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Up-armored Humvees are a success story of the war. The majority of IED blasts I hear about are failures, resulting in damage to the vehicle and often concussions, but no serious injuries. But other bombs with enough kick can obliterate armored vehicles. Shaped charges will penetrate armor. Heck, when I was in Fallujah, an incendiary-loaded IED took out an Abrams tank.

In light of that uncertainty, intentionally directing your vehicle to take an IED explosion in the place of others is very brave. Intentionally taking three is almost crazy. Add dismounting to save Iraqi civilians in the middle of a rolling firefight, and I almost think the Silver Star doesn't cut it for this guy:

"On that day, there were no Americans. There were no Iraqis, no whites and no blacks. There were no Sunnis, Shias, Christians. There was just a group of warriors working and fighting together," he said. "All the men I fought with that day showed incredible courage and bravery. That was one of the highlights of my life; working with those men that day."

Read the whole thing.

Posted by Bill at May 7, 2007 12:29 PM | TrackBack (0)