas walls of the medical tent, where she hears the thud of the two Boston Marathon bombs. She feels sealed in, trapped, an easy target. She braces for a third blast, expecting to die.

She relives the screams and the chaos, sees the severed legs, inhales the acrid smoke of the bombs. She watches the torso of one victim slide off a gurney as doctors try to revive her, while a soldier tries in vain to wash all the blood off his hands and face, as if he just left a battlefield.

“The pain I felt was so deep that it felt like the worst thing on the face of the earth,” said McGerald, 31, who was so distraught that she had to take a leave from her job as a physical therapist. “Imagine the hardest emotional moment you’ve ever had in your entire life, and multiply that times 200 . . . It felt like it would never end.”
read more here

Bombs blow up in Boston during marathon

NECN has live coverage There are at least 2 killed and 23 injured. This is shocking with at least two bombs. There is also something going on at the Kennedy Library but they are not sure what happened there yet.

Marine from Florida among 7 killed in explosion

Marine Corps identifies 7 killed in Nevada training accident
Los Angeles Times
By David Zucchino
March 20, 2013

The Marine Corps released the identities Wednesday night of the seven Marines who died this week when a mortar shell exploded during a live-fire training exercise at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada.

Lance Cpl. David P. Fenn II, 20, of Polk City, Fla. in undated photo. (Marine Corps)

Those killed were

Pfc. Joshua M. Martino, 19, of Clearfield, Pa.

Lance Cpl. David P. Fenn II, 20, of Polk City, Fla.

Lance Cpl. Roger W. Muchnick Jr., 23, of Fairfield, Conn.

Lance Cpl. Joshua C. Taylor, 21, of Marietta, Ohio

Lance Cpl. Mason J. Vanderwork, 21, of Hickory, N.C.

Lance Cpl. William T. Wild IV, 21, of Anne Arundel, Md.

Cpl. Aaron J. Ripperda, 26, of Madison, Ill.

read more here

7 Marines Killed In Explosion

Lance Cpl. William T. Wild IV

Cpl. Aaron J. Ripperda was ready to leave military life this spring and come home to embark on a career in business, his family says.

Marine Warrant Officer Ryan West

7 Marines killed in explosion during training exercise at Army depot in Nevada

Corps suspends mortar use after blast kills 7
Dead, wounded from 1st Battalion, 9th Marines
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 19, 2013 12:32:03 EDT

Seven North Carolina-based Marines were killed and several others were injured after a 60mm mortar exploded Monday night during live-fire training at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada.

They were assigned to 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Times has learned. On Tuesday, the service issued an indefinite moratorium on firing 60mm mortars until an investigation determines they’re safe, a Marine official told The Associated Press.

The accident occurred just before 10 p.m., said Capt. Binford Strickland, a spokesman for II Marine Expeditionary Force, the battalion’s parent command. Marine officials have not identified anyone involved in the incident, nor have they said how many were injured, but media in nearby Reno, Nev., reported Tuesday morning that eight patients were taken to local hospitals for treatment and that at least one was subsequently released.

Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, the area’s major trauma hospital, took eight patients, including one who died, according to spokeswoman Stacy Kendall. Three were listed in serious condition.
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7 Marines killed in explosion during training exercise at Army depot in Nevada
By Jim Miklaszewski and Erin McClam
NBC News

Seven U.S. Marines were killed and at least seven wounded when a mortar exploded during a live-fire training exercise overnight at an Army munitions depot in the Nevada desert, military officials told NBC News.

There were conflicting reports about what happened. According to one account, a 60-millimeter mortar shell exploded in a tube as Marines were preparing to fire it. Another account said that the shell exploded as Marines were picking it up to load it.

The accident happened at Hawthorne Army Depot, a 147,000-acre ammunition storage and training facility just east of the California line.

Four Marines were killed instantly, military officials told NBC News. The two others died while waiting to be flown to the hospital.
read more here

linked from Huffington Post

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UK Bomb disposal expert killed because he missed an order?

Could the same thing be happening with our own troops?

Afghanistan war widow told husband died because he missed order to abort mission
Daily Mail

Bomb disposal expert killed because he missed an order:
Patrol was not carrying radio in case it triggered Taliban explosives
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 11:19 AM on 18th December 2011

The widow of a bomb disposal expert has spoken of her shock after hearing that her husband died because he missed an order to abort his mission.

Coroporal Loren Marlton-Thomas, 28, was killed instantly by a Taliban bomb but wasn't aware that the mission had been called off because his patrol feared that carrying radios might trigger the IEDs.

