In Memory Of...  

PFC Min Soo Choi and PFC Landon Giles

You two are my heroes and I will never forget you…

On 26 Feb 2005, the mortar men and me were doing a patrol with a convoy of 3 hummvvs in Abertha, Iraq. An IED or improvised explosive device killed 2 mortar men in the third hummvv on the road next to the canal leading to the Tigris River.

About 10 min before we got to this IED we stopped and got off our hummvvs and just pulled security. I was in the back seat of the third hummvv and the mortar platoon sergeant was the navigator. He told me that an IED might hit the third hummvv and he told me that I was a medic and that I was important.

So he told me to go switch out with Choi who was in the first vehicle. Choi is not here anymore. God saved my life and I thanked Him. But at the same time I had thoughts that I should be the person who die and not him. Of course I shouldn’t think that way. When the third hummvv was hit I was in the first hummvv and I didn’t hear the explosion. The gunner of the first hummvv heard and saw the explosion and told the driver to stop.

Then the navigator of the hummvv got on the radio to see if anyone responded in the third hummvv. No one responded after radioing them several times, I was worried. The soldier sitting next to me and in the back seat and myself got out of the hummvv. He started to dash toward the hummvv that was hit. They were yelling medic out loud all the way down there. I was the only medic out of all three hummvvs. So I ran as fast as I can down to the site running out of my breath.

Before I even got to the hummvv, it had already fallen into the canal smashed up in two, three pieces. Immediately I yelled, “What happened?!”

There were four personnel inside this hummvv; the driver and the navigator or sergeant survived with minor injuries but the gunner and the soldier who was sitting in my seat did not. They were both laying on the ground both unconscious with lacerations or cuts on the back of their heads. The bleeding on back of their heads stopped but there was blood on the ground. So I bandaged both their heads up with kerlix and emergency bandages.

I didn't even think about using gloves at the time because I was so caught up trying to help the patients so my hands were full of blood. I was surprised that at the time I was pretty calm. It's probably because the adrenaline kicked in and my body took over and I was not really thinking I was just using my instincts. I checked for breathing and pulse for both of them. One of them was not breathing so I began performing CPR on him. The other was breathing really hard with blood in his throat.

I was the only medic so I told two other mortar men to help me continue CPR while I checked if they had any other injuries. One had blood coming out of his nose and the other coming out of his ears. That means they had injuries to their heads and possibly their brains. At the time I didn't even think about that. In the midst of this I yelled, “I need a BIRD!” meaning I need a medical helicopter. It came about 15 minutes after and we loaded both of them into the black hawk.

After this I went to see the driver and the sergeant. The driver had fragmentation cuts on back of his left arm and on back of left thigh. The sergeant had fragmentation cuts on the back of his right arm and dislocated his shoulder. At the time he complained about his forearm so I splinted it. As I was helping him the reinforcement team came in and was shot at by insurgents in the wood lines. Immediately I got close to the ground and went closer to my patient or sergeant. Luckily no one was hurt in the reinforcement team. After I treated the sergeant our squadron commander and command sergeant major and a few high-ranking officials came and asked what happened. I told them what happened and they left a little later.

We had to stay there for more than 6 hours after the incident so they can drag the hummvv out of the canal and pick up all the remaining items on site. I was in shock and couldn’t believe what happened. I was hoping the best for those two comrades and praying for them. About 1130 we got drove bac! k to our camp and I had a huge appetite.

I lost it all when the sergeant came up to us and said, “Guys, I don’t know how to tell you this. But they didn’t make it, they are both dead….”Once he said he didn’t know how to tell us that, I already know what was he going to say next. Choi did not even make it to the hospital and Giles died at 2230. When I heard that I was in disbelief, speechless, shocked, and dropped every gear I was holding in my hands.

Then I walked up to my room with a very sad face. I saw my roommates waiting for me to come in w/ candles burning inside the room. Then I burst out crying in my room with Morales holding and rubbing my head, trying to comfort me. He told me that it was not my fault and that now is the time to stay strong in God and just kept on hugging me and holding on to my head. He said I have done all I could. At the time I felt guilty and kept on having thoughts that I could of done better.

Awhile later my platoon sergeant came in and told me that everyone, the flight medic, said I did an outstanding job. I course didn’t even care about that. I felt down that night and for the next couple of days. I talked to people but sometimes I wanted to avoid them. I became closer to the mortar men. I knew Choi and Giles and talked to them before even though they were not that close to me. They are my brothers and my family. They are my heroes and I will never forget them.

The few days after the incident I grieved for them and I prayed for their families. I have many weird thoughts and many images of the scene. I had a creepy image of Giles suddenly sat up and started to cough up blood and smiled at me. The surgeon said that the fragments from the bomb pierced through Giles's brain stems and the impact of the IED was too powerful which killed them. So now I know I did my best and there were nothing else I could of done.

Choi was 21 and Giles was only 19. One moment you are talking to them the next they are gone. It shows how fragile life really is in the world. We all know that but until you experienced it yourself, you don’t really think about it.

Today we had a memorial service for them at the outdoor basketball court. It was a good ceremony but at the same time it was really sad. The memorial had a small two-steps staircase as a base. They put bayonets on both M-4 Carbines and stuck them to the second step with the helmets and their dog tags hanging on them. Then they put the boots on the first steps. It was a very glorious site but it created many tears.

Before the ceremony began I walked up to it and wanted to cry. When the first sergeant did the roll call and called out their names the firing squad fired rounds into the air. When the taps played, tears were falling down on my face. Then we all paid tribute by going up to their memorial site and saluted it.

Our division commander major general (two stars) Webster came with two other brigadier general (one star). There were other high-ranking officials that came also. The mortar men and me did not just saluted Choi and Giles. The mortar platoon sergeant told us to knee down before the memorial site and pray for them. As I was walking up to the memorial site I was crying and I felt sad. After I finished praying for them I saluted them. I touched both their dog tags and my hands were shaking. It brought back memories of what happened that day which I will never forget.