Pvt. Richard Martinez of Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, holds up three pieces of a 152 mm artillery round that blew up alongside of his patrol recently. None of the soldiers were injured nor were any of their vehicles damaged. (Jason Chudy / S&S)
BAGHDAD, Iraq — When a vehicle patrol from Company B of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment was struck by a roadside bomb Tuesday morning, the soldiers — none of whom were injured in the blast — literally picked up the pieces of the artillery round and moved on.
The platoon didn’t have time to dwell on the incident; the patrol schedule wouldn’t allow it.
“We’ve still got to continue doing patrols,” said Pfc. John Howell, a machine gunner on the Humvee closest to the explosion. “So that takes priority.”
But just because there were no physical injuries does not mean the soldiers were not affected by the explosion. Army officials know soldiers can be rattled by the blasts, and their performance harmed.
“Early on we kept a big eye on” the soldiers on patrol after a bomb went off, said Company B 1st Sgt. Freddy Krail. “[Roadside bombs] are not a common thing, but they’ve happened before.”
Now, he said, the unit, deployed to Iraq from Fort Hood, Texas, relies on the noncommissioned officers at the platoon level to notify leaders if any problems develop. They have the closest day-to-day interaction with the junior soldiers and will best notice any changes in them.
“[If they say] the soldier needs to talk to someone about it, we trust their instincts,” Krail said.
Many of the soldiers let Tuesday’s bombing pass without much discussion. That patrol is over and they had another to run less than eight hours.
“I really don’t talk about it unless someone brings it up,” said Spc. George Ernie.
When the soldiers do talk about similar incidents, the discussion ranges from casual to cautious. “Nobody jokes about it,” said Ernie. The stakes are too high to take the bombs too lightly.
Company B has not suffered a casualty to a roadside bomb, Krail said. “I think not having had a casualty yet has lent itself to the soldiers not being happy [about being possible targets], but not being fearful about traveling through their sectors,” he said.
That evening another patrol — with mostly the same soldiers as the early morning run — went out to that same area. The soldiers didn’t dwell on the chance of there being another bomb.
“The possibility of one being out there is always there,” said Ernie. “It’s not something we really think about.”
The soldiers just hope that they make it safely through their remaining tour in Iraq.
“The insurgents only have to be lucky once,” said Sgt. Michael Wilbanks. “We have to be lucky every day. That’s the unfortunate truth.”
