bobdina
06-16-2009, 07:45 AM
Silver Star recipient fought attack on convoy
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 15, 2009 17:39:22 EDT
Less than a month after Spc. David Hutchinson arrived in Afghanistan for his first combat tour, he got into his first firefight.
He and fellow soldiers from the Army Reserve’s 420th Engineer Brigade battled enemy fighters who attacked them using gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. His actions that day earned him the Silver Star.
He is believed to be only the fifth Army Reserve soldier to receive the Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor, for actions in Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom, said Capt. Corey Schultz, a Reserve spokeswoman.
“It’s such a great honor to get an award like the Silver Star,” said Hutchinson, 22. “But there’s still that part of me that says I haven’t quite grasped why I’m getting the award. Anybody in the [convoy that day] would have done what I did if they were put in that position.”
About 10 a.m. on May 21, 2008, the personal security detail for the commander of the 420th headed out from Forward Operating Base Sharana to FOB Orgun-E in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
The soldiers had arrived in theater earlier that month and the PSD was getting acquainted with the roads and the area, said Hutchinson, who was the gunner for the third vehicle in the four-truck convoy.
The convoy came to a small mountain pass that started to go uphill before curving around. The enemy, hiding behind the ridges above the pass, launched their attack as soon as the convoy reached the top of the hill, Hutchinson said.
“The front truck had a .50-cal on it, and I heard him open up and start firing,” he said. “At the time, I couldn’t see anything. By the time I charged the MK19, a good 10 to 15 guys popped up right in front of me.”
As he prepared to fire, Hutchinson said two RPGs flew over the truck, narrowly missing it. He then spotted a PKM machine gun nest that was manned by at least five enemy fighters.
“That’s when I started firing,” he said. “Pretty much as fast as I could — find a new target and shoot; that’s how quickly they were popping up.”
Hutchinson destroyed the machine gun nest, according to the narrative accompanying his award.
“[Hutchinson’s] fire was so effective in disrupting the enemy’s efforts to fix and destroy the convoy that the enemy concentrated its fires on his vehicle, focusing on him specifically and his MK19,” according to the narrative. “[Hutchinson] stayed in his position under intense fire, placing accurate, effective fire on the remaining [anti-Afghan forces] in total disregard of his own peril.”
Soldiers in the PSD later counted “well over” 100 bullet strikes on Hutchinson’s turret, according to the narrative.
Hutchinson fired about 44 rounds before two RPGs slammed into his Humvee.
“When we got hit, the RPGs knocked me out of the turret and laid me out inside the truck,” he said. “By the time I rolled over to get back up I noticed the first sergeant was bleeding heavily.”
The first sergeant, David Gussberry, who was sitting behind the driver, suffered shrapnel wounds to his head, face and the right side of his body.
“I started to pull myself over to him but I couldn’t feel my legs, anything, from the waist down,” Hutchinson said.
Because he couldn’t stand and get back into the turret, Hutchinson started to perform buddy aid on Gussberry.
“By that time we’d lost one of our two radios and we couldn’t see anything inside the crew compartment because there was so much debris and dust,” Hutchinson said.
Enemy fire continued to rain down on the convoy. But as the smoke began to clear, Hutchinson said he heard the truck commander on the radio, telling the convoy to move out of the kill zone.
The soldiers drove a couple miles and waited for medevac helicopters to arrive, Hutchinson said. Meanwhile, Hutchinson continued to try to control Gussberry’s bleeding and worked to keep him awake.
“It wasn’t until after we stopped at the medevac point that I could feel my legs again,” he said.
When the Black Hawk helicopters arrived, the other soldiers got Hutchinson out of the truck and put him on the ground to check his wounds. The soldiers put him on a litter, but Hutchinson said he learned that there only was one litter available.
“I jumped up and told them to put the first sergeant on the litter,” he said. “One of the guys in the PSD helped me hobble over to the medevac.”
Hutchinson and Gussberry were evacuated to FOB Orgun-E before they were flown to Bagram Air Base, then Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and then Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The young soldier spent a day at Walter Reed before he was moved to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, which is closer to his home. He spent six months at Brooke and has endured three surgeries on his right leg.
He still suffers from nerve damage and doctors don’t know if the damage is permanent, he said.
The firefight lasted just a few minutes, but it felt like two hours, Hutchinson said.
“It didn’t really hit me, what had happened, until we were leaving to go to [Bagram],” he said. “It was kind of a ‘Holy crap, did this just happen?’ kind of thing.”