His wife Nicola said she sat in shock listening to the evidence at a recent inquest into his death in Blackpool, Lancashire, where coroner Christopher Beverley recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

'The evidence was like a hammer blow,' said Nicola, 32.

'One of Loren's colleagues said he learned six months after the incident that the order to search for booby trap bombs had been rescinded,' she told the Sunday Mirror.

The hearing was told how the Army has since changed the way it relays messages to troops in the field.

The coroner was told that soldiers did not use radios in case their frequencies triggered off enemy bombs.
read more here

More troops' mild brain trauma diagnosed

More troops' mild brain trauma diagnosed
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

Nearly 1,400 U.S. servicemembers were found to have concussions or mild brain injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq this year under a program that forces servicemembers to take a break from combat when exposed to a blast or other jarring incident.

The military has pulled about 9,000 servicemembers from combat for short periods of time to look for signs of brain injury after blasts that caused no obvious wounds, according to data given to USA TODAY.

Most of the servicemembers were OK; those with symptoms of dizziness, headaches and difficulty processing thoughts were kept out of combat until the problems went away, the Army said.

"Under the rule, troops caught within about 165 feet of a blast must be pulled from combat for 24 hours and examined for signs of concussion. The data on the results of that policy are from August 2010 — when the treatment plan for concussions was initiated — through June."

read more here

Michigan airman killed while disposing explosives in Iraq

Michigan airman killed while disposing explosives in Iraq
BY MATT HELMS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
An airman from west Michigan has died in Iraq, killed while disposing of undetonated explosives.

Military officials on Wednesday notified the family of Senior Airman Jimmy Hansen, 25, that he was killed while on duty at Joint Base Balad, an air base about 42 miles north of Baghdad.

The Defense Department issued an official news release Thursday, saying Hansen died Wednesday of wounds from a controlled detonation.

"He went down to help a fellow Air Force member dispose of some undetonated explosives, and something went wrong," Hansen's brother, Rich Hansen Jr., told the Free Press on Thursday. "That's all we've got right now."



Read more: Michigan airman killed while disposing explosives in Iraq freep.com Detroit Free Press Michigan airman killed while disposing explosives in Iraq

Staff Sgt. Shane S. Barnard died defusing bomb to save others

Base holds memorial service for slain soldier

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 9, 2010 10:16:05 EDT

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — Joint Base Lewis-McChord is holding a memorial service Wednesday for a soldier killed May 19 in Afghanistan.

The Army said 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Shane S. Barnard of De Smet, S.D., was an explosives disposal specialist who was probably working on one device when he triggered a second homemade bomb.
read the rest here
Base holds memorial service for slain soldier

We've lost our legend:Staff Sgt. Olaf Schmid

We've lost our legend: Tributes for hero bomb expert Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid killed in Afghanistan

By Chris Hughes 3/11/2009

He saved countless lives as he defused 64 Afghan bombs. He died doing the job he loved.. days before he was due home


A crack bomb expert who saved scores of lives as he defused 64 Taliban devices was killed as he tried to dismantle yet another.

Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid, 30, paid the ultimate sacrifice just a week before he was due home on leave.

Yesterday, he was hailed as "a legend" as senior officers paid tribute to the nerveless courage that had prevented casualties on countless occasions.

His CO, Lt Col Robert Thomson of 2 Rifles Battle Group, said: "He saved lives in 2 Rifles time after time and for that he will retain a very special place in every heart of every rifleman in our Battle Group. Superlatives do not do the man justice. Better than the best."
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Tributes for hero bomb expert Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid

Staff Sgt. Brian "Ogre" memorial with Oreos and OJ

Mourners recall servicemember's love of Oreos and OJ
Mannheim tribute praises professionalism of ‘The Ogre,’ an EOD team leader in
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, September 4, 2008
MANNHEIM, Germany — The Ogre liked his Oreos and orange juice.

And at Staff Sgt. Brian Studer’s memorial ceremony Tuesday, two packs of Oreos sat unopened underneath the helmet, rifle, dog tags and boots that are standard tributes for fallen warriors.

Studer — who earned the nickname "The Ogre" for his large frame and quiet disposition — died Aug. 22 in Ghazni, Afghanistan, when the bomb he was attempting to deactivate exploded. Studer, 28, served as a team leader with the 720th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 28th Transportation Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command.

Information gathered from EOD reports — such as those generated by Studer — is used to develop blast-resistant vehicles and IED countermeasures, said Sgt. Maj. Lauren Larson, with the 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s EOD cell.

"This is the caliber of the soldier we are here to remember — one of the finest that America has to offer," he said. "A dedicated NCO that placed himself between the bomb and his fellow soldiers and in doing so, paid the ultimate price."
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57179