July 13th: A Rebirth

Exactly three years ago today, I was reborn. But a part of me died. A BIG part!

Three years ago today, I was on a night mission with my team from 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Squadron, 32nd RSTA (Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition) or C.Co, 1/32 RSTA. This was my second deployment to Iraq and we had already been in country for 11 months. As a matter of fact, we were only 3 weeks away from coming back home. So in reality, we were counting down the days till we got on the "freedom bird" to return back home to our loved ones. Our bags were already packed and we were doing the last few missions in our sector while we awaited the official orders stating that we were going home.

It was late in the night and I had just dropped off two of my surveillance teams at different locations and we were driving around basically to ensure that the area was safe. It sure seemed like it was. Iraqis for the most part drop everything they're doing once the sun goes down and head into their houses. The day is over for them. But for us, days and nights merge. We don't work 9 to 5 jobs. Not when were back stateside and certainly not when were deployed. At least this is true for Infantry units.

When we're in the States, our day "officially" starts at 0630hrs. I say officially because for the NCO's and Officers, were usually there about an hour early just getting stuff prepared for whatever it is that we will be doing that day. The day ends...well...Whenever were done! Sometimes at 1600hrs. Sometimes at 1800hrs. Sometimes at 2100hrs. Whenever the day's tasks are accomplished. The rest of the Army has the luxury of closing up at 1600hrs. Although by 1530hrs, the POGs are usually nowhere to be found. (POGs is the term we Infantry use to refer to those that are not us. It officially stands for "Personnel Other than Grunt" and can easily be characterized as those that sit behind a desk or are so fat that their uniform barely fits. For those of you in the Army that are curious if you fall under that "POG" status, if your MOS is not part of the 11 series (i.e. 11B, 11C, 11A), then you are a POG. The exception to the rule are those of the 18 series MOS. (Special Forces))

Back to the story:

In Iraq though, are schedule is not as "comfortable" as that of when were back in the States. POGs still get their cute little schedule. On occasion, they might have to pull a night shift of guard but for the most part after 1700hrs, you will find the POGs in either their PT uniforms or (I couldn't believe it when I saw it) civilian clothes. We (the Infantry) still kept to our missions and didn't have the 9 to 5 schedule. Our missions were day AND night, regardless of how hot it was or how much sleep we did or did not get. If something was going on outside "the wire" you better believe that you were going out.

On July 13, 2006, it was no different. I was just getting ready to radio my trail vehicle to let them know to start turning around when all of a sudden, WHOOOMF!! The loudest, most God awful sound came from under my vehicle. My vehicle had just rolled over an IED (Improvised Explosive Device or "bomb" in lamens terms).

I remember looking through the night vision device in my Bradley and seeing the same thing we do every other night. Nothing...We were scheduled to pick up the teams we had just dropped off later on in the night (before sun up), and as I picked up the hand mic to radio my trail vehicle, I dropped my pencil, which I kept on me for notes, from my lap. As I reached down to get it, I saw the bottom of the floor open up and a flash of orange, yellow and green surrounded the cabin of the Bradley. Not to mention an immense amount of heat. I felt the Bradley shake and immediately heard the sound that will forever stay in my memories. The sound of an explosion literally just a few feet beneath me and the sound of flames cracking all around me. I felt the fire cooking the skin off of my face and I immediately tried to put it out with my hands. It was no use. The explosion had ruptured the fuel cell of my vehicle and covered my gunner (Tommy) and I in diesel fuel. So whatever (if any) flames I was putting out on my face, were immediately re-ignited due to our fuel drenched uniforms. I remember trying to scream but the oxygen in the small turret had been burned up so quickly that neither of us were able to breath. I tried to inhale air but all that went down my throat were the flames of the fire all around me. I could feel it burning my throat and tongue. My gunner and I immediately climbed out of the turret and that was the last I saw of him.

