A hero of the Iraq war

Scott Stoddard, Investor's Business Daily:

...

"It was a perfect day," recalled Sanders, who was then 20 years old. The skies were sunny and cloudless and temperatures soared to 120 degrees.

Then, just before dusk, the call for help came.

A patrol of 20 1st Cavalry soldiers had been ambushed during an uprising by insurgents in the northern part of Sadr City, the stronghold of Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Four soldiers were wounded and the platoon was pinned down in an alley under heavy fire.

Sanders and his three comrades from C Troop, 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment of the 2nd Armored Cavalry, quickly dressed, got their weapons and loaded up their radios for the six-mile journey into the heart of Sadr City.

The Crusaders, as the unit was called, had been operating in Baghdad since the previous October and were familiar with the route. But they had never encountered such fierce resistance.

Along the way, the tank came under numerous attacks from terrorists firing AK-47s, shotguns, pistols and rocket-propelled grenades, often from both sides of the road. Some attackers approached within 20 yards of the tank.

"The enemy primarily concentrated on using alleyways, shop windows and low roofs of one-story buildings to assault. They were persistent and were very difficult to suppress," Capt. John C. Moore, the unit's commander, said in a report after the battle.

Many of the terrorists wore Iraqi police uniforms; others wore black and green sashes around their waists, according to Sanders' and Moore's account of the firefight.

Sanders' tank pushed down the street between low-slung brick buildings riddled with bullet holes and through fires and barricades that included refrigerators, washing machines and tires. His tank was the first on the scene, a densely populated urban area with civilians mixed in with terrorists.

"I saw Humvees flipped over, dead bodies, explosive devices, barricades, people running, people hiding," Sanders said.

With bullets zipping past, Sanders climbed to the top of the tank, standing exposed to enemy fire, and began shooting the M240 machine gun mounted near the hatch as the tank moved down the street to draw fire away from the trapped soldiers.

"They had 1st Cav surrounded, but we got there and started firing and (the terrorists) started dispersing," Sanders said.

Sanders' tank made three passes by the area in an attempt to rescue the soldiers. But ammunition was running low. The unit was about to leave Iraq and had been preparing the tanks for transport, which meant they were carrying only a minimum load of bullets.

When the ammunition ran out, Sanders was forced to use whatever was at hand.

"During the whole incident we were really low on ammo, so I threw anything I could at them . . . rocks, metal objects," he said.

Sanders said the crew always kept rocks on top of the tank as a way of dispersing troublemakers without using lethal force.

"I got a few people with them," he said.

...

During one of the passes made to rescue the patrol, a bullet sliced through Sanders' arm and exited the other side.

"I didn't realize I was shot until later that evening" when the unit returned to its base to deliver the wounded soldiers.

"I didn't feel it, so it really didn't matter to me," said Sanders, who declined medics' efforts to put his arm in a sling back at Camp War Eagle.

"They tried to keep me on the base, and that wasn't going to work," he said. "Finally, I told them to give me a Band-Aid."

...

There is more.

He does not remind you of John Kerry does he? Sanders got a Silver Star for his efforts. He is still in and has recently been stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. Stoddard and IBD deserve kudos for uncovering this story of heroism by US forces in Iraq. Much of the mainstream media have ignored these brave men's efforts. I think they are afraid that it might increase support for the war.