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 15, 2009 17:39:22 EDT
Less than a month after Spc. David Hutchinson arrived in Afghanistan for his first combat tour, he got into his first firefight.
He and fellow soldiers from the Army Reserve’s 420th Engineer Brigade battled enemy fighters who attacked them using gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. His actions that day earned him the Silver Star.
He is believed to be only the fifth Army Reserve soldier to receive the Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor, for actions in Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom, said Capt. Corey Schultz, a Reserve spokeswoman.
“It’s such a great honor to get an award like the Silver Star,” said Hutchinson, 22. “But there’s still that part of me that says I haven’t quite grasped why I’m getting the award. Anybody in the [convoy that day] would have done what I did if they were put in that position.”
About 10 a.m. on May 21, 2008, the personal security detail for the commander of the 420th headed out from Forward Operating Base Sharana to FOB Orgun-E in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
The soldiers had arrived in theater earlier that month and the PSD was getting acquainted with the roads and the area, said Hutchinson, who was the gunner for the third vehicle in the four-truck convoy.
The convoy came to a small mountain pass that started to go uphill before curving around. The enemy, hiding behind the ridges above the pass, launched their attack as soon as the convoy reached the top of the hill, Hutchinson said.
“The front truck had a .50-cal on it, and I heard him open up and start firing,” he said. “At the time, I couldn’t see anything. By the time I charged the MK19, a good 10 to 15 guys popped up right in front of me.”
As he prepared to fire, Hutchinson said two RPGs flew over the truck, narrowly missing it. He then spotted a PKM machine gun nest that was manned by at least five enemy fighters.
“That’s when I started firing,” he said. “Pretty much as fast as I could — find a new target and shoot; that’s how quickly they were popping up.”
Hutchinson destroyed the machine gun nest, according to the narrative accompanying his award.
“[Hutchinson’s] fire was so effective in disrupting the enemy’s efforts to fix and destroy the convoy that the enemy concentrated its fires on his vehicle, focusing on him specifically and his MK19,” according to the narrative. “[Hutchinson] stayed in his position under intense fire, placing accurate, effective fire on the remaining [anti-Afghan forces] in total disregard of his own peril.”
Soldiers in the PSD later counted “well over” 100 bullet strikes on Hutchinson’s turret, according to the narrative.
Hutchinson fired about 44 rounds before two RPGs slammed into his Humvee.
“When we got hit, the RPGs knocked me out of the turret and laid me out inside the truck,” he said. “By the time I rolled over to get back up I noticed the first sergeant was bleeding heavily.”
The first sergeant, David Gussberry, who was sitting behind the driver, suffered shrapnel wounds to his head, face and the right side of his body.
“I started to pull myself over to him but I couldn’t feel my legs, anything, from the waist down,” Hutchinson said.
Because he couldn’t stand and get back into the turret, Hutchinson started to perform buddy aid on Gussberry.
“By that time we’d lost one of our two radios and we couldn’t see anything inside the crew compartment because there was so much debris and dust,” Hutchinson said.
Enemy fire continued to rain down on the convoy. But as the smoke began to clear, Hutchinson said he heard the truck commander on the radio, telling the convoy to move out of the kill zone.
The soldiers drove a couple miles and waited for medevac helicopters to arrive, Hutchinson said. Meanwhile, Hutchinson continued to try to control Gussberry’s bleeding and worked to keep him awake.
“It wasn’t until after we stopped at the medevac point that I could feel my legs again,” he said.
When the Black Hawk helicopters arrived, the other soldiers got Hutchinson out of the truck and put him on the ground to check his wounds. The soldiers put him on a litter, but Hutchinson said he learned that there only was one litter available.
“I jumped up and told them to put the first sergeant on the litter,” he said. “One of the guys in the PSD helped me hobble over to the medevac.”
Hutchinson and Gussberry were evacuated to FOB Orgun-E before they were flown to Bagram Air Base, then Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and then Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The young soldier spent a day at Walter Reed before he was moved to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, which is closer to his home. He spent six months at Brooke and has endured three surgeries on his right leg.
He still suffers from nerve damage and doctors don’t know if the damage is permanent, he said.
The firefight lasted just a few minutes, but it felt like two hours, Hutchinson said.
“It didn’t really hit me, what had happened, until we were leaving to go to [Bagram],” he said. “It was kind of a ‘Holy crap, did this just happen?’ kind of thing.”