I remember getting out of the turret faster than I had ever been able to do so before. The opening of the turret is so small that an average sized human would have trouble climbing in and out. We had body armor and magazines strapped to our chests, so the task is even harder to accomplish. But I did nonetheless. I remember running down the sloped front hatch of the Bradley and jumping onto the ground to try to roll around and put out the flames. The Bradley, since it was still moving from the convoy, stopped just inches from my body as I was rolling around. A hard and painful lesson to learn is the fact that pavement doesn't put out fire very well, regardless of how much you roll around. Especially if your uniform is doused in diesel fuel. I got up and ran to the north side of the road, where there was (maybe) a quarter inch of sand that would hopefully do better at putting out the fire than the pavement did. It didn't.

On the south side of the road, there was a small creek that paralleled the road all the way down. But 3 weeks prior an almost identical incident happened to another one of my teams. They had also been travelling down the road on a similar mission when their vehicle rolled over an IED. One of the crew members of the vehicle that had been hit, ran into the creek and immediately put out the flames that covered his body. What almost killed him wasn't the burns that he sustained but instead the infections that took over his body. The water in Iraq is so incredibly filthy that you will never find any fish swimming around in any of those creeks.

During all of the chaos that was going on, I somehow managed to remember that. So despite the fact that I was literally watching myself burn to death, I refused to jump into the water. So that in the chance that I might live, I wouldn't die from infectious water seeping into my body.

After rolling around in the sand, not much of the fire was going out. My uniform had been completely burned off and I was now naked on the side of the road with the only items left on my body were my boots, my pistol (which I kept in a leg holster), my gloves and my bullet proof vest. Everything else was gone. There was still some fire left on my boots and I tried to kick them to put it out. It helped a little but small flames kept popping back up. I figured that there was nothing else I could do in regards to the fire.

I immediately jumped to my feet and ran to the rear of my vehicle to tell my Assistant Team Leader (Gary) to call for a MEDEVAC (Medical Evacuation). As I was pointing towards him, I saw that his head was popped out of the vehicle and that he was already doing that. In the midst of all of that commotion, I felt very proud (and thankful) to have had him as my assistant. That short lived sense of ease quickly disappeared when, as I was pointing towards him, I saw that the skin from my forearm was hanging from my arm in a half moon shape (literally hanging). I didn't dwell on that for too long because I remember running back towards the fron of my vehicle and I saw my driver (Sigsbee) on his back with flames on his chest. He had successfully gotten out of the vehicle but his chest plate had caught fire and was now trying to keep his face away from the flames. I ran over to him and dropped to my knees and started to pat the flames away. My gloves, which until this point had miraculously not caught fire, immediately went up in flames. They lit up so fast and so much that all I did was shake them off and they fell to the ground next to me. I continued to pat out Sigsbees chest until the fire went out completely.

Seeing that he was good to go, I started to run back around to the rear of the vehicle. Unfortunately, my body had enough. My legs gave out from under me and I could no longer get up. Upon realizing that I was no longer useful to my team in regards to evacuating wounded, I did the only thing I could (or at least would have tried to) do. I kept security.

When the explosion happened and I jumped out of the vehicle, I had forgotten to grab my rifle. Now this seems like a pretty careless thing to do but in the midst of all of that, I was more worried about putting out the fire than I was about having accountability of my equipment. Due to that, my rifle was no burning up inside of my Bradley. Probably a black spot of burning metal amongst the rest of the now melting Bradley. The only thing I had on me that could now provide some sort of security was my 9mm pistol which was in the leg holster. I tried to grab it but my fingers had been so badly burnt that I couldn't unsnap the button that kept it in its place. I did the only thing that seemed logical at the time. I took the safety off and used my right leg as an aiming device. The theory that I had in mind was that if someone were to take the opportunity to ambush us, I would basically point my leg at them and shoot. This probably wouldn't have worked out the way I had reasoned but it was the only option I felt I had at the moment.

As I was laying there on the side of the road, Gary's gunner (Wortman) ran up to me and asked me if I was ok.

