In 2004, I was delpoyed to Mosul, Iraq. I was there in December when the suicide bomber entered the chow hall and killed around 20 people, 14 of which were US soldiers.
I was on an amazing assignment as an RTO attached to a JSOC assault team that would go out with the 25th ID on raids throughout Northern Iraq so I did not have much traditional Ranger supervision to keep track of my whereabouts. When it happened I was walking to the chow hall from the gym when I heard the explosion go off - but I had my mp3 player blasting metal so I figured it was outgoing artillery (had them installed to counter mortar attacks) or incoming mortars. The guys knew that I go to the chow hall after the gym but obviously I ran back when I saw people running around all over the place, obviously they were glad to see me intact.
It was a horrible mess, what wasn't widely reported was that the cowardly suicide bomber used ball bearings in his vest to maim and kill our guys. One of the gents I was working for told us that the community lost on of our own in the explosion. But it never made a peep, it was never reported on the USASOC website, nothing.
I just want to say RIP to SGM Robert O'Dell of the Virginia based unit that we don't ever speak of.
I was on an amazing assignment as an RTO attached to a JSOC assault team that would go out with the 25th ID on raids throughout Northern Iraq so I did not have much traditional Ranger supervision to keep track of my whereabouts. When it happened I was walking to the chow hall from the gym when I heard the explosion go off - but I had my mp3 player blasting metal so I figured it was outgoing artillery (had them installed to counter mortar attacks) or incoming mortars. The guys knew that I go to the chow hall after the gym but obviously I ran back when I saw people running around all over the place, obviously they were glad to see me intact.
It was a horrible mess, what wasn't widely reported was that the cowardly suicide bomber used ball bearings in his vest to maim and kill our guys. One of the gents I was working for told us that the community lost on of our own in the explosion. But it never made a peep, it was never reported on the USASOC website, nothing.
I just want to say RIP to SGM Robert O'Dell of the Virginia based unit that we don't ever speak of.
