bobdina
05-18-2009, 03:25 PM
By Michelle Tan
mtan@militarytimes.com
The battle inside the farming complex on the outskirts of Samarra, Iraq, lasted less than 10 minutes.
But in that time, a high-value target responsible for weapons smuggling, kidnapping and murder was dead, as were 12 of his fighters. Six others were detained. In the fierce fight to subdue them, three Special Forces soldiers suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds. Their actions earned one of them the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest award for combat valor, and two of them the Silver Star, the thirdhighest award for valor.
On May 14, the awards were presented to the three soldiers: Sgt. 1st Class Jarion Halbisengibbs, 27, receiving the DSC, and Capt. Matthew Chaney, 31, and Sgt. 1st Class Michael Lindsay, 30, each receiving the Silver Star. Adm. Eric Olson, commander of Special Operations Command, presented the DSC, and Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, commander of Army Special Operations Command, presented the Silver Stars during a ceremony at Fort Carson, Colo.
All three soldiers belong to 10th Special Forces Group.
“I’m still trying to get used to the thought of it, period, being classified as that and having my name down [as a DSC recipient],” Halbisengibbs told Army Times before the ceremony. “We were just doing our jobs. All it was was standard battle drill. Everybody has done it before, they’ll do it again.”
The battle
It was 2 a.m. Sept. 10, 2007.
Soldiers from Operational De tachment-Alpha 083 and an element of about 12 to 16 members of the Iraqi National Police were ready to strike their high-value target.
As the helicopters carrying the soldiers approached the small farming complex on the outskirts of Samarra, their plans began to change, Halbisengibbs said.
They found standing water in the field that was supposed to be their landing zone, so the soldiers were dropped off about 30 yards from their objective, he said.
The first structure they came to, a goat pen or a barn, was empty, said Halbisengibbs, who was a staff sergeant at the time.
When the second U.S. helicopter landed, causing “brown-out” conditions, the enemy began to fire from the second and third buildings in the compound, Halbisengibbs said.
The soldiers pushed forward, engaging enemy fighters until they reached the third building, where the high-value target was located.
The soldiers breached the door, popped a grenade and moved in, Halbisengibbs in front, followed by Chaney, then Lindsay.
“It was very smoky inside the room,” Lindsay said in an interview with Army Times. “It was very hard to see. I could see [Chaney] and [Halbisengibbs] ahead of me and I could see faceless shapes.” An enemy fighter fired his AK47, strafing Chaney and Lindsay.
“It hit the two of them and somehow magically missed me,” Halbisengibbs said.
As soon as the shooting stopped, the enemy set off a grenade.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Lindsay said. “I didn’t hear the grenade but there was a colossal impact around my mid-section.” The explosion knocked Halbisengibbs into the far corner of the small room and broke his right thumb, making it difficult for him to use his rifle. Lindsay and Chaney were flung into the courtyard outside.
A bullet from an AK47 had torn through Chaney’s hip and buttocks and fractured his pelvis. When the grenade blast knocked him into the courtyard, his tail bone was broken and he suffered a concussion.
In the confusion, Chaney said he thought Lindsay threw him out of the room to protect him from the grenade.
“But I realized we were thrown out together and he was injured, too,” Chaney said, adding that he couldn’t feel his legs immediately after the explosion.
Chaney crawled away to look for cover and ended up using the body of a dead insurgent for cover as he fired back at another insurgent standing in an open doorway about 15 feet away.
“The intensity [of the fight], you had to focus if you wanted to live,” Chaney said.
He said he was more concerned about Lindsay because he was out in the open and it was so dark that Chaney couldn’t tell how badly Lindsay was wounded.
“It was extremely dark,” Chaney said. “I just reached back and felt the liquid and realized I was shot also. I couldn’t assess what the wound looked like.” As Lindsay lay on the ground, he couldn’t breathe and bile was coming up from his stomach. He had been shot in the abdomen, and the bullet and shrapnel had damaged his large intestine, punctured his bladder and fractured his pelvis. A bullet or shrapnel had grazed the right side of his neck and he had shrapnel around the groin.
He couldn’t lift his rifle or move, and his helmet had been knocked askew, making it difficult for him to use his night-vision device, Lindsay said.
Because he couldn’t see, Lindsay said he decided to stay put and defend himself. So he drew his sidearm and fired off a couple of rounds toward the enemy.
