First LAR ruins another insurgent’s day
RAWAH, Iraq (June 12, 2007) -- In the small outpost the Marines of Company D share with the local Iraqi Police in the town of Rawah, Iraq, the scene could only be described as organized chaos. Cpl. Jeremiah J. Palmer was gathering the Marines of his squad to prepare for a foot patrol, and Staff Sgt. Sean P. Perry was calling for the rest of his platoon to hurry up and get in their vehicles.
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June 12, 2007; Submitted on: 06/12/2007 01:24:52 PM ; Story ID#: 2007612132452
By Cpl. Ryan C. Heiser, 2nd Marine Division
Early in the afternoon of May 23, the Marines of Company D, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 2, received intelligence there was an improvised explosive device in the city. Weapons platoon was sent to find the IED, and secure the area until the explosive experts could properly dispose of the device.
“A few days prior to this IED, we raided a house and found a lot of material used to make bombs,” said Perry, the company’s Weapons Platoon commander. “Then we got intelligence from the IPs that in the same area there was an IED in place, so I got my guys ready and we went to investigate.”
Within minutes, the platoon commander from Beecher, Ill., was leading the way to the suspected site, an intersection near a gas station in the middle of the city.
“When stuff like this happens, I always take my ‘Dream-Team,’” laughed Palmer, a squad leader with the company. “This time we had the quick reaction force nearby too, but my guys were the ones sent to investigate and set up the inner perimeter.”
Palmer, an Ardmore, Okla., native, said when they arrived at the site, they were approached by two locals who agreed to tell them the general location of the explosive as long as the Marines promised not to tell anyone their names.
Perry sent Palmer’s squad to circle around the block, so they could approach the new location and get a better visual of the device.
“After we got there and started looking, I realized there was only one logical place for the IED, which was this small pile of rocks against a wall near an alley. The problem was, it just didn’t look like an IED,” said Palmer, who is serving on his second deployment.
Palmer sent his Marines away to set up a safe perimeter around the suspected IED while he searched up and down the narrow street for the location of any more explosives.
“After everyone was safe, I took a closer look with another guy using my rifle’s sights to decide whether it was the bomb or not,” Palmer said. “Scared isn’t the right word. I had taken every precaution to make sure my guys were safe, but I figured, ‘If it’s going to go off, then it’s going to go off.’ To be honest, I’d rather it be me than any of my guys.”
Palmer called Perry over and showed him where he thought the explosives were. After looking at the pile of rocks, the experience of the older Marine took over, and he called in the explosive experts.
“I didn’t have a lot of visual proof,” said Perry, who is serving his seventh deployment in Iraq. “But I just got this feeling from it, it’s hard to explain. I could see a piece of a black bag, plus I had a few of my Marines say it was giving them a bad feeling, so I called it in.”
Pfc. Fabio Valdez, a light armored vehicle crewman with the company, saw a line of thin fishing wire running away from the rocks, parallel to the wall.
“It was all in slow motion, like a movie,” said Valdez, a Houston native. “I saw the line, then I saw the rocks, and it all just came together. I was thinking to myself, ‘At any moment it’s going to blow up, anytime now.’”
When the battalion’s explosive experts arrived, they immediately recognized the rock pile as an IED. After careful examination, they determined it was a cylinder about a foot-and-a-half long, four inches in diameter, wrapped with nails. The cylinder had a grenade fuse, set to go off when the fishing line pulled the pin, and was wrapped in a black bag inside a box under the rock pile.
The disposal team safely detonated the IED after nearby locals were warned and evacuated. The blast was felt as far as 300 meters away, and rocks and debris scattered about half as far.
“I credit this to my Marines. Almost all my guys are fresh on their first deployment, but they handled this like professionals. They did everything right, just like they were supposed to, and the fact is it saved lives,” said Perry. “It was a well-thoughtout, well-hidden device, and there is no doubt it would have cost us lives. That didn’t happen today, and as long as we continue like we have, it won’t happen tomorrow.”