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'Is it going to be me today?'

Two from Stryker brigade recall blasts that changed their lives

By Michael Gilbert | The News Tribune • Published November 04, 2007

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Du, 50, acknowledged he was feeling the effects of the Aug. 23 bombing. But there was something else.

After nearly 30 years as a soldier, including extended assignments with the Rangers and a previous deployment in his same job with the 3rd Brigade in 2003-04, he'd had his fill of seeing soldiers wounded and killed.

He and the brigade commander, Col. Stephen Townsend, visited the wounded from each critical attack, and went to be with the units that had soldiers killed. The brigade lost 48 in Iraq.

Maybe he was feeling bad because he'd seen too much. In the nine months since the move south, Du said he'd often ask himself before he went out on missions, "Is it going to be me today? … You think, I might not come back today."

But going back out after the concussion was harder still.

"After the first hit, we went through an area down there by Sadr City, and it was the first time that I was not comfortable with where we were going," Du said.

"For the first time, I was scared. I was never scared before. I was really worried. … I'd tell people, 'Man, I'm really scared about this thing.' "

And sure enough, they got hit again.

'He's on fire'

It was Sept. 3, and they were within sight of the entrance of their base. A bomb outfitted with an explosively formed penetrator ripped through the side of Du's Stryker, splattering the interior with shards of flying metal.

"Everything 6 inches in front of me was destroyed," Du said. "It was unbelievable that I did not get any shrapnel. … My first reaction was to look down. I saw that I still got my legs, so I'm good."

But Kerrigan was hit.

A jagged spur from the bomb speared his right forearm, cutting an artery. Several other pieces of shrapnel tore into his thighs, and one found its way under his body armor and into his belly.

The top of the Stryker was on fire. The fire extinguisher that normally was stored near Du's feet had been destroyed, so the command sergeant major clambered out the hatch and ran about 150 yards back to the next Stryker to get another.