Wortman is one of those few soldiers nowadays that will do whatever is asked of them and will never complain, mutter or even make a face. A former Marine, he had come to me only a few weeks before but I really didn't have to teach him anything. He was already familiar with Infantry tactics and the only thing I had to do is to get him familiar with our unit's SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). Seeing him come up to me put me at ease.

I told him I was fine but that he needed to get accountability of the team and to let Gary know that he was now in charge. He ran off to do just that.

A few seconds later, my medic (Garcia), (whom we had just received as a replacement after our old medic was injured in the previous incident 3 weeks before), walked up next to me. (This next part, I will omit from this blog. The only thing I will say is that if I ever see Garcia again in my life, I will slam his body against a wall and he will see a side of me that no one has ever seen before)

Wortman came back to me, this time with a fire blanket and covered me with it. My body, since it was completely without skin, was now exposed and whatever gel it is that was on that blanket, immediately stung me. That was the first pain I felt during this whole incident. I told him, "get that fucking blanket off of me. That shit fucking burns". He took it off.

I asked him if he was able to get accountability of everyone. He mentioned that he found everyone except for Tommy.

I told him that he needs to go find Tommy and to not come back until he had accountability of EVERYONE, including Tommy.

Wortman wanted to stay there with me and make sure I stayed awake but I told him Id be fine and that he needed to make sure that everyone was found and taken care of.

He didn't want to leave me there by myself but he did as he was told and ran off.

A few minutes later, Wortman came back to me and told me that Tommy had been found. Gary's driver, Henry (Probably the most motivated soldier Ive ever met) had jumped out of Gary's vehicle and found Tommy inside the creek on the south side of the road. (The same one I mentioned earlier) Tommy, having been badly burnt himself, had successfully extinguished the flames but did not have the strength to pull himself out of the water and almost drowned. Tommy was big man. He was about 6'2-6'4" and weighed about 220-230lbs. Henry was about 5'7"-5'8" and weighed about 140lbs (soaked and wet). Little Henry wouldn't have been able to pull out Tommy from the creek by himself and Wortman was able to help him pull Tommy out.

I felt better now that I knew that all my guys were accounted for.

Shortly after, I started to hear the sound of the MEDEVAC helicopters approaching. It probably took them only a few minutes to land after I first heard the sound of the helicopter blades, but it felt like an eternity. I remember thinking to myself, "just land already".

The MEDEVAC crew was truly outstanding. They not only loaded up my guys but the helped my team maintain security throughout the whole process. When the flight medic approached me, I told him that I wanted to be the last to be loaded up on the bird. (Bird is the term we use to refer to helicopters or airplanes) He said ok.

When it was my turn to load me up on the helicopter, Wortman and the flight medic came to me with a stretcher. The medic tried to cut away my body armor but because of the intense heat of the fire, the body armor had melted to my chest and he could not get it off. Instead they tried to lift me onto the stretcher and I immediately felt a sharp stabbing pain around my crotch and my ass. In the midst of me rolling to face the north side of the road to maintain security, I had rolled onto a strand of barbed wire and it was now tangled around my lower body. It ran down my crotch and up my ass and God knows where else. The flight medic pulled out his Multi-tool and attempted to cut it but the barbed wire was too thick. He tried pulling it but that just made it tighten around my lower body even more. I don't know how they eventually got it off but they soon had me loaded up in the helicopter.

Once in the MEDEVAC, I tried to yell out to my guys but only Sigsbee answered. He said he was ok.

I asked the flight medic where my other two guys were and he said that they were in the other bird and that they were ok.

This next part is kind of funny given the current circumstances...

Once I saw that we were in the air and safe from anything on the ground, I reached down with my right hand and grabbed my dick and my balls. Everything was still there. Whew!!

While still in flight, I started to feel the first signs of actual pain from within my body. Due to the burns, my body had started to swell immensely and since my boots were still on, they were starting to cut off circulation to my feet. This was extremely painful and I yelled to the medic to cut them off. He first tried to untie them but since my feet were so swollen, he couldn't grab the laces which I always kept tucked inside the boots. He ended up cutting the laces off and was able to loosen the boots enough to bring me some relief.