“I didn’t think I would hit anything, but [it was] to let them know I still had some fight and I was still kicking,” Lindsay said. “The last thing I wanted [was] to get shot laying helpless on the ground. No one wants to go out like that.” Halbisengibbs ran outside and saw Lindsay on the ground, pistol in hand, and Chaney off to the side, shooting at an enemy fighter. He made his way toward Lindsay, but was stopped when a bullet from an enemy pistol tore into his abdomen, tearing his small intestine and right hip before stopping in his buttocks.
“It felt like I got electrocuted, like white, hot lighting shot through my gut,” Halbisengibbs said. “At the time I was so jacked up on adrenaline I didn’t feel anything.” Halbisengibbs immediately fired back, killing the insurgent. He then ran behind the building for cover and rallied the Iraqi National Police to renew their assault.
“The biggest thing was just finishing the fight,” Halbisengibbs said. “I really didn’t have any time to think about what’s in the doorway, what’s in the objective, just how to finish the fight.” Within 10 minutes, the compound was secured. The three soldiers had killed nine insurgents. The high-value target and other insurgents were killed by Iraqi National Police, led by other ODA members, and soldiers on the aircraft. Six insurgents were in custody.
The team medic, Master Sgt. Sean Howie, worked on the three soldiers and prepared them to be medically evacuated. All three were taken to Balad, Iraq, for treatment before being flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Halbisengibbs and Lindsay were moved to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where they stayed for three to four weeks. Chaney stayed in Landstuhl for eight days before being moved home to Fort Carson, Colo. His wife, Sonya, learned to pack gunshot wounds to help him recover.
Back on duty
Each soldier endured multiple surgeries, but all are back on duty.
Lindsay and Chaney have both since deployed to Iraq again – Lindsay 11 months after the battle, and Chaney eight months after it.
Lindsay, whose wife, Anitra, is pregnant with twins, said he has mixed feelings about receiving the Silver Star.
“I felt honored that my comrades thought I was worthy enough for an award like that,” he said. “Other than that, I was pretty conflicted. It’s hard to feel like you can live up to the guys from previous wars who have [received the Silver Star].” Chaney, a 2001 West Point graduate, said he agreed.
“The job we do, it’s not something where you’re seeking awards or even thinking about them,” he said. “You always question in your mind if you ... deserve it
mtan@militarytimes.com
The battle inside the farming complex on the outskirts of Samarra, Iraq, lasted less than 10 minutes.
But in that time, a high-value target responsible for weapons smuggling, kidnapping and murder was dead, as were 12 of his fighters. Six others were detained. In the fierce fight to subdue them, three Special Forces soldiers suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds. Their actions earned one of them the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest award for combat valor, and two of them the Silver Star, the thirdhighest award for valor.
On May 14, the awards were presented to the three soldiers: Sgt. 1st Class Jarion Halbisengibbs, 27, receiving the DSC, and Capt. Matthew Chaney, 31, and Sgt. 1st Class Michael Lindsay, 30, each receiving the Silver Star. Adm. Eric Olson, commander of Special Operations Command, presented the DSC, and Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, commander of Army Special Operations Command, presented the Silver Stars during a ceremony at Fort Carson, Colo.
All three soldiers belong to 10th Special Forces Group.
“I’m still trying to get used to the thought of it, period, being classified as that and having my name down [as a DSC recipient],” Halbisengibbs told Army Times before the ceremony. “We were just doing our jobs. All it was was standard battle drill. Everybody has done it before, they’ll do it again.”
The battle
It was 2 a.m. Sept. 10, 2007.
Soldiers from Operational De tachment-Alpha 083 and an element of about 12 to 16 members of the Iraqi National Police were ready to strike their high-value target.
As the helicopters carrying the soldiers approached the small farming complex on the outskirts of Samarra, their plans began to change, Halbisengibbs said.
They found standing water in the field that was supposed to be their landing zone, so the soldiers were dropped off about 30 yards from their objective, he said.
The first structure they came to, a goat pen or a barn, was empty, said Halbisengibbs, who was a staff sergeant at the time.
When the second U.S. helicopter landed, causing “brown-out” conditions, the enemy began to fire from the second and third buildings in the compound, Halbisengibbs said.
The soldiers pushed forward, engaging enemy fighters until they reached the third building, where the high-value target was located.
The soldiers breached the door, popped a grenade and moved in, Halbisengibbs in front, followed by Chaney, then Lindsay.
“It was very smoky inside the room,” Lindsay said in an interview with Army Times. “It was very hard to see. I could see [Chaney] and [Halbisengibbs] ahead of me and I could see faceless shapes.” An enemy fighter fired his AK47, strafing Chaney and Lindsay.
“It hit the two of them and somehow magically missed me,” Halbisengibbs said.
As soon as the shooting stopped, the enemy set off a grenade.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Lindsay said. “I didn’t hear the grenade but there was a colossal impact around my mid-section.” The explosion knocked Halbisengibbs into the far corner of the small room and broke his right thumb, making it difficult for him to use his rifle. Lindsay and Chaney were flung into the courtyard outside.
A bullet from an AK47 had torn through Chaney’s hip and buttocks and fractured his pelvis. When the grenade blast knocked him into the courtyard, his tail bone was broken and he suffered a concussion.
In the confusion, Chaney said he thought Lindsay threw him out of the room to protect him from the grenade.
“But I realized we were thrown out together and he was injured, too,” Chaney said, adding that he couldn’t feel his legs immediately after the explosion.
Chaney crawled away to look for cover and ended up using the body of a dead insurgent for cover as he fired back at another insurgent standing in an open doorway about 15 feet away.
“The intensity [of the fight], you had to focus if you wanted to live,” Chaney said.
He said he was more concerned about Lindsay because he was out in the open and it was so dark that Chaney couldn’t tell how badly Lindsay was wounded.
“It was extremely dark,” Chaney said. “I just reached back and felt the liquid and realized I was shot also. I couldn’t assess what the wound looked like.” As Lindsay lay on the ground, he couldn’t breathe and bile was coming up from his stomach. He had been shot in the abdomen, and the bullet and shrapnel had damaged his large intestine, punctured his bladder and fractured his pelvis. A bullet or shrapnel had grazed the right side of his neck and he had shrapnel around the groin.
He couldn’t lift his rifle or move, and his helmet had been knocked askew, making it difficult for him to use his night-vision device, Lindsay said.
Because he couldn’t see, Lindsay said he decided to stay put and defend himself. So he drew his sidearm and fired off a couple of rounds toward the enemy.
“I didn’t think I would hit anything, but [it was] to let them know I still had some fight and I was still kicking,” Lindsay said. “The last thing I wanted [was] to get shot laying helpless on the ground. No one wants to go out like that.” Halbisengibbs ran outside and saw Lindsay on the ground, pistol in hand, and Chaney off to the side, shooting at an enemy fighter. He made his way toward Lindsay, but was stopped when a bullet from an enemy pistol tore into his abdomen, tearing his small intestine and right hip before stopping in his buttocks.
“It felt like I got electrocuted, like white, hot lighting shot through my gut,” Halbisengibbs said. “At the time I was so jacked up on adrenaline I didn’t feel anything.” Halbisengibbs immediately fired back, killing the insurgent. He then ran behind the building for cover and rallied the Iraqi National Police to renew their assault.
“The biggest thing was just finishing the fight,” Halbisengibbs said. “I really didn’t have any time to think about what’s in the doorway, what’s in the objective, just how to finish the fight.” Within 10 minutes, the compound was secured. The three soldiers had killed nine insurgents. The high-value target and other insurgents were killed by Iraqi National Police, led by other ODA members, and soldiers on the aircraft. Six insurgents were in custody.
The team medic, Master Sgt. Sean Howie, worked on the three soldiers and prepared them to be medically evacuated. All three were taken to Balad, Iraq, for treatment before being flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Halbisengibbs and Lindsay were moved to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where they stayed for three to four weeks. Chaney stayed in Landstuhl for eight days before being moved home to Fort Carson, Colo. His wife, Sonya, learned to pack gunshot wounds to help him recover.
Back on duty
Each soldier endured multiple surgeries, but all are back on duty.
Lindsay and Chaney have both since deployed to Iraq again – Lindsay 11 months after the battle, and Chaney eight months after it.
Lindsay, whose wife, Anitra, is pregnant with twins, said he has mixed feelings about receiving the Silver Star.
“I felt honored that my comrades thought I was worthy enough for an award like that,” he said. “Other than that, I was pretty conflicted. It’s hard to feel like you can live up to the guys from previous wars who have [received the Silver Star].” Chaney, a 2001 West Point graduate, said he agreed.
“The job we do, it’s not something where you’re seeking awards or even thinking about them,” he said. “You always question in your mind if you ... deserve it