But at this point, my body started to really hurt. The whip of the wind was now affecting my mostly skinless body and I felt every bit of it. I remember trying to keep myself from screaming in pain but the medic noticed my apparent distress. He asked me what was wrong and through tears in my eyes, I told him that I was hurting. He asked me where and I said, "everywhere". He immediately started to inject me with morphine. I remember him injecting me with dose after dose of morphine and it felt like none of it would do any good.

At this point, I looked out into the night sky and saw every star that was out that night. Ive never been a religious person in my life and felt guilty if I ever prayed because Ive never liked asking for anything. But I realized the seriousness of my condition and on that night, I made my first and till this day, only true and honest prayer Ive ever made in my life. I asked God that regardless of what happened to me that night. Whether I live or died, I asked that little Victor be taken care of. That he would grow up to be a responsible man and that he knew that his "Papi" always loved him. I then started to ask that all of my soldiers, their families, my family and friends be taken care of. I named them one by one. Making sure that each one was covered. I felt guilty if I had mentioned one and not another. At some point in my prayer, I passed out.

I woke up in Balad, Iraq at the Field Hospital they had set up for receiving the wounded. All I remember is waking up screaming asking for Tommy. I passed out again

I woke up again in Germany and remember a nurse cutting the rim of my glasses right in the middle. Once they were cut, she pulled my glasses from my face and I remember hearing my skin peel off with the glasses. I passed out again.

I woke up a few days later at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. I came to learn that I had actually died 4 times but was revived each time. (Lucky me)

Not so lucky, was Sgt. Tommy Turner.

Tommy had made it through Balad but died the second we landed in Landsthul, Germany, from heart complications. I didn't find out of this until a few months later. Everyone had kept the news from me for a long time because they were afraid that the news would put me into such a deep depression that I could have died from knowing. They were probably right. Everyday and every person that came into my room, I would ask them to find out about Tommy. I gave them his full name, his wife's name and his phone number which I still had memorized. Everyone promised to get back with me as soon as they would find something out but either, Id never see that person again or they would come back with "were still trying to locate him". That frustrated the hell out of me because I knew that if he was there, he would be accounted for. I had it set in my mind that they had just forgotten to actually look for him. Never did it enter into my head that he had actually not made it.

On a visit from my Company Commander, First Sergeant, Battalion Commander and Command Sergeant Major, I asked them about Tommy. My First Sergeant spoke up. He said, "Sergeant Dominguez...Sgt. Turner didn't make it. He died when you guys landed in Germany".

I felt like if my heart and throat were pulled out of my body. I couldn't speak and I couldn't breathe. The only thing I could do was look away and cry. I spoke to no one for weeks.



***This was my story of the events that took place on July 13, 2006. Exactly three years ago today. All of these events happened exactly as Ive written them and I haven't changed anything in order to make it seem less or more than it really was. This event, brief as it was in time, has changed the rest of my life completely. I had planned to make the Army a career way before I had even enlisted but now find myself out of the Army due to my injuries. I still keep in touch with my soldiers, some of whom have decided to get out of the Army as well, others who are still in but have moved on to other units. I hope you have enjoyed (maybe that's not the right word to describe it) what Ive written here and it gives you a better idea of some of the things that happen in combat. Some people have asked me, if I had the opportunity to change the way things worked out, would I? If you'd like to know my answer, by all means, leave me a comment. I will answer you the way Ive answered everyone else.

I will write more of the events that have taken place since this incident, in the future. But it is now late and I need to get to bed. Life goes on and Ive got to get to work very early in the morning. I will be posting a link soon to a story that was done on me in the Miami Herald last year based on these events. Please check back sometime to see when I post it. It was a very good story and Im sure you'll enjoy it.

Take care.



Ranger Vic
"Rangers Lead